Browse Wildlife Stories - Page 4

Once again, it is that time of year when bucks start chasing does, and deer hunters hit the woods. You guessed it: It is time for the rut, or breeding, season. But the question to be answered is, “How do biologists predict when the rut is going to be?”

This time of the year, everyone is thinking of decking the halls with hollies and their colorful red berries, but you just may want to consider adding a touch of gold. Can you even imagine hollies with bright golden berries? These would show out in the landscape like small trees or shrubs adorned with a thousand little golden lights — and the same for the mantel! My preference, however, would be to see birds celebrating with a Christmas feast.

While there is no hard-and-fast method to determining the exact number of deer in a county or state, current population estimates are coming in at just over 1 million animals. Ultimately, the habitat quality in a particular area limits the number of deer hunters may see.

Zoe, a loggerhead sea turtle that lived at the Burton 4-H Center on Tybee Island, Georgia, for the past five years, was released on the island Saturday, Sept. 30. A large crowd of local residents and tourists gathered with cameras ready as Zoe was lowered into the water just south of the pier on Tybee Beach, where the sea turtle hatched.

What has 16 paws, eight hooves and three beaks? The answer can be found at Athens, Georgia’s Bear Hollow Zoo, and it’s not a fantastic beast. It’s a coloring book featuring some of the zoo’s most notable residents.

When it comes to backyard wildlife, the cup plant does it all. To me, it is like the flag-bearing perennial for bees, butterflies and birds. It is a stalwart and is native in 34 states, from Louisiana, north to Canada and sweeping across all states east. Its size makes it seem like it is the composite, or aster, that ate New York. It is big, bold and wonderful, and this is the time of the year it shines the most.

Opening day of dove season is a little over two months away, so it’s time to start planning for and planting dove fields. A prudently planned dove field can provide family entertainment and economic benefits through most of the dove season, which starts Sept. 2.

Deer antlers are not horns, though the two words are often used synonymously. Horns are permanent, keratinized epithelial cells. The protein keratin is required to harden those cells. Antlers, on the other hand, are derived from endothelial cells that are grown and shed annually. These cells are grown from the tip of the sequential antler and are made of osteocytes, or bone cells, that calcify and harden.

UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources are launching an environmental education certificate program this fall.

As counties across Georgia continue to develop, wildlife habitats are disturbed and destroyed. This drives deer, and other wildlife, into home landscapes, where they feast on plants. Deterring them can be a challenge.