Today Is #NationalWildlifeDay And We Want To Celebrate The Amazing Biodiversity Of Your #WildSanctuaries!

This wild red shouldered hawk that visits our nature center had a brief cleaning session after breakfast

Edamame Soybean Blossoms (Fact:  Glycine max is the scientific name of all soybeans).  This variety is used fresh unlike most soybeans and is being studied by Katy Evans at the University of Maryland to look at the relationship between flowering, pollination, yield, and the visitation by pollinators such as bees.  Turns out that while soybeans are self-pollinating their yield increases when bees visit them.  Since there are a lot of soybeans in the world that means a lot of bees are potentially involved and both could help increase yield and feed the world or get hammered if pesticide applications are ill-timed (and there is nothing like and ill-timed pesticide people to ruin your day if you are a bee.)  Photo by Anders Croft.    

Report from a Wildlife Rehabber: 

On February 19 a female opossum was caught in a car engine. The auto repair shop that found her called the Coral Springs Humane Unit to come help. After a long struggle, they were able to remove her. She suffered from several facial lacerations and was very thin. 

Since we have a developed community partnership, they brought her to us at the Sawgrass Nature Center. Once in our care, she was treated for the facial wounds, parasites, and her weight was monitored. She healed well, but the weight gain was slow moving. Eventually, she recovered to what would be considered a healthy weight. Only one thing was left - release. 

After almost a month in care, on March 13, the female opossum was released back to the wild. Now back out in the wild, she can continue to live out her life in her natural habitat. 

The head stabilization of an American Kestrel   

Source                     

Rocky Mountain Golds: © gifs by riverwindphotography, September 2020

We’re seeing so many Palm Warblers right now!

The Big Stump Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado is centered around an Eocene aged lake in Colorado – making it 34 million years old. Because CO2 contents in the atmosphere were higher in the Eocene, the climate was warmer globally and the plants at this site record the difference.

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Tomorrow an incredible natural phenomenon known as the super blood moon lunar eclipse will take place at 5:45AM EST. “In the United States, the total eclipse will begin at 7:11 a.m. ET and end at 7:26 a.m. ET, but will be partially visible from 5:45 a.m. ET to 8:52 a.m. ET,” (https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/25/world/may-full-moon-lunar-eclipse-scn/index.html). A lunar eclipse is described as an event where the Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light that reflects off the moon. 

Celestial events like a lunar eclipse have long caught the attention of humans throughout history. There are also many myths and legends about the full moon affecting human behavior. Whether it’s just a really cool event to watch, or something more, what is the connection between the moon and us? 

Scientifically speaking, the moon has a gravitational pull on the Earth’s oceans. The moon’s pull is what is responsible for creating the tides. The tide is essentially the rising and lowering of the ocean against the shore. The change in period between higher and lower local ocean levels is referred to as high and low tide. As the moon circles the Earth, it’s gravitational pull gets greater and weaker in the areas it moves closer to or further from. The greater the pull, the higher the tide, and vice-versa. 

Find your local high and low tide here: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/map/index.html?region=Florida/ 

In nature, many animal species have oriented themselves to respond to high and low tide. For example, sea turtles will come up to shore during a high tide to lay their eggs. Since other animal species have developed behavior that responds to certain aspects of the moon, it isn’t too crazy to believe that at some point down the evolutionary line, humans may have done something similar. However, there aren’t too many studies to prove this. 

While many studies have been done on how the Full Moon can affect sleep cycles in humans (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25266502/), this might be better chalked up to the slow adaptation to artificial light in the 21st century. And while there are many who believe that hospitals, emergency rooms, and even classrooms get crazier than usual on the day of a full moon, there isn’t much to prove that either. A better question to ask might be, is the superstition around the full moon becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy? Let us know what you think! 

Squirrels play an important part in seed dispersal, which is responsible for the planting of many trees. Their environmental niche is why it's so important to rehabilitate them properly and release them back into the wild.

Squirrels do not make good pets and should not be kept without a proper license. When they go through the squirrel equivalent of puberty, they become very aggressive, or nutty, if you will. 

A wild water snake in our wetland