Posts Tagged ‘dark skies’
Bats & Dark Skies
Bats are amazing! They have lived on Earth for more than 50 million years. There are over 1,400 different species of bats, making them the second largest order of mammals. Bats are extremely adaptable and can be found in forests, wetlands, deserts, prairies, urban areas, and even cold places like Alaska and Siberia, and they…
Read MoreWhite-lined Sphinx Moth
The white-lined sphinx moth is a fascinating creature. It’s a member of the moth family Sphingidae which has over 1400 species worldwide and 115 in North America. The white-lined sphinx moth is widespread and abundant. It can be found throughout Central America, the United States, and into southern Canada. It’s a large moth having a…
Read MoreSnapping Turtle
The common snapping turtle is a nocturnal reptile found in southern Canada from Alberta to Nova Scotia and throughout the eastern two-thirds of America from the Atlantic coast to the edge of the Rocky Mountains and south to the Gulf Coast and into Central America. They are an ancient turtle that evolved in North America…
Read MoreRosy Maple Moths
Rosy maple moths can be found from May to August in Ohio. Although classified as a “great silk moth” this moth is the smallest of these great moths. Rosy maple moths depend on maple trees for survival – hence their name. Their preferred host trees include red, sugar, silver, and box elder maples. They aren’t…
Read MoreAmerican Bullfrogs
The American Bullfrog is native to every state east of the Mississippi River. They are nocturnal and the largest true frog found in North America. They can be up to 8 inches long and weigh over a pound. Even their tadpoles are large, some reaching up to almost 7 inches long. The croaking of a bullfrog is a familiar…
Read MoreYucca Moth
While many may think of moths as the butterfly’s ugly cousin, a small boring insect flying around their porch lights at night, they are anything but. Ohio has over 3,000 species of moth. Most of them are nocturnal, many are colorful, some are large, and all are important members of their ecosystem. One of these moths is…
Read MoreCoyotes
The coyote is a fascinating creature. Not native to Ohio, coyotes originally called the open deserts and prairies of the West home. However, being intelligent, adaptable animals, coyotes can make a home anywhere there is food, water, and shelter. They began moving eastward as settlers cleared the forest for fields and pastures. At the same…
Read MoreLittle Brown Bats 02/09
The nocturnal little brown bat is one of Ohio’s 13 native bat species. It is found in North America from the Alaskan and Canadian boreal forest south through most of the U.S. and into central Mexico. Once the most common bat species in Ohio, it is now listed as endangered in the state and is…
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