June 2, 2019: Thank an Opossum

I'll get to opossums in minute, but first, the loons have nested!

This bird's head-up position means it's not concerned about my presence beyond the signs

We do have two pairs again here on Lake Wicwas and the first pair nested around May 23rd;  it was the careful eye of Tom Crane that spotted it.  The nest is again in a very busy spot on the lake so Dave Thorpe and Henry Stevens of the Loon Preservation Committee put out signs to protect the nest from spectators and boat wakes.

Many thanks to Dave, Marge, and Henry for their efforts with the signs again

The nest is on the south side of Bryant Island - you can't miss the signs.  But the nest can be hard to see, so if you visit, bring good binoculars, don't go any closer than the signs, and please keep your visit short.  If all goes well we will look forward to loon chicks in the last week of June.

And here's someone else that will be looking forward to loon chicks:

A bald eagle patiently watches over Bryant Island

This immature bald eagle has been hanging around the lake this spring.  This picture was taken at the island just south of Bryant Island, where it has an eagle-eye view of the loon nest.  Let's help the loons save their strength for a stalwart defense of their little ones.

On Thursday I was at Turtle Island doing some re-vegetation work and I saw the second pair out shopping for real estate right off the island.

At last sighting, the second pair was still scouting out potential nesting sites near Turtle Island

We'll keep you posted on this pair.

Now about those opossums.  A member of the Meredith Conservation Commission found an interesting article about opossums and ticks (thanks PW!).  Research performed in New York by Keesing et. al ["Hosts as Ecological Traps for the Vector of Lyme Disease" and summarized by an organization called "Return to Now" [REF:  "Study:  Opossums are our Best Defense against Lyme Disease"] found that a single opossum can kill up to 5000 ticks per week!

It seems these slow moving animals amble around the forest all night acting as mobile tick magnets.  But they are excellent groomers, and as they clean themselves they gobble up all those nasty little arachnids.  And this study was done on the black-legged tick (also called deer ticks) which carry Lyme disease, so they are a great reducer of the Lyme disease vector.  I would guess they do the same for the larger wood tick as well.  I don't have any pictures of the nocturnal opossum, so here's one from the above article.

Mother opossum with its litter of Joeys.  Image by Frank Lukasseck

So when you see one of these awkward looking creatures crossing the road, do your best to avoid it, and give it a well-deserved thank you for taking care of some of the less desirable creatures we find around the lakes.

A wood tick looking for a ride and a meal ticket