|
Newsletter: Summer 2004 |
Editor: Donald Robinson |
On Line Volume II |
On Line Issue 6 (c) 2004 |
The Box turtle Terrapene carolina does not spend time in the water or basking. You see these often crossing the roadway in the spring. The Box turtle is territorial, with a territory from 2 to 10 acres. Some, however, seem to be free spirits, and roam to other areas in search of a mate and a home. I should quickly mention that the sex of a turtle can easily be determined by observing the concavity of the 'plastron', or the bottom part of the shell. If the plastron is concave, then you are looking at a boy. That seems less personal than looking around the turtle's anatomy, and is good enough for me. If not for the concavity, the mating would not work very well, as the male gets on top while both partners face the floor. The Box turtle is generally dark brown or black in color, quite rounded, with a pattern of yellow and sometimes orange spots on the 'carapace', or upper part of the shell. This is the only turtle that can pull his head and feet completely inside the 'house'. When we rescue them from the highway, they usually do this with a hissing sound of escaping air from the frightened animal's lungs. The bottom part of the shell is called the 'plastron' and is generally yellowish or brownish orange. They have alert red eyes if they are healthy. They eat snails and worms, mostly but like people need vegetative matter in their diet as well. Some people keep them as pets, as they are intelligent and do respond to their keepers. Since their numbers are in decline, I don't keep them as pets but my wife and I can often be seen stopped along the highway getting the 'roaming' turtles to the safety of the berm. They can live 50 to 100 years.
The rest of these are true turtles, so expect to see them in or near the water.
Wood Turtles Clemmys insculpta are in the southernmost part of their range in the Cacapon, and are considered endangered in the Eastern panhandle of West Virginia, but the Cacapon still seems to have a good many of them. They can be recognized by the orange color of the feet and neck and yellow plastron. These are rather docile, and not prone to attack if disturbed. I was able to rescue a few when some ignorant old fisherman left a series of baited floats in the river one Autumn a few years ago. The main catch was Wood Turtles, and not the desired catfish, snappers or eels. At any rate, that's not a sporting way to fish or hunt turtles. They grow to about 9 inches long. This like the other turtles hibernates in water, burrowing into the mud somewhere. When mating, the male and female approach each other with necks extended. When they get within inches, they lower the heads as swing them for about three hours without stopping. I can't help but chuckle that turtles also get involved with 'necking' before they mate. I hope I get to observe that some day. These turtles are 'omnivorous', eating both plant and animal material such as moss, grass, bugs, tadpoles, berries, worms and slugs. They can be found on land except in spring and fall 'necking', foraging, and laying eggs.
Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta have beautifully colored plastrons, with red spots on the outer edge of the carapace, both above and below. They are small, maybe to about 4-10 inches around. I often confuse them with the slightly larger sliders. There is a yellow stripe down the middle of plastron and around the shell plates. They too hibernate at the bottom of the ponds and slow sections of rivers where they live. The plastron is usually bright yellow and the head streaked with yellow with red stripes on tail, neck and legs. They eat insects, snails, and bits of water plants.
The Slider Chrysemys scripta is the turtle that used to be kidnapped and painted brightly and sold at the old time five and dime stores. The slider has two red or yellow 'ears' (really just spots) on the sides of the striped head. They grow to 5-12 inches, with the female being larger than the male. The young are carnivorous, but they become vegetarian mostly when they age. There are really two species: Trachemys scripta, or yellow-bellied and one that is red-eared Chrysemys scripta elegans.
The Stinkpot Sternotherus odoratusis is a type of musk turtle that truly earns it's name. As a defense, the stinkpot releases a foul-odored musk when harassed by a predator. These are relatively nasty, and I wouldn't recommend catching one unless you are careful with your fingers, and they will bite. The head can stretch out from the body quite far. I often see these from my dock, swimming along the bottom, and are often covered with algae and mud. If they don't move, it is next to impossible to see them. I saw one with a missing foot in the small pond near my camp recently. From that you can deduce that they are 'nasty' because they can't get their entire body closed up inside the shell.
The Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle Trionyx spiniferus spiniferus could live in the Cacapon basin, but I've never seen one there. In fact I've only seen one in the wild during my entire life, and that was in the Middle Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac (aren't some river names in West Virginia a bit long?) when I was about 12 or 13 years old. Female shells are up to 18 inches long, with the male being half that size. They would be easy to recognize, as the olive-gray shell is like a spotted pancake, and the tube-like snout is quite distinctive. If you or anyone you know has seen one in the Cacapon, please let me know via email info@cacaponriver.org. To find a picture, copy the genus/species above and paste into a search engine's window. Don't try to catch one, since the spines sticking out of the edge of the shell could injure you.
The Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina is the largest turtle you'll likely ever see in the Cacapon. One of these could weigh over 30 pounds, and have a huge head and powerful jaws, and like the other water turtles, can live for 30 or more years. Don't ever take chances with these critters, they bite and maim. They have pronounced ridges on their carapace. I liken their shell to a gladiator's helmet. You won't often see these basking on the bank or a log, but they spend much time hiding under banks and in holes. They sit on the bottom motionless and try to catch what they can. They will also scavenge. They eat fish, amphibians, and whatever they can catch. I've seen them in the water with their head down scouring crayfish from under rocks. I've observed fishermen leaving a stringer full of fish attached to their boat or dock and coming back to find only a few heads left after a snapper has visited. I confess, if a stringer is deserted by its owner, I usually let the fish go, since the snappers will be the ones dining anyway. Hope that didn't ever bother too many fishermen! They also have a small plastron and hibernate under water. They are aggressive as a defense, since they can't pull back into their shell like other turtles. I saw this turtle described as a size 10 turtle with a size 6 shell on a website. Some people I know dress like that. Do not attempt to catch a snapping turtle! They can reach around to almost everywhere on their body with their long neck and bite you, and the bite is severe, including possible loss of fingers or toes. I once got out of my car to take one off the road up in Pocahontas, Pennsylvania, and grabbed it by the back of the shell. I saw it going for my hand when I dropped it without ceremony on the berm. It crawled away to a nearby stream.
There is another species of snapping turtle called the Alligator Snapping Turtle Macroclemys temminckii that lives in the Mississippi basin. Note, these DON'T live in the Cacapon, sorry. They can grow to over 200 pounds, and are the largest freshwater turtle. A PBS show I once watched talked about a man who once hunted Alligator Snappers and has become so impressed by their longevity and scarceness that he now is a conservationist regarding this creature. He found a 'minie' ball from the civil war era in one of these turtles, and the turtle's longevity so impressed him that he could hunt them no more. These live a long time, longer than humans. The last Civil War veteran died in 1955, but some Alligator Snapping turtles live on.
The River has many names...
Barbara Tufty
If You Can Bear It
By Barbara Tufty
Bear with this bear story—the official state animal of West Virginia!
Do you have a bear problem? Has something big, black and furry raided your
garbage can recently? Knocked down yourbirdfeeder? Clawed through your beehive?
Peeked in your kitchen window?
Don’t worry. They’re not after YOU--–they’re black bears,
just roaming around their mountains, hungry and curious. Once they hear you
or see you, they turn
tail and quickly disappear into the woods again. Wildlife researchers are finding
that, contrary to what people used to think, black bears are actually quite
timid and gentle animals. They want no confrontation with us humans, any more
than we with them.
But bears are turning up more frequently around human places nowadays. Why?
Because we are moving into their territory, building our houses and roads deeper
into the forests and mountains that were once their domain. We’re crowding
them out of their dens, cutting down their acorn and hickory nut trees and building
over their berry patches.
In the past few years the bear population in West Virginia has been drastically
increasing. In 1980, for instance, only 47 bears were reported killed by WV
Park rangers. But last hunting season, in 2003, West Virginia hunters scored
a state record of 1,654 bears killed (I dislike the ingratiating word “harvested.”).
Today, estimates of black bear populations throughout the state of West Virginia
range from 12,000 to 15,000! Gary Strawn, WV Department of Natural Resources,
estimates that we might have about 20 bears living with us in Morgan County.
The growing numbers of bears have resulted in increased numbers of telephone
Calls to the WV Division of Natural Resources., reporting bear sightings and
growing problems of bear damage and nuisance. Fortunately, wildlife biologists
and park rangers have learned a lot about bears and their behavior and know
how to minimize or avoid potential problems. Black bears are basically quiet,
solitary creatures, growing to be about six feet long. They are good swimmers
and like to climb trees. They cannot see very well, but they have an extremely
keen sense of smell and hearing. Winter is the time when they retreat to their
cave or hollow tree den to sleep through the cold snowy period when their food
provisions run low. Some people call their sleep hibernation, but this is not
correct. Bears curl up in a ball to conserve heat and, unlike the true hibernators
like chipmunks and groundhogs, go into a light sleep. Their heart rates drop
and so do their body temperatures, but they can be easily aroused, and ramble
from their den in search of a snack to eat or drink. During January and February
the females give birth to two or three cubs about as big as your fist. By mid-March
the cubs’ eyes are open and they weigh about three or five pounds. When
the berries ripen in summer they weigh about 20 pounds and by winter they have
gained some 30 or 40 pounds. The next year, the yearling cubs are starting to
wander out on their own, feeding on bears’ diet of blueberries and huckleberries,
grasshoppers and beetles, as well as fish, frogs, mice and birds eggs. They
often begin snooping around nearby human habitations, scrounging in garbage
cans, pawing through trash, and unabashedly accepting any food from admiring
humans who are thrilled to see a real bear! Their behavior is based on a mixture
of curiosity, hunger and inexperience. They have not learned yet to fear humans,---and
that is what can create problems with us.
“Cubs, as well as adults, who have not been taught to fear humans are
quick to associate people with food,” said Gary Strawn. “In order
to keep them from coming too close and bothering you, it is important that you
help them maintain their inborn fear of humans. Don’t offer them food,
no matter how cute you may think they are.” To keep your own distance from
them, pick up all your trash around the yard, uneaten food materials and other
refuse and pack it away in tin or bear-proof
garbage containers. Decaying animal and vegetable matter produce strong odors
and also need to be disposed of properly.
Bears coming too close to human farms can wreak damage on corn crops, breaking
and smashing stalks, especially when the corn is young and sweet. They love
it
in the milk stage. Apple, peach, and grape orchards are visited by bears leaving
broken trees and branches. Our neighbors had no damage done, and still love
to tell the tale of looking out the window one evening and seeing a bear amble
across their garden to their peach tree, carefully select several ripe peaches,
eat them, and then lumber off-–no damage to the tree, and a lot excitement
for them. They had never seen a wild bear so close. Building electric fences
around crops have proven effective, but is quite expensive for any large area.
Exploding cannons, shell crackers, fireworks, flashing lights, blasting loud
radio music or talk shows can keep bears away from your berry patch for a while--although
the animals can become accustomed to these devices. They are quite smart species
and learn to become more tolerant of human activities.
If you are surprised by a bear while walking by yourself , “Don’t
panic,” says Gary Strawn. “Stand tall and clap your hands—but
don’t threaten him. He’ll soon
disappear. Bears sometimes try to bluff you and start toward you, but not for
long.”
Bears, those pigeon-toed, lumbering creatures, have been interacting with humans
for many centuries. Some of the earliest relics of Cave Bear jaws and claws
date back to the Ice Ages, when we humans used to live in caves too. Bears in
the Middle Ages were captured, forced to “dance” at the end of a chain,
and fight each other for the amusement of spectators-- now denounced as cruel
illegal torture. We find bears in ancient legends throughout the world, carved
and venerated in totems of the Native Americans, recorded in journals as pioneers
pushed across our country, retold in hunters’ tales around the campfire.
Children’s books are filled
with bears—Goldilocks, and Winnie the Pooh have been beloved by generations,
and teddy-bears are still being lugged and hugged by kids into their fur wears
off.
Throughout the world, there are eight species of bears–the brown bear
which includes the immense ferocious grizzly, the quiet recluse American black
bear (our own West Virginia mascot), Asiatic black bear, polar bear, giant pandas
of China, sloth bear, spectacled bear, and sun bear. Many are suffering from
the effects of habitat destruction and from brutal hunting and outrageous poaching
for the Eastern medicinal trade. Bear gallbladders and bile are used and abused
as so-called “traditional medicine” to treat a variety of illnesses,
and enhance virility (we now have a chemical product).
Most bears, but not all, are listed on the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that prohibits international
commercial trade of bear parts. Many countries ban the sale of bear parts, but
still poachers continue to break the law.
In West Virginia special licences are required, with specific rules for hunting
black bears during the autumn season. For instance, it is illegal to hunt bears
by using bait, to hunt with certain types of shotgun, rifle, or muzzle loading
pistol. Specific bows and arrows only are allowed. It is also illegal to hunt
bear between a half hour after sunset and a half hour before sunrise; to kill
a cub bear weighing less than 100 pounds; or to kill any bear accompanied by
such a cub. Another regulation states that each licenced hunter can kill only
one bear per year, and within one hour he must complete and attach a game field
tag bearing his name and other information.
Whether the sight of a black bear alarms you or thrills you, remember it is
the official state animal of West Virginia, voted to this honor 50 years ago
in a four-year
poll of students, teachers, and sportsmen taken by the West Virginia Department
of Natural Resources.
President's Letter
by Ron Wilson
Dear Friends of the Cacapon River,
Everyone should be getting a letter similar to this one by snail mail. That mailing included a copy of our new Friends of the Cacapon River brochure with our new logo on the cover. You might even find it elsewhere on our website. It was designed by the son of Board members Eddie and Ann Bilezikian. The logo is available as a color, exterior grade decal (see order form in brochure). If you would like more copies of the brochure, let us know. Use it to pay your past dues. The number after your name on the address label indicates the date when you last paid dues. If there is a "0" or no number, you have not paid in a while! Dues are for a calendar year, dues paid after Oct.1 apply to the next year)
A number of you have told us that you miss the fine hard copy newsletter that Abby Chapple used to put out, so do I.. However, if you cannot access our newsletter online, (then I'm not sure how you are reading this!) let us know and we will put you on a list to get a photo copy by snail mail. If anyone would like to volunteer to prepare and edit a hardcopy newsletter, please let me know.
Mercedes and Paul Tibbets and Paula Porpilla have joined the FCR Board. They have all been active in the past and I look forward to working with them on the Board.
Our streambank restoration project near Morgan Woods is suffering from all the high water since hurricane Isabel. We will be doing more seeding and planting of plants this fall.
We had about a dozen members helping clean the river banks of trash on June 12. We cleaned the public access area near the Rt.9 bridge at Great Cacapon and collected about 20 bags of trash. Whenever you walk along the river or paddle down the river, carry a trash bag and help keep the river clean.
This year and last we seem to have had more high and really muddy water than
usual.
I recently asked Neil Gillies, Director of the Cacapon Institute, about this
problem. He thinks it is mostly "normal" mud from the "normal
land management" problems we have during periods of high rainfall. Some
of the sediment could also be related to new construction and dirt roads. Also,
we have had an extraordinary number of high water events that keep saturating
the banks and as the water recedes, failing banks slump and fail even more.
The problem seems to come from throughout the watershed. Neil indicated that
he would like collaborate with the FCR to start an education campaign to try
to deal with this major problem. When we learn more from Neil about their plans
to update the Institute's water quality study and the kinds of help they need,
we will put it on our website.
Another issue that concerns some riverfront owners is the growth of the invasive submerged aquatic plant called hydrilla. If you live along the water and have hydrilla in the river, please let us know, so that we can at least map the spread of this plant. Do not confuse hydrilla with elodea which looks very similar. Only hydrilla has small toothed edges on the about ½ to one inch long leaves in clusters of leaves about an inch apart on the stem. Elodea has smooth leaves. The muddy water this spring has slowed its growth, so it might not be as bad this year. I have done considerable research on hydrilla eradication, and there seems to be unanimous opinion that at least in moving water, any chemical eradication is not an option. I have found that periodically pulling out the plants in a small area for swimming seems to work, but keep in mind that broken stems of the plant will re-establish down stream. I discussed this problem with Neil and his conclusion is that once most invasive species get established we just have to learn to live with them! When hydrilla first appeared in the Potomac River in the Washington area it was viewed with alarm as it clogged marinas and small inlets and even parts of the C & O Canal. Most environmentalist now view hydrilla as beneficial, providing oxygen and good cover for fish and mechanical harvesting (these large machines are not feasible on the Cacapon) keeps marinas clear.
We are in the process of updating and reprinting our Homeowner Packet for people with waterfront property. We hope to get these mailed out to river front property owners in Hampshire County. Help will be needed to assemble and mail the packets. Individual sheets from the packet are also available upon request. (See FCR Brochure). We are also writing a new pamphlet on the endangered water plant Harperella, that grows along the river in a few areas.
We will be working with the Morgan County Planning Commission as they revise the County's Comprehensive Plan. Our interests include modifying the flood ordinances to help protect the river and riparian zone, not just building structures; issues related to sediment and mud run off into the river from various sources and further restrictions on the use of all terrain vehicles (ATVs) in rivers and on riverbanks.
The FCR is represented on the West Virginia's Potomac River Tributaries Strategy Stakeholder group that is developing goals to improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay. This group includes representatives from all state agencies that address water issues as well as many environmental groups. All states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are collaborating on this effort to improve the Bay.
We will be doing another mailing in Sept with Apple Butter Festival raffle tickets and next year's dues reminder. We will also need volunteers to work at our booth at the Festival, Oct. 9-10.
We are still keeping busy and will need all the help we can get. Please check the website periodically for planned activities. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me: ronwwilson@earthlink.net or 301-585-8965. Thank for your support,
Ron Wilson, President