What Goes Up

    Little Kitty loves to run and jump. She is quite the acrobat. One of her favorite activities is jumping up onto the tops of our cabinets. I wanted to photograph her but it is very hard to predict when she might decide to play. I needed to encourage her to jump more often.
    I used a training principle called reinforcement. This is the best way to train an animal to perform a trick. Professional trainers use reinforcement to teach animals as small as fish and as large as elephants.
    The first step was to choose a behavior Kitty already performed that I wanted to encourage. That was easy, I had already decided that I wanted her to jump on the cabinet.
    The second step was to select a treat that Little Kitty really loves. That was easy too. She loves any type of dairy product. So I bought the cubed cheese in a resealable bag.
    The third step was to wait for Little Kitty to perform her trick strictly of her own accord. As soon as she did I instantly produced the cheese. At first she thought the cheese was just a coincidence. It was interesting to watch the wheels turn in her little head. No matter how closely she followed me around the kitchen or how sweetly she meowed no cheese was produced. But as soon as she jumped on the cabinet cheese was offered. Suddenly she was in charge. She could make me give her cheese! In one week she had it down.
    All I had to do next was to set up my camera and allow her to see me getting out the cheese. She immediately began jumping up on the cabinet and looking toward me to see if I was noticing. It was a lot of fun.
    If you want to use reinforcement to increase the frequency of a behavior just make sure you pick a pleasant behavior. Rewarding your dog for "speaking" may seem like a good idea in the beginning until your dog begins barking incessantly for treats.
    Be creative. You can reward your dog for yawning, an unusual facial expression or a funny way he lays on his back. Anything he does somewhat regularly.
    I did not teach Kitty a verbal cue for her trick. If you would like to use a word as a cue you should wait until your pet is performing the trick every time you pick up the treat. Then you want to begin saying the word while the pet is doing the trick, not before he does it.
    If your pet doesn't seem to be getting the hang of things make sure you have a treat he loves and make sure you are rewarding him instantly when the behavior occurs.
    Two great books about animal training are "Clicking With Your Dog" by Tillman and "Don't Shoot the Dog" by Pryor.
     And remember, "What goes up, must come down."

  
 

European Hornet

    These are European Hornets. I was scared of them at first because of their size (1 1/2 in long) and their unsettling habit of hurling their bodies against my window at night.
    Now that I know more about them I am much more comfortable with them. They are actually quite approachable just as long as none of the approaching is done around their nest. Every source I read describes them as ferocious in guarding their home. 
    When they are out and about I can get quite close if I move slowly. Move too fast and they just fly away.  Of course I wouldn't consider touching one!
    Their sting is very painful but not nearly so poisonous as a bee's. You are less likely to have an allergic reaction to a hornet sting.
    These three are removing the bark from a tree. They use bark as nest building material and they collect the sweet sap from beneath to take back to the nest to feed the young. The young also eat crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and caterpillars.
    European Hornets can damage fruit trees by girdling the limbs and they can destroy the fruit while still on the tree. In spite of this in Germany it is illegal to kill a one or destroy the nest.  In Germany one must have special permission to remove them. Failure to get permission can result in a fine.
    In between photos I watched these communicate with each other by touching their faces to one another and making a high pitched humming sound.


      

"Will you walk into my parlour?"

  
    The first line of Mary Howitt's 1829 poem "The Spider and the Fly" was often recited to me as a warning when I was young.  The poem tells of a spider whose flattery lures a fly into his "parlour." The poem ends with disastrous results for the fly.
    Grass Spiders build their webs low to the ground in grass or low shrubs. The web is shaped like a hammock with a few threads over the top. Those threads are there to confuse and trap flying insects. At the very back is a funnel where she sits quietly and waits for her supper to drop in. When a bug strikes her web she feels the vibration and  rushes up at break-neck speed to catch her prey.
    This is a female Grass Spider. I am pretty sure it's a female because the males have large round endings at the tip of their pedipalps. Also, the males do not build webs. They just wander around looking for a mate and then they die. Silly males.
    See the things that look like short legs or antennae right next to her face? Those are pedipalps. She uses them as feelers. She may also use them in web building and in catching and eating insects.
    In between the pedipalps are two big black shiny things. Those are her chelicera. Chelicera are like jaws. Hers open from side to side, not up and down like our jaws.
    Grass Spiders have poison in their chelicera to paralyze prey. Once her insect prey is helpless she carries it to her lair and eats it.
    The Grass Spider differs from most spiders in that she does not build a web that is sticky. She relies totally on her speed to catch insects. I saw this one catch a bug and believe me, she is startlingly fast!
    Click here if you would like to read  "The Spider and the Fly".
  

A Star is Done

    I found an Eastern Box Turtle in the woods on Sunday. In fact I almost stepped on him.
    I know it was a male because they have very red eyes as this one's were.
    You can estimate a turtle's age by counting the rings on his shell. That is not as easy as it sounds. Do you count only the rings on the main body of his shell? What about the rings on the flared edges  that encircle the bottom of his shell like a bumper? And what do you do when you get up towards the top and the rings become less distinct?
    Some sources on the web discuss turning Mr. Turtle over and counting the rings underneath. I chose not to disrespect him in this way.
    Instead I took the conservative route. I ignored his bumper and only counted the clearly raised rings on his hood. I counted 16 rings. So he was born in 1994. That's the year O. J. Simpson was arrested for the murder of his wife and Forrest Gump was a big hit.
    You will read on the internet that these guys can live to be 100 years old. But if you study more carefully you will see that the oldest reliably documented age is 50 years.
    Box Turtles will eat almost anything and they love mushrooms. I had recently noticed some nearby mushrooms that had been nibbled on and assumed they were eaten by squirrels. In retrospect I bet it was a turtle. Oddly enough they aren't known to eat green plants.
    When he moved through the woods occasionally he would come upon an obstacle that I was sure would be too much for him. But he conquered hurdles without interruption. Like some sort of prehistoric ATV.
    Male turtles face an unusual risk. When a male mates with a female he has to stand upright against her back. He may fall backwards after mating and if he can't right himself he will starve to death. No kidding. I read this on the Smithsonian's web site. So now I have to run around in the woods rescuing poor male turtles who are stuck on their backs.
    And get this. After mating the female may lay eggs for four years afterwards!
    When he felt that the photo shoot was over our star just walked off. No muss. No fuss.
    I think his legs and tail look very much like those of an elephant!