Fall 1999

[TEXT ARCHIVE WEB-PUBLISHED MARCH 2002.
ORIGINAL PRINT PUBLICATION DATE: FALL 1999.]

Here's what's debuting this season
on nature's stage in Chicago Wilderness

by Jack MacRae

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Local Giants
A sunny day in late September is an ideal time to visit the magnificent grove of bur oaks at Lake County's Van Patten Woods, near the Illinois-Wisconsin border. These grand trees have witnessed a lot, from flocks of passenger pigeons to herds of elk. They have provided food for hundreds of generations of fox squirrels and homes to dozens of species of birds. Some people think the biggest bur oak in the region can be found in Van Patten Woods.

Of course you don't have to drive far to find some of our local giants. The Chicago Wilderness is filled with massive old bur oaks. Search one out and pay your respects. Bring a friend. You'll be glad you did!

Aerial Invasion
Aerial Invasion I'm not recommending that you do this while you're driving — BUT — keep your eyes to the skies as you travel through the Chicago Wilderness during the next couple of months, especially on days when a high pressure zone has entered the area, bringing cool air, clear skies, and favorable winds. These are the ideal conditions for hawks to continue their annual trip to warmer climes. On some days, thousands of hawks, including broad-wings, merlins, goshawks, and Cooper's, will fly through our air space.

Some excellent locations for viewing the hawk migration are on Mt. Hoy in DuPage County's Blackwell Forest Preserve, atop the Camelback Kame at Glacial Park in McHenry County, and along the Lake Michigan shoreline at Illinois Beach State Park.

Blue Racers
On a warm October afternoon in the 1950s, the late, great Field Museum herpetologist Karl P. Schmidt was hiking through the oak-covered dunes of northwest Indiana when he came across an amazing sight. There were scores of blue racers slithering on and around an old dune. These large, dark snakes were soaking up the last rays of autumn sun before heading underground for the winter. Blue racers, today commonly known as eastern yellow-bellied racers, are agile, graceful, and possess a nervous temperament. They are quick to strike when handled.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER

Cranes
History probably won't repeat itself, but you might want to pay closer attention to the flocks of sandhill cranes that are currently passing through the Chicago Wilderness. On November 11 last year, a whooping crane, the poster child of federally endangered species, was seen (and photographed!) while cruising south along the lakefront at Illinois Beach State Park in the company of some sandhills. An expert thinks this individual may have encountered unusually strong westerly winds during its migration and was blown into a flight path that took it through our area.

The great majority of migrating cranes fly through our skies at midday, having left the marshes of south central Wisconsin after the early morning sun warms the air. Listen for their peculiar warbling call during your lunch break.

Oh Deer
Testosterone is surging through male white tail deer. They've rubbed the soft velvet off their antlers to expose the raw bone. It's rutting season and the deer with the biggest rack usually manages the largest harem. The antlers will remain in place for a while longer, until the does have lost interest and the racks will fall to the ground.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

Traditional Entree
The turkeys that live in our county forest preserves needn't worry about being served for Thanksgiving. But the wild turkeys that lived here in the 19th century weren't so fortunate — they were hunted to extirpation. According to reports from the turn of century, some of the last of our native turkeys were gunned down in the 1870's; an individual was shot in 1871 near the Kankakee Marsh and a small flock was shot by market hunters in what is now the Englewood neighborhood in 1878.

The turkeys that have been reintroduced into the Chicago Wilderness during recent decades are doing well in our oak woodlands. They eat a varied diet of acorns, hickory nuts, and insects. You can find the huge (six inches!), four-toed turkey tracks along the trails in Herrick Lake Forest Preserve near Wheaton.

Many people know Ben Franklin promoted the turkey as our national symbol, but few realize how close the election actually was. The bald eagle became our national symbol by a single vote in Congress.

Weasels
It's the time of year for our local populations of weasels to undergo an amazing transformation in color. Triggered by declining hours of daylight, the weasel's summer coat — a rich, brown color — is replaced by a pelage of white. This adaptation allows for the weasel to blend in with the snow-covered ground as it searches for food. A skilled, furtive hunter, the weasel moves sinuously along the ground in search of its prey. Fond of eating small mammals and young birds, weasels will also tackle larger animals, jumping onto the neck of a cottontail rabbit and biting savagely at the base of the victim's skull or in the region of the jugular vein. They tend to eat the head area first. On occasion, weasels will go on a killing spree, caching a supply of dead voles or mice under a log. They do not, it seems, eat carrion.

Chicago Wilderness is home to two species of weasel, the least and the long-tailed, with the latter more common. The least weasel is our smallest known carnivore, rarely attaining the length of an un-sharpened No.2 pencil. The long-tailed weasel can grow to be 20 inches long.

Weasles' homes appear as small holes in the ground. Bluebottle flies humming at the entrance indicate the burrow is used by a carnivore, not a seed eater.

Traditional Side Dish
My earliest recollection of cranberries on our dinner table was as a cylinder of reddish gelatin, with horizontal ridges made from the can, plopped onto a serving dish. Astound-ingly, this is not the way cranberries appear in the wild.

Two species of native cranberries can be found in this region, both restricted to the cold, acidic water of bogs. While neither the large cranberry nor small cranberry are common, the former can be found in several areas, while the latter probably survives in only a few boggy sites in southern Wisconsin.

Owls with Short Ears
Short-eared owls arrive in mid-autumn and may stick around, or roost, for only a few days before migrating further south.

These owls are fond of sedge meadows and other open areas, where they roost on the ground in small groups. They can be spotted at Fermilab and Spring-brook Prairie in the diminishing afternoon sun, flying low with their feet dangling. They hover in mid-air for a second, before swooping down to grab an unsuspecting mouse or vole.