Walker Nature Center
A LOOK INSIDE • Calendar 4 • Kids’ Corner 6 • Green Living 7 • Nature Camps 8
BRANCHING OUT
Nature Notes Herds, Habitat and Humans JUNE By Pam Findley
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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Common Wood Nymph butterflies are seen. Northern Red-backed Salamanders lay eggs. Butterfly Weed, Threadleaf Coreopsis and Bee Balm bloom. Elderberry and Viburnum shrubs bloom.
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Fireflies, Praying Mantis and Katydids are common. Black Cohosh, Cardinal Flower and Purple Coneflower bloom. Black Rat Snakes lay eggs.
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Black Raspberries ripen.
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AUGUST • • • •
Asters, sunflowers and goldenrod bloom. Fall bird migration begins. Eastern Box Turtle and Snapping Turtle eggs hatch. Wild cherries and blueberries ripen.
By Susan Sims
White-tailed Deer have been the subject of films, stories and legends embodying grace and power, but with deer populations on the rise, people have come to see another side of this common mammal. White-tailed Deer are abundant in backyards, gardens and open spaces throughout Reston, often browsing on landscaping and jumping into roadways. This has led to management programs that work to conserve habitat and control deer populations.
White-tailed Deer live about five years in the wild. In captivity, they can live up to 14, though it is illegal in Virginia to keep a deer as a pet. They get their name from the long white hair that grows on the underside of their tail and on the rump. They can outperform the average athlete, clocking in at 35 miles an hour and jumping eight feet high.
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Adaptable, Fast and Hungry
White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) vary in color ranging from reddish brown in summer to gray in winter. They have white fur around the eyes, muzzle and throat. Deer are herbivores with a specialized four-chambered stomach allowing them to consume a variety of plants, including poison ivy. They prefer woodland habitat rife with leaves, twigs, grass and lichens, but are highly adaptable. Deer eat eight pounds of food per 100 pounds of body weight daily. Weighing 100 – 200 pounds, that’s a lot of salads.
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Summer | 19 | Volume Twenty One