Creatures of the Night

While most of us are snug in our beds, the nocturnal creatures are just waking up and are beginning to go about their daily, or should I say, nightly chores. Webster's dictionary defines nocturnal as "of, relating to, or occurring in the night and also active at night".

Many interesting and beneficial nocturnal animals make their home in and around the Tchefuncte River in Southeastern Louisiana. We have been able to photograph quite a few of the mammals as they visit one of the feeding stations where we have a wildlife camera set up. Other birds, amphibians and insects have been photographed when they venture out on cloudy days or at dawn and dusk.

We will begin our tour with a few of the warm blooded animals and will add some of the others as we go along. So join us now for a virtual tour of the night life in the woods near the Tchefuncte River. Let's go down by the river to see some of the mammals.

Louisiana is called Sportsman's Paradise for a reason. Even after Hurricane Katrina the forests hold abundant wildlife. But native habitat suitable for the larger mammals is rapidly decreasing in our area on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. We still have pockets of wild land where the wildlife can survive and our property and the properties adjacent to ours form a corridor along the Tchefunte River for the wildlife. Mammals that we have been able to photograph include Beaver, Flying Squirrels, Opossum, Rabbits, Raccoons and White-tailed Deer as well as a few predators including, Red Fox, Bobcat and Coyote.

The camera that we used to take the Raccoons and Opossums in Spring photo is a Moultrie Game Spy Trail Camera. It takes color still photographs, day or night, automatically when the motion sensor is activated and color video clips during the day.

Southern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys volans) are delightful little nocturnal members of the rodent family with big, bright, dark eyes and lovely soft brown fur. The flap of skin that runs from their front to back legs enables them to glide from a tall tree to lower branch, hence the name, Flying Squirrel.

The Southern Flying Squirrel is smaller than its northern cousin, measuring about 9 inches long. The Northern Flying squirrel is about 12 inches long. The ranges of the two subspecies overlap, with the Southern's range extending all the way up into Minnesota.

These squirrels are secondary cavity nesters, which means that they do not excavate their own nesting sites. Instead, they use existing sites like old woodpecker holes and other natural tree cavities. They will quickly take advantage of a bird nest box placed near a wooded area. Their diet is omnivorous, but they primarily eat nuts and seeds (sunflower is a favorite) and will also eat birds eggs, nestlings and carrion. Some nest box monitors have reported that they will attack and kill smaller cavity nesting birds that disturb a nest box which the squirrels are using.

Flying squirrels will reproduce twice a year, once in late winter / early spring and again in mid summer. Usually 2 blind, deaf, hairless, helpless squirrel pups are born after a 40 day gestation period. Females raise the young by themselves, with no help from the male. By the fifth week after birth, the little ones are weaned and begin to venture out of the nest.

The main threat to Flying Squirrels is another nocturnal creature, the owl, but raccoons, weasels, foxes, hawks, and snakes also pose a threat. In the wild, Flying squirrels live about 5 years.

The Cottontail Rabbit inhabits most of Louisiana (and the United States from the Great Plains to the East Coast). We are lucky to have a little warren of them living on the edge of the woods close to our house as well as in the wild areas. We enjoy having them around, even though they used to raid our vegetable patch, but a quick and easy rabbit fence around the vegetable garden took care of that.

Cottontail in Grass Poster by naturegirl7

They enjoy munching on the many wild plants in our ground cover. They feed primarily at night from before dusk to after dawn. During the warm weather they feed on the new growth, sprouts and the leaves of plants like clover, lambs quarter, various grasses, wild peas and beans. In the fall, herbaceous plants are eaten and in winter stems, buds, low-growing shrubs and vines and tree bark are included in their diet.

Cottontails are the smallest rabbit, weighing about 3 pounds and measuring from 15.5 to 18.75 inches. Cottontails will breed 3-4 times a year, so in areas where the natural predators have been killed or removed they can become a problem. In areas where the natural cycle is intact, only 15% survive the first year. Predators in our area include large owls, hawks, foxes, coyotes and bobcats to mention a few.

Raccoons, who look like little bandits with their black mask, clever mind and agile hand-like paws (which have gotten them into many man-made structures) are nature's Little Rascals. One Raccoon rule is, "if you feed us, we will come and bring lots of friends". In cities and suburbs, where natural predators are no longer present, this can become problematic because raccoons will quickly take advantage of a good thing. In the country, we enjoy most of their antics, but we must safe guard the nest boxes on our Bluebird trail by mounting them on 8 foot tall metal pipe poles with stovepipe predator baffles.

Because Raccoons are omnivorous, we also do not leave such delicacies as cat or dog food outside where they will find it. In the wild Raccoons eat such things as fruits, nuts, berries, insects, rodents, frogs, eggs and crayfish. The Raccoon is known for "washing its food", but it is actually just softening it up and searching for hard parts.

See More Raccoon Designs by naturegirl7

Raccoons mate from January through March. The gestation period is about 2 months. Litters usually contain from 4-6 young. Mothers will carry the babies around with their mouth like cats do their kittens. By 10 weeks, the kits are weaned, but begin to hunt and forage when they are about 9 weeks old. Young Raccoons can be distinguished from the adults by their darker coats. Many stay with their mothers for as long as a year.

The photos below show our first glimpse of Raccoon babies this year. These are probably about 9 weeks old and are just beginning to explore with their mother. They will stay with mom for several more months.



Listen to the Sounds of the Raccoon.

Some think of me as a bandit
It appears I wear a mask
But the way my face is colored
Helps greatly with my task.

Searching for food in the darkness
It takes great effort to see
And these two patches of blackness
Concentrate the light for me.

No glare nor shimmer assaults me
And my sight is crisp and clear
So I can see things more sharply
Especially those that are near.

I spend my days in the treetops
Or in the underbrush
Just keeping silent and resting
Avoiding the daytime rush.

I've always been small and skinny
Since the time my life began
That's why I've never been hunted
For food on the plate of man.

Frontiersmen at first ignored me
And I was happy for that
But later they all discovered
That I made a fine fur hat!
 

Buy Shy Raccoon Sticker by naturegirl7

The perfect bags for the Flying Squirrel, Rabbit, Raccoon and other night creatures theme things. The fun is all in the bag!
See more designs at Naturally Native Creations

When the sun has set
And night has come,
The insect chorus
Starts to hum.

And nothing else
Is there to hear,
but the insect voices
Soft and clear.

The insects hum
In sweet delight,
Singing their praises
Of the night.
 

Buy lunablackverticle, LunaonBlackframe by Tealtreasures

The Little Tchefuncte River is home to many animals. Beavers are the largest rodent species that inhabits the area in and around the river. We often see signs of their work in the form of trees and shrubs that were gnawed down and stripped of bark.

A few days after we set up a new wildlife camera with a solar battery and charger, they decided to harvest a small Magnolia tree nearby. The tree just missed the camera and solar battery when it fell, but one of the branches hit the wire. Luckily the branch was small, so no damage was done, but it was quite a job for Al to cut the top of the tree off and remove it. He left the trunk of the tree which was still partially connected to the stump. The next night the beavers came back to finish the job.

Buy Beaver poster by JnAKERS

Buy Reflections by Ron_Coburn

Buy Beaver Ponds by JayDee

Buy baby opossum poster by brooklyn9759

Buy Opossum Note Card by Critterpainter

When darkness falls in summertime,
The avenues of air
Are full of glowworm motor cops.
They're zipping everywhere.

With flashlights snapping on and off,
They signal: Left! or Right!
Directing Bugland traffic jams
On highways of the night!





                     Buy fire fly by AutumnsGoddess

Amazing bats like to eat ---
Thousands of bugs for a tasty treat.
Flying through the moonlit air ---
Traveling here and traveling there.
Hibernating when the weather's cold,
Gathered with hundreds of friends, I'm told.
Many bats are endangered, I'm sad to say ---
There are fewer and fewer bats every day.
Be kind to bats, that's the thing to do ---
Tell your friends and your family too!
 

Buy Malayan Flying Fox Bat by dduhaime55

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