Orchard Orb-Weavers

Who doesn’t love a good orb-weaver? These charismatic spiders have long, dramatic legs, unique abdomens, and impressive webs to boot. The sharp angles, large bodies, and bright colors can be frightening to an untrained eye, but orb-weavers are shy and nearly harmless.

 An Adult Female Orb-Weaver

Photo by Andrea Westmoreland licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Now that it is spring at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, the Orchard Orb-Weavers (Leucauge venusta) are abundant. I was treated to dozens of these beauties one morning as I was treating a nasty invasive plant called Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) in a mixed forest. Brazilian pepper is easier to identify by its leaves and berries than the trunk, so I walked through the trees looking up and tracing the foliage back to the base, where I applied the herbicide.

The height at which the Orchard Orb-Weaver prefers to build its horizontal web varies by maturity, but my head level was undeniably in the range. In my quest for Brazilian pepper, I ate quite a bit of web. On nearly each aggregation, I saw a large and glossy female and a much smaller, less impressive male off to the side which leads me to believe that it is mating season for these annual spiders.

They may be common around Corkscrew, but I get excited every time I see their attractive green, orange, and white patterns. After all, that is why they are called the ‘Jewel of the Swamp’ (okay, only I call them that, but I think it could catch on). I’m not the only one who appreciates their good looks - Leucauge is Greek for “with a bright gleam,” and venusta is Latin for charming, elegant, or beautiful.

The good news is that Orchard Orb-Weavers are found over the entire continental US, though regional variation exists. The next time you see a round horizontal web in a moist wooded area, take the time to check for a ‘Jewel of the Swamp.’

Read more about Leucauge venusta and see photos here.

Source:

“Leucauge venusta”. Spiders.us. 28 April 2016 <http://www.spiders.us/species/leucauge-venusta/>.

---Until Next Time
Kristina

Chatty Crocodilians

Baby American alligators from the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. Photo by William Stamps Howard, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Being in Corkscrew is my first exposure to the flora and fauna of southern Florida and I seem to find something new and exciting every day in the field. One day in my first week, my fellow intern Nick, a volunteer, the Corkscrew resource manager, and I loaded up into the truck and drove into the backcountry to clear coastal plain willow (Salix caroliniana). Coastal plain willow is a native plant, but it is thirsty and fire-resistant. As a result, it is important to manage their numbers and distribution so that they don’t dominate marshes and edge habitat.

As we unloaded, we passed by a small pond with a large female alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) and her pod of young. Between 25 and 30 of the small, dark and yellow striped alligators sat along the banks and atop logs. Upon seeing us, the juveniles scrambled into the water and started swimming towards the head of their mother en masse, making a loud chirping noise. It was the most endearing sound I’ve heard an animal make. Unfortunately, it is not a cry of joy but a distress call, alerting the mother to potential danger (four large animals with chainsaws will often give that impression).

At the end of the day I went home to investigate the call and found that young alligators are vocal right from the start. Hatchlings make grunting noises while in their eggs, alerting adult alligators prior to hatching and potentially to synchronize emergence with other members of the clutch. As the pod grows older under a mother’s care, the similar distress call is added. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, juvenile alligators have good reason to be cautious. On average, less than a dozen will graduate their mother’s care and fewer than five of the pod will live to maturity.

Listen to the surprisingly charming distress call here:

Learn more about vocalizations from my primary source here: 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/22225400_Vocalization_in_juvenile_crocodilians

Until Next Time! --- Kristina

Sources:

“Alligator Facts.” Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission    

           <http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/managed/alligator/facts/>.

Herzog, Harold A. and Gordon M. Burghardt, “Vocalizations in juvenile crocodilians.”         Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 44, 294-304. August 1997                      <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/22225400_Vocalization_in_juvenile_crocodilians>.

Meet Conservation Intern Kristina!

Kristina is joining Nick as Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary's newest conservation and land management intern. She will also be providing updates to the blog as inspiration strikes.

"I’m a Seattle-area native with a B.S. Environmental Science from American University in Washington, DC. I got my start in conservation searching the Capital park system for seeps, vernal pools, and endangered amphipods that inhabit them. Since then, I have kept tabs on invasive quagga mussel veligers in Las Vegas, spent a brief hiatus in water safety consulting, studied salmon and brown bears in Kodiak, and eradicated ants while monitoring seabirds and marine life on Johnston Atoll. In my free time, I like taking weekend trips to new places and daydreaming about my future mini-farm (hint: quails).  My first few weeks at Corkscrew have been an amazing introduction to the Western Everglades ecosystem and the work that happens ‘beyond the boardwalk.’ I am glad that now I will be able to share all my new discoveries with you!”

Too Close for Comfort: A Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Alligator Encounter

     As a recent college graduate in the field of Environmental Science, I have been very fortunate to be a part of a plethora of internships and volunteer opportunities within the field. My most recent step forward for my career has been receiving an internship position with the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary as a Conservation Intern. I am roughly halfway through my six month term and decided that a blog platform would give me and my co-intern a chance to share our wonderful experiences with the public. For those of you who don't know, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a 13,000 square acre natural area that is managed by the National Audubon Society. This area is home to a wealth of native Florida species and ecosystems. Stepping onto the property is like stepping into a time machine that takes you back for a glimpse of the once pristine natural beauty of Florida. 

     As Conservation Interns, we have a variety of responsibilities throughout the sanctuary. Working closely with resource management and research, we are able to leave this internship with a new mastery and fresh perspective of the environmental field as a whole. For this particular story, I am going to focus on the Research facet of our position and how I came face to face with one of Earth's most powerful apex predators.

     One of our responsibilities includes a standard research practice known as aquatic fauna monitoring. Using 1-m² throw traps and wire mesh minnow traps, we collect fish and aquatic invertebrates to study their populations during important months related to Wood Stork foraging. In order to use these traps, we have to wade through water ranging from 1 to 3 feet deep, meaning our jobs require us to enter multiple bodies of murky fresh water throughout the property. These small ponds can often be riddled with snakes, insects or other small animals, but nothing can compare to getting in the water with a 10 foot territorial alligator watching your every move.

     Within the pond that we have endearingly nicknamed "Duck," lives a large male gator. This guy has virtually a whole pond that is large and fairly deep throughout the dry season all to himself. Right off the bat, he did not look happy as we drove up in the work truck with all of our gear. Our supervisor, Mica, told us that we should be keeping a watchful eye on the sunning gator as we entered its domain. As quick as we got in the water to throw the throw trap, the gator had slipped under the surface of the water. We were only about ten feet from the shore as we saw him slowly bob up and down in the water and each time he surfaced, he would close the gap between us. It was like something out of a JAWS movie whenever he would go back under, as we were unsure of how close he would actually be to use when he came up again. 

     With all four of us standing completely still in the water, scanning the surface for any sign of the gator, it would have been quite the sight for a 3rd party observing from the road. Finally after what felt like an eternity, the sun hits the water perfectly where I can see the enormous gator's tail slithering through the mud literally four feet from where I am standing. Now we don't bring weapons of any kind to defend ourselves from wildlife, and all I had to defend myself is a seine that I am using as the only shield between me and this enormous predator. As soon as I spot it and yell a few choice words, Mica orders me to back away extremely slowly and to make myself look large and intimidating. Trying to look or feel anywhere close to intimidating with a 10 foot gator staring you down is a very humbling experience. 

     As we all got back to the shore to assess the situation, the gator made sure to show us that it was the king of the hill by jumping a good 3 or 4 feet out of the water in an act of dominance. It was quite the sight from the shoreline and a behavior that I had never before witnessed. We decided to call it quits after that, as that guy was not going to let us get anywhere near his home again. Unfortunately, we were not able to retrieve the necessary fish sampling data for that pond in the month of February, but we all left with a new appreciation for the power of the American alligator.

                           Figure 1. The male Gator from Duck displaying his dominance. 

(Photo by Allyson L. Webb 

Written by: Nick Charles, Conservation Intern 2017

     

Meet Conservation Intern Nick!

Good afternoon.  We are please to introduce one of our awesome Conservation Interns who will be blogging for us for the next few months, Nick!

"My name is Nicholas Charles and I go by Nick for short. I was born at Yokota Air Force base in Fussa, Japan while my dad was actively serving in the military. I received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Central Florida in Environmental Science and a Minor in Biology and am very interested in going back to school to get a Master's degree. I would love to work in a lab as an Environmental Scientist in the future and feel that my internship with Corkscrew will give me the tools and knowledge to lead me there. I love hiking, playing video games, and working out at the gym. I look forward to learning and experiencing as much as I can."

Welcome to Corkscrew's Intern Adventures!

Welcome to our new blog...Corkscrew's Intern Adventures! Conservation interns work with resource management and research staff over the course of their six month internships. While they help staff complete tasks and meet goals, they are adding tools to their conservation tool boxes so they leave Corkscrew better equipped to move forward in their environmental careers.

An Intern applying herbicide to invasive grasses. 

Interns being led on a swamp walk to learn more about the hydrology and wildlife of the area.

Interns with their supervisor getting experience conducting a prescribed fire. 

Interns heading out with their research supervisor for aquatic fauna sampling as part of Corkscrew's monitoring program.