Feeding on Roadkill can be hazardous to one's health!

Eastern Chipmunks are quite plentiful in many natural areas. This one is up in a small tree, gathering some freshly developing leaves for sustenance.

But you often see them at the side of the road, trying to decide if it is worth tempting fate by running across in front of the car. Many are successful, but it seem like far too many end up like this.

This chipmunk isn't looking so chipper any more.

It is not uncommon to see half a dozen or more types of flattened fauna on the roads in some of our busier parks on an average day. Chipmunks, frogs, toads, snakes, birds, etc are all victims of the damage that vehicles, even bicycles, can do. Of course dead animals tend to attract scavengers, whether it is a Turkey Vulture or something as small as flies. We are fortunate that there are lots of scavengers, or the roads would be awash in dead things!

I watched the action around this dead chipmunk not too long ago. There were dozens of flies on it, and seemed to be a member of the Blow Fly group. They weren't eating the remains as vultures would be doing, but laying eggs in the flesh. In just a matter of hours, those eggs would hatch and the larvae, a.k.a. maggots, would begin their work of devouring the flesh. The larvae would go through several growth cycles, and in just a few days, emerge as adults and continue their life cycle.

But wait.....all those dark spots aren't living flies waiting to lay eggs. Upon another look, most of those black spots on the pavement were dead flies!

As I watched this life and death drama unfold, I saw a truck coming, along...not too fast, mind you but fast enough. Some of the flies escaped, but others, perhaps too busy laying eggs, were slower, and were struck by the truck, and now their carcasses were lying scattered about the initial dead chipmunk. Undoubtedly any developing larvae in this carcass would be killed as well...hence the title of this post.

This is a time of year when there will be many types of young wildlife starting to venture out in their world. Turtles that have been busy laying eggs, will soon have those eggs hatch if the raccoons don't get them first, and as they venture from their hatching site to the wetland areas, may be crossing roads. Snakes may be basking on the warm pavement.....snakes that lay eggs will have completed egg-laying by now or in short order.  Other species of snakes that give birth to live young, will need to bask a lot more to allow the young to develop inside them before giving birth, so they will seek out good basking sites. Young birds are leaving the nests, and may be on the roads at least temporarily until they become adept in flight.

So please, as you head out on the summer vacation, be mindful of the smaller members of wildlife that are just getting started in life. Watch the roads so that our native wildlife doesn't end up like this!

Have a great summer, and Happy Canada Day!

You can tell spring is on its way...

...because there are more dead mammals along the roadsides!

It is unfortunate, but true. I have seen more dead mammals along the road sides during these last few 'warmer' days than I would normally see.

 This Raccoon was along a road at Rondeau. Raccoons are sometimes out on warm days even in the depths of winter, so in a way to see one out on a warm early spring day is not surprising. However this one was likely sick. Its swollen feet are said to be indicative of distemper. Cloudy eyes may also be noticed, but I couldn't tell with this one. Distemper is a relatively common affliction in Raccoon populations, especially when numbers are fairly high. At any rate, for some reason this one apparently did not have the ability to climb onto the snow piled along the plowed roads and in its weakened state, may just have died. There were no obvious injuries.

This Virginia Opossum, on the other hand, did show signs of injury. One can see a bit of blood on the snow right in front of its nose. It likely got struck by a vehicle. Opossums used to be extremely rare in Ontario. There are various theories as to how they arrived. But it was always believed that the severe winters were particularly hard on them and was a limiting factor in their survival for those that did show up on the southern Ontario landscape. Their tail, ears and nose is exposed skin and very susceptible to extreme cold. Sometimes these extremities show signs of frost bite. Given the severity of this current winter (locally it was said to be the coldest February on record), as well as the previous winter, I expect many Opossums are having a tough time. Perhaps this individual was in a weakened state as well and not able to avoid the traffic.

I have also seen (and smelled) skunks along the road sides. Probably all of these dead critters will be just what the soon-to-arrive Turkey Vultures will need in order to survive!

While at Rondeau a couple of times this week, I saw Eastern Chipmunks out. They weren't cooperative for photography...when they saw my camera move in their direction, they immediately retreated into a hole in the snow bank! This image below is one from another time.

White-tailed Deer are not numerous, but plentiful enough, and can be seen especially along the eastern side of the park. Their somewhat reduced numbers (compared to last fall) likely enabled them to survive the winter in reasonable health.

There have been reports of Tundra Swans arriving in southern Ontario over the past few days. However they don't seem to be setting down anywhere quite yet.....probably the snow covered fields and ice covered lakes have a lot to do with it!

Lake Erie off of Rondeau

Panoramic view of some southeast beach dunes looking over Lake Erie

As is often the case, bird feeders are where the action is. Along with the more abundant regulars, I noted these individuals at the Rondeau Visitor Centre.

Eastern Towhee male, present since mid January

Northern Cardinal

White-breasted Nuthatch

Where there is any open water, a few ducks are likely to occur. I hadn't been to the warm water outlet along the Thames River at the west side of Chatham lately, so yesterday I included a short side-trip to see what was there. The number of birds overall had declined considerably from earlier visits, with only about 35 Mallards, and a handful of other species present.

One of the first things that caught my eye was this Merlin, getting a drink of water from a puddle in the parking lot! 

Green-winged Teal

 One of the several dozen Mallards coming and going from the opening.

A hybrid between a Mallard and a domestic type of duck

Redhead

Common Merganser

One of the things I often wonder about when viewing ducks in such situations is just what kind of water quality is being returned to the river. I know that water treatment plants are designed to remove serious organic material from human waste and such, but what about all the inorganic things? There are likely many hundreds of chemicals, perhaps some of which are quite nasty (e.g. pharmaceutical prescriptions, including antibiotics and hormonal pills, fertilizers, chemical cleansers, etc), that are sent through our municipal plumbing systems and to the water treatment plant. Even though they are watered down, a lot of them aren't removed, and so anything that uses the water to live in or drink from downstream will be ingesting those nasty things. Do we want to really know all of the impacts of such things accumulating in our bodies, or those of the wildlife? It is a scary thought.....but something to consider as we dispose of expired prescriptions, etc.

On the way home, I noticed some White-tailed Deer feeding in the lowland along a riparian area.

And some good news for those who have not appreciated the presence of so many American Crows these past few months. It is now mid-March and as the days lengthen, the crows will be wandering farther and farther from the Chatham roost, and won't feel as compelled to return to it at the end of the day. So Chathamites take heart....there will now be some respite from the crow masses until mid October!