BearWise
Just For Fun April 25, 2021
Black bears are out and about. While people enjoy having them around, it’s important to remember that these animals are wild. Sometimes, when you see the bear time and again you may feel a personal connection to that bear. That feeling is probably not reciprocated. Interactions with bears are inevitable to a certain level, so let’s talk about what to do if you see a bear and the steps that you can take to make sure that your home doesn’t become a playground for bears.
Firstly, it’s important to remember that we live in an area with copious amounts of national forest. That means black bears are out there. Hopefully, though if you encounter one you’ll know what to do or how to make your space less attractive to them. Bears will typically live 8 to 15 years. The females can weigh up to 300 pounds and the males over 500 pounds. The females will give birth in their den in late January. Those cubs will stay with the mother until the following spring when she kicks them out.
Bears are omnivores meaning that they eat whatever is easily available depending on the time of year. Their natural diet is berries, fruits, acorns, grasses, insects, and even mammals. Bears can be attracted by the smell of human food if there is not much natural food available for them. Bears are naturally afraid of humans. However, bears that have been feeding on human food lose their natural fear of people, and become a danger. Bears will usually remain in an area where food is readily available, so the best way to make sure that bears don’t move into your backyard is to remove the sources of food.
Never feed bears either intentionally or unintentionally. They will learn where food is available and become a nuisance for you. Make sure that your garbage is in a place that they can’t reach. That means leaving it inside the garage or if you’re out camping hoisting your trash in the air or putting it in a bear proof trashcan. Bird feeders can attract bears because of the high calorie content in bird feed. Bring your bird feeders in when bears are active. Usually by the time bears are active there is plenty of natural food available for birds. Don’t leave pet food out. Just give your outdoor pets enough food for one feeding. If you have a grill, clean and store it after use. Bears will be attracted by the smell of your grill so keep it out of reach for them. And finally, let your neighbors know if you see a bear so that they can take precautions too.
Most bears are not aggressive, unless they have been fed by humans before. Bear relocation is usually not an effective control option. Bears that are relocated might be moved to an area that another bear has already claimed, leading to territory fights, or the bear may try to return to its home and be struck by a vehicle. Relocation is a last resort.
If you do encounter a bear in the open make yourself look big and wave your arms and shout while backing away slowly. Do not get between a mother bear and her cubs. If you are attacked fight back aggressively with anything you can get your hands on. Bears can be dangerous but know that there are no recorded fatalities in Georgia.
If you have questions about bears in our area contact your local Extension office for more information or email me at [email protected].
Tree Dormancy
Just For Fun November 15, 2020
The leaves changing color and falling is a sign that colder weather is getting closer and closer. Trees are entering into dormancy. Dormancy is an important process to allow the tree to survive through the winter. Let’s talk a bit about how dormancy works in trees and why they need to do it.
Dormant trees will stop growing above the ground. Dormancy is partly brought on by temperature change, but even more so by the change in day length. The college word for this phenomenon is ‘photosensitive’, meaning the trees change in response to day length. Leaves will begin to change color and fall off. Leaves begin to change color because chlorophyll begins to break down. Chlorophyll is a green pigment that plants use to turn light energy to chemical energy. There are other pigments in the leaves too. As the chlorophyll breaks down the other pigments are left, resulting in the wide array of leaf color that we see. Evergreen trees like pine trees of hollies will have a needle drop in the fall and again in the spring.
As we move into winter trees will enter what’s called endo-dormancy. In endo-dormancy an unsatisfied chill hours requirement will keep plants from waking back up. Different plants have a different number of chill hours, or hours spent below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Chill hours are supposed to keep plants from waking back up too soon. In 2019, we had a couple of days in February that were over 70 degrees. While my pale legs might like to see some sun, February is not time for plants to begin waking up, as we have more freezes that are coming. Hopefully, those plants haven’t met their chill hour requirement, so even though I’m wearing shorts, the trees are still dormant.
Endo-dormancy also makes trees cold hardy. Trees will behave in a couple of different ways to make themselves cold hardy. One strategy that trees use is to keep all their water inside their cells. Frozen water expands. If all that water froze and expanded the cells would burst. To combat this trees move minerals and hormones in to mix with the water. Mixing water drops the freezing point, so that plants’ cells don’t freeze and burst. Another strategy is to move the water out of the cells so that it can freeze safely in the intracellular space.
When spring rolls around temperatures start to rise and trees will start to bud out because they have satisfied their chill hours requirement. However, if plants start to bud out and then we have another freeze, that can kill off the buds and cause damage to the trees. We saw that happen this year with a couple of freezes in April and then one on May 10.
Evergreens will continue to need water throughout the winter. If the soil freezes for long periods, the roots can’t take up the water. Deciduous trees, trees that lose their leaves, will not need as much water. Roots in trees will continue to grow as long as soil temperatures are over 40 degrees. Soil temperatures are warmer than air temperatures in the winter because they are insulated.
If you have questions about trees and dormancy contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Spiders
Just For Fun October 25, 2020
In the spirit of Halloween this year, I want to talk about spiders. When I was growing up either my dad or me always had spider duty for my sister. If there is one in her general vicinity, she wants it dead. She’s actually still like that to this day; I just can’t hear her scream from a state away. The truth is that spiders may creep us out sometimes, but they do a lot of good too. So, let’s talk about spiders.
Spiders are arachnids, meaning that they have eight legs. Ticks, mites, and scorpions are also arachnids. A spider’s body is made up of two parts, the abdomen, and the cephalothorax. They come in a wide range of sizes, but the female is usually larger than the male. The smallest is Patu digua from Colombia and is only one-fifth the size of a pinhead. The largest is the goliath bird eater. It’s in the tarantula family. They weigh up to 6.2 oz. and are almost half a foot long. They’re from northern South America. Most spiders will only live for one or two years, but tarantulas can live over 20 years in captivity. A trapdoor spider in Australia lived to be 43 years old.
Even though we think of spiders as creepy crawlies, they are usually good to have around. Spiders are a general predator, meaning that they will catch and eat a wide number of different insects. This makes them beneficial in the garden. I also don’t mind having them out on the porch, because that means fewer mosquitoes. Most of the time spiders are going to be harmless to humans. Most of their bites are not dangerous for an animal our size. A couple have a powerful bite. The black widow is one that most people know. Black widows are common throughout Georgia. Like most spiders, they are timid and won’t bite unless they’re handled. They are shiny black with a red hourglass shape on their abdomen. They like to make their web in piles of trash and lumber or cracks and crevices around the home. Black widow bites are painful. The brown recluse is another species that has a painful bite. They are not seen as often in Georgia. They like to live in undisturbed areas. They are light brown with a violin-shaped body. A brown recluse bite can cause an ulcer that heals slowly and leaves a scar.
There is a new spider in northeast Georgia from the last couple of years. The joro spider. These are from the golden orb-web genus. They make large webs that have the classic spider web design. The females are black, yellow, and red making them very striking in appearance. They’ll grow to be 4 inches across, including their legs. The joro spiders are an invasive species, but they have not shown themselves to be a pest. They may actually help control stinkbug populations, which are a pest.
If you have questions about spiders contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected]. I cannot identify critters from the bite or rash that they leave, but can assist in the identification of an insect or spider if a specimen is brought in.
Chiggers
Lifestyle September 6, 2020
Now is the time of year when chiggers are going to be most active. If you haven’t, then consider yourself fortunate, because you live a blessed life. Let’s talk about chiggers, what they are, and what you can do to protect yourself from them.
Some people call chiggers red bugs because they are tiny red mites that are less that 1/50th of an inch long. Chigger are mites that are still in their larval stage. The larval stage is the only one that bites. The other stages of the chigger life cycle either lay eggs or prey on small insects. Chiggers like to live in areas that are full of brush and debris. They can be found in leaf litter. If you have areas with tall grass, they’ll like that too. Chiggers mainly bite rodents and rabbits. So, if you have areas that make a good habitat for rodents and rabbits then there is a good chance that you’ll have mites as well. Female mites will lay their eggs in the late winter, which will hatch in the spring. Chiggers will reach peak population in mid-summer and remain active until fall. They’ll be killed off by a hard freeze.
Chiggers only bite, they don’t bury under the skin. When they bite they inject their saliva which has a skin dissolving enzyme in it. As your skin cells dissolve, they drink it up. The saliva that they inject causes irritation, which makes you itch. Chiggers can stay latched on for three or more days, so if you have a chigger bite it’s best to wash that spot with lather repeatedly, and then dab the spot with an antiseptic. That will kill most of the chiggers on you.
Chiggers typically like to bite in tight places. That means you’lloften get their bites underneath your socks, in your waist band, or armpits.
Chiggers are susceptible to dehydration. Therefore, they like to populate areas with shade and high humidity. Removing brush piles and leaves, keeping grass cut, and removing bushes will eliminate areas that they like to live. Blackberry bushes seem to be a particularly favorite habitat. Chiggers don’t like temperatures over 90 (I don’t blame them), so when our temperatures drop as summer ends, chiggers will become more active.
There are some chemicals that can be used as repellents or to kill chiggers. Products containing DEET will be effective at repelling chiggers, mosquitoes, biting flies, gnats, and ticks. You can also spray it on your clothing to keep them off your clothes. Oil of lemon eucalyptus can be used as a repellent, except for children under 3 years old. Products containing permethrin can be used on clothing to kill chiggers and ticks.
Chiggers are very aggravating to have, but hopefully this article has given you some options for how to deal with chigger bites and how to prevent them from getting on you. If you have questions about chiggers contact your county Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
On September 28 I will be hosting a Radon Education Program. This event will be virtual, but there is some limited in person seating available. Pre-registration is required for this free event. Call the Union County Extension Office at 706-439-6030 to pre-register.