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Nature Scoop June 2022

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail nectaring on Purple Coneflower
Patrick, a reader, emailed me that he switched to a battery-powered mower after reading in a previous Nature Scoop about the high amount of pollution that comes from gas mowers. He was surprised to find that an electric mower has other benefits. He said "I feel better after I'm done mowing from not having to smell the exhaust." He went on to say that the electric mower is less noisy than a gas mower. It's also easier to use because it has less vibration. We can help prevent air quality alerts. Use an electric or push lawn mower because the average pollution from one hour of mowing with a gas mower is equivalent to driving 11 cars for an hour or, with a riding mower, as much as driving 34 cars for an hour per National Wildlife Federation. Gas leaf blowers pollute even more. Patrick closed his email with "I wish I had switched sooner. Everyone should switch as soon as possible.".

Asian Spotted Lanternflies are killing many crops and native hardwood and fruit trees. This damaging insect arrived in the U.S. in 2014, lives in 10 states and has been seen in 10 more already. Squash it and kill it if you see one. Report it to your state's Dept of Agriculture. Also, report it on the Great Lakes Early Detection Network App. Invasive Asian Tree of Heaven is the host plant for the Spotted Lanternfly. Although it will lay its eggs anywhere, this is  the Spotted Lanternfly's favorite plant. Please destroy Tree of Heaven, which blooms in June, because it is invasive and crowds out our native plants. Its leaves contain a chemical defense, somewhat like the Monarch caterpillars' host plant, milkweed. Birds, Carolina praying mantis, spiders and assassin bugs will all eat Spotted Lanternflies. However, if the Lanternfly caterpillars have fed on Tree of Heaven leaves, our native predators avoid them because of the bad taste, similar to the bad taste Monarch butterflies have from eating milkweed. See more here.

Keep bird feeders and baths clean during this outbreak of Bird Flu (Avian Influenza, Asian H5N1). Some readers had questions about Cornell Lab's statement that wild songbirds were at low risk for Bird Flu in May's Nature Scoop. The Lab did not consider wild birds that are dying from the disease, like Eagles, Barred Owls or Wood Ducks, in that statement because they are not songbirds. There's a list of non-songbirds, which are native wild birds, that had died at the very bottom of the article.

Good news: Sacramento, CA has planted so many trees that it has earned the name City of Trees. Be inspired by their clever video about the value of shade trees.

- Toni Stahl, National Wildlife Federation Habitat Ambassador, Email marc-a@columbus.rr.com, please retweet @naturescoopohio, Facebook www.facebook.com/toni.stahl.73; website www.backyardhabitat.info


Tips for Our Yards and Gardens

-  Organic Lawn Care DIY: Mow grass high (3-4 inches) to allow lawn to shade out weeds
-  Fertilize flower baskets with organic fertilizers, such as a little fish emulsion or kelp emulsion mixed in water
-  Deep-water new plantings when dry until they grow their deep taproots (needed year 1 and less in years 2-3)
-  Put 30-day Bti Mosquito dunks in your rain barrels to eliminate mosquitoes; dunks are available at most nursery and hardware stores
-  Turn your outdoor light on and off and stomp your feet before taking your pet out on a leash to avoid an unexpected skunk encounter
-  Plant for North American Pollinators by bloom season and type of pollinator
-  The native plants that feed the most specialist native bees in most parts of the country are Perennial Sunflowers, Goldenrods, Native Willows, Asters and Blueberries. These plants will also feed the generalist native bee babies
-  Let's save native bees by placing European honey bee hives in landscapes that are adequately planted to support the honey bees (~one acre of flowering plants to support one hive of 10,000-50,000 honey bees) and keep the honey bees out of native bee plant territories where the non-native honey bee out-competes our native bees
-  Japanese Beetle scouts? Watch your plants and kill Japanese Beetles when they first enter your yard to keep others from following: hold a container of soapy water or alcohol below them and tap the plant stem or brush them with a craft stick (similar to a Popsicle stick; found in the craft section of stores) so the Beetles drop into the container
-  Milkweed leaves curling and turning slightly yellow? Your milkweed may have Milkweed Yellows bacterial disease. Cut off infected leaves, or if all leaves are yellowed, pull out the entire plant, bag and throw in trash (not yard waste or compost due to disease)
-  Control mosquitoes by removing standing water from your yard: change bird bath water regularly, investigate your yard for places water collects; clear your roof gutters so they drain properly; empty covers over items, such as on a chair, yard ornaments, grill or swimming pool
-  Kill Mosquitoes Doug Tallamy's way: In an out-of-the-way area, partially fill a bucket with water, add wheat straw or hay and add a product containing Bti (Mosquito dunk) found at most nursery and hardware stores. Let it ferment. The fermentation attracts female mosquitoes to lay their eggs in it. Bti prevents the eggs from hatching
-  Moths have a bad reputation because of just a few species (i.e., tent caterpillar, gypsy moth), but the others (more than 3,000 species in Ohio) are beautiful and essential to our birds' survival whether residents, migrators or for parents to feed their young. Add native plants for moths (they are attracted to white flowers)
-  Know the Facts About Orphaned and Injured Wildlife
-  Please keep cats indoors or on a leash to protect baby birds and other wildlife
-  Look before you mow or let your dog out; wild cottontail rabbits often make their nests in lawns, so mow around them and keep your dog indoors or on a leash
-  If you have baby, wild cottontail rabbits in your lawn, their babies are probably not abandoned because adults usually feed their babies quickly at dusk and dawn
-  Avoid tossing coins, like pennies, in ponds and bird baths; they include metals, which may contaminate the water and be harmful to wildlife
-  Avoid catching an itchy rash from Poison Ivy, Oak or Sumac by learning to ID them. They don't grow everywhere. See their range maps and photos. Stay far away from all parts of these plants. If you touch any part, quickly wash thoroughly with soap and water, leaving no oil on your skin. If you are away from water, bring alcohol to clean off the oil
-  To avoid tick bites, keep to sunny, dry areas, tuck pants into white socks, make a tick-free zone by piling wood chips around a play area and check and remove ticks when entering the house. Put clothes in a hot dryer to kill any ticks on clothing. Remove ticks promptly to help avoid disease
How to Remove a Tick
-  Avoid putting out food for wildlife. It isn't good for them, and they may lose their natural fear of humans. Native plants are the only food you should provide, with the exceptions of bird feeders or butterfly fruit feeders
-  If you have window wells, put a cheap cover over them to prevent small creatures from being trapped in them
-  Certify your yard for Garden for Wildlife Month (June) and get 20% off. Post a sign so others know what you're doing. Learn how
-  Remove Invasive, non-native Dame's Rocket, bag it and throw it in the trash. Don't put in compost or yard waste because it continues to go to seed even if it is removed from the ground. Dame's Rocket's bloom (4 petals) looks similar to native Phlox (5 petals)
Frog Calls in order by month heard - less than a minute long
-  Asian Ladybugs control small groups of non-native, Oleander Aphids but also eat Monarch eggs. If Aphids begin to spread on Milkweed, gently spray them with mild soapy water when it's not windy. Keep a paper towel behind the plant to absorb any stray spray and rinse the soap off after the Aphids are dead so it doesn't kill any beneficial insects
-  Why does my Sycamore or Maple tree have brown spots on the leaves?
-  Put out smashed fruit (like banana and watermelon) for butterflies that don't drink nectar, spritz it with water to keep it moist when it's hot and cover it with taut mosquito netting so that flies cannot reach the fruit
-  Expert Tips for Camping with Wildlife
 

Nature News

Eastern Monarch Population 2021-2022 released 5/25/22
What's the Rush? Moving, inspirational 25 minute-long presentation by Doug Tallamy
New Study Shows Roundup Kills Bees
Visual Gems - From Your Phone (Expert tips)
Monarch Predators Revisited: A Beneficial Insect is a Beneficial Insect
Bird Brainy (Crow smarts)
Fewer Rainy Days Lead to Earlier Spring in the Northern Hemisphere


Ohio Habitat Ambassador Nature Events

Please send your backyard conservation educational event with a link the month prior to the registration deadline (e.g. May 1 for June issue)
-  Would you please email me if your group would like to schedule a ZOOM presentation by a National Wildlife Federation certified Habitat Ambassador at no cost?
-  6/5, Tecumseh Land Trust Annual Meeting, Bluebird trail walk and Garden for Wildlife Handouts, Habitat Ambassador Bethany Gray, Yellow Springs
-  6/8, Pollinator Expo, Habitat Ambassador Bethany Gray Exhibit, Wright Brothers Memorial, Dayton
 

Other Ohio Nature Events

Please send your backyard conservation educational event with a link the month prior to the registration deadline (e.g. May 1 for June issue)
-  Reg now for 6/2, Pollinators, Native Plants and Ecosystem Health Webinar, sponsored by Westerville Library, Zoom
-  6/4, Native Plant Sale, 4 native plant vendors, Hosted by Darke County Parks, Greenville
-  6/11, Bird Walk, Wild Ones Columbus
-  6/25, Native Plant Sale, MEEC, Dayton
 

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