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CEFR Level B2-C1
This is not a sponsored post.
I was tired of fighting with the groundhog over who gets to eat the produce of my vegetable garden. I wish the groundhog no harm and don’t begrudge it the need to eat, but I also want to eat what I plant, ideally without any parasites from groundhog droppings. After a few years of the groundhog thanking me for giving it a safe enclosure to eat all the tender plants its great big rodent heart desired, I bought a raised garden bed from Garden-In-Minutes.
Now, this raised bed is three feet tall. The configuration I used makes it 1.5 feet wide and 4 feet long. I’ll let you do the math to figure out how many cubic feet of soil would fill up that thing. The important part is, I’m not rich enough to buy that much soil.
Snake photo below the break
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Yellow Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) Photo: Ty Smith
CEFR Level C1-C2
Can you tell the difference between a spicebush swallowtail and a black eastern tiger swallowtail?
A True StoryA black squirrel is an odd site,
Reputed to gleefully bite. Put to the vote by the board, The council’s of one accord: Furry mascots bring tourists. That’s right. Black squirrels (melanized gray squirrels) are rare enough that when a town has a population, the black squirrel may end up as a mascot or the theme of a festival.
Here are some of the places that celebrate black squirrels.
There are other places around the U.S. that use the black squirrel as an official or unofficial mascot. Where there’s a mascot, there might be a festival. Visiting these odd festivals could be an interesting way to see parts of the U.S. that don’t make it onto most road trip itineraries. Having learned that black squirrels are a melanized morph of gray squirrels, I remembered that reptiles and amphibians have extensive color variations - to the point that individuals from the same species may appear to be from a different species. That got me to wondering what other animals, besides squirrels, have black morphs (melanized individuals). What I learned is that melanized animals might not be entirely black. They may still have green, gray, or other colors, but overall they are darker than the non-melanized morphs. Here are a few melanized animals I found interesting. Barn owls in Britain have a black (melanized) morph. Black pheasants can have shimmery green, blue, and purple feathers, as well as the expected red faces and black and brown-striped tail feathers of non-melanized pheasants. Panthers are melanized leopards or jaguars. Leopards and jaguars are different species, but the black morphs of each species are commonly called a “panther.” Peppered moths formed a black morph in sooty industrialized areas in Britain. This is thought to be because the darker color is better camouflage. Poison dart frogs can be black instead of the more common bright warning colors. Silver foxes are melanized red foxes. This one is interesting because this melanized form features white or grey markings, leading to a silvery appearance.
A general internet search suggests a predominant theory that black squirrels, typically a melanized morph of gray squirrels, are darker because it helps the squirrel to retain heat.
A general internet search also suggests a predominant theory that humans have darker skin because it protects them from damage from sunlight. Some sites suggest that darker human skin absorbs heat more easily than lighter skin. It appears established that black squirrels tended to originate in more northern climates while people with darker skin tended to originate in warmer climates. Why is it believed that darker fur retains heat but darker skin protects from sun damage? Why did squirrel genetics change to promote heat-retention in the colder climates, but human genetics changed in a way that may promote heat retention in the hotter climates? The free internet is quiet on the most intriguing questions and I’m not important enough to start cold emailing researchers.  1. Black squirrels are also called melanized squirrels.
Black squirrels in North America are usually a dark morph of the Eastern grey squirrel or the fox squirrel. “Morph” is a way of saying “color variation” when talking about animals. 2. Most melanized gray squirrels are found in Ontario, Canada. Melanized squirrels can be found in many parts of North America, but the largest populations are found in Ontario, Canada followed by Ohio, USA. 3. Scientists estimate that 1 in every 10,000 squirrels are black morphs. I would like to know who counted enough squirrels in enough locations for people to create this theory. 4. Black squirrels might stay warmer than gray squirrels. Scientists theorize that squirrels with black fur retain heat better than the lighter individuals. I didn’t see this claim on many sites. I would love to hear the opinion of a squirrel scientist or a scientist that specializes in mammalian body heat. 5. Black squirrels have a reputation of aggression. Plenty of sites claim that black squirrels are aggressive, but others say this reputation is undeserved. Until I can ask a squirrel scientist, it seems best to conclude that the answer is unknown. I do want to know how one determines the aggression of a squirrel. I wouldn’t want to antagonize one. Those things are fast! 6. Black squirrels are omnivores, sort of. Squirrels mostly eat seeds, fungi, berries, nuts, and other plant matter, but they have been known to eat insects, eggs, and smaller mammals. In short, squirrels, including black squirrels, are scavengers who will eat all kinds of things, even if it’s not good for them.  Here is an incomplete list of the many different types of animals that rely on goldenrod. Insects that Pollinate Goldenrod
Each type of insect has different species that may use goldenrods. Finding and listing them all out would be too much for a short overview like this article. Animals that Eat the Leaves of Goldenrod
Garden Experiments says that turkey and ruffed grouse eat goldenrod leaves, but I couldn’t find other sources to confirm this. White-tailed deer may eat the leaves of goldenrod, but it’s not their preferred food. Animals That Eat the Seeds of Goldenrod
This list comes from Garden Experiments, but I couldn’t find other sites to confirm that all these animals eat goldenrod seeds. It seems likely that these animals would eat goldenrod seeds, though. I know the gray squirrels in my backyard will eat almost anything plant based. Animals That Live On Goldenrod as Larvae or Nymphs
You can go down the rabbit hole of Wikipedia looking at the different species of insects that use goldenrod. Animals That Eat Insects Living On Goldenrod
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Jill Hames is a writer, musician, biblical studies teacher, and ESL tutor who finds life too interesting to pick a niche. She has a B.A. in Music and Spanish, a Masters in Library and Information Science, is TEFL.org 168-hour certified to teach English as a second language, and is working towards a Master of Divinity. Jill is a member of Delta Omicron and the International Women's Writing Guild.
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Copyright 2025
[email protected]
Copyright 2025