Ask a Naturalist

Do you have a question? Great -- because we have the answers. Our naturalists know almost everything, and when we don't know the answers ourselves we know who to ask and where to look to find out. 

If you have a question, please e-mail it to us, and we'll print your question and our answers in the Ann Arbor News and on this page.

FROGS

Q: What kinds of frogs can be found at Black Pond and how can I find them?

Listening for frogs' call each spring is the best way to find frogs at Black Pond. Male frogs call, alerting both female and male frogs to the presence of a body  of water large enough to allow offspring enough time to progress from the tadpole stage to adults. Arriving males join in the chorus creating an amphibian party in the pond. Because of their size and camouflaged skin, frogs are frequently heard and not seen. At Black Pond the most common frogs are:

• Wood Frog: (Rana sylvatica) breeds from March to early May. Their quack-like call can be heard even with ice still on the pond.
  

• Chorus Frog: (Pseudacris triceriata) breeds from mid-March to late May. April is the prime month to hear their call that sounds like a finger strumming the tips of the bristles of a hair comb.
  

• Spring Peeper: (Pseudacris crucifer) breeds in April and May. Their short, high-pitched peep can be imitated to initiate their performance after a startling interruption.
  Green Frog: (Rana clamitans) breeds in late spring and early summer and can be found close to the floating boardwalk on Black Pond during daylight hours. Its call can be reproduced by plucking a stretched rubber band.

From the Leslie Science and Nature Center parking lot, Black Pond can be reached daily from dawn to dusk, by a 0.75 mile dirt trail. From Pontiac Trail, the Leslie Park Trail intersects the Black Pond Woods Trail. Children should be accompanied by adults. Dogs must be leashed and scooped. Like humans, dogs are asked to stay on the trails. Beware of the occasional bicycle.
 

TREES

Q: What are the world’s biggest and smallest trees? By Maya

A:  Hmm, that depends on how you define the word big and the word tree. Let’s say that a tree is a plant which has a single trunk of woody tissue surrounded by a protective layer of bark. That leaves us with at least two ways to define the word, biggest.

Tall trees can be considered big trees. The world’s tallest tree is a California or Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), which grows to around 370 feet. The  redwood known as “Hyperion” was measured to be 379.1 feet tall in 2006. Although tall, redwoods do not have the greatest amount of wood. Hyperion only has an estimated volume of 18,600 cubic feet of wood.

Also found in California, the Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) could be considered the biggest tree in the world. Although it grows about a hundred  feet shorter than its cousin, the redwood, the Giant Sequoia is several feet wider. The Sequoia known as “General Sherman” is only 272.9 feet tall but has a total volume of 52,500 cubic feet.

If we expand the definition of the word "tree" to include any woody plant growing from a  single root system, another tree species might be the world’s biggest  tree. In Utah, a group of 47,000 tree trunks all share the same root structure. This colony of the Trembling Aspen (Populus tremloides) is known as “Pando”. Pando is estimated to weigh about 13.25 million pounds or 6,615 tons.

Attaining heights of only two inches, the worlds smallest tree is considered to be the Dwarf Willow (Salix herbacea). Although it grows as far south as New  York, this tree is most commonly found farther north in the Arctic and sub-Arctic areas. A group of the low-growing dwarf willow looks more like an attractive ground cover than a forest of trees.

GROUNDHOG

Q: Why do we have Groundhog’s Day?

The groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent, related to mice, squirrels, and porcupines. Reaching a size of up to 11 pounds, the groundhog is not even the world’s largest rodent. That honor belongs to the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) of South America which can grow to 140 pounds. The groundhog is not even North America’s largest rodent, which is the beaver (Castor canadensis) which reaches a maximum of 70 pounds.

Groundhogs are also known as a woodchuck, whistle pig, marmot, or land beaver. Groundhogs do whistle and bark when alarmed, hence the name, whistle pig. The word, woodchuck, is actually a derivation of an Algonquin word for the animal. Marmots and beavers do look a lot like groundhogs.

Groundhog’s Day is simply about hope. When the holiday was first celebrated in the US over 150 years ago, before electricity, cars, furnaces, and modern  warm clothing, winters would have been more difficult for people to survive. Thankfully they did survive or else we would not be here today.

The February 2 date of Groundhog’s Day is about half-way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. In the northern hemisphere, the winter  solstice falls on December 21 or 22 and is the shortest day and longest night of the year. On March 21 or 22, during the spring equinox, the day and night are both equal length. By February 2, the increasing day length is noticeable.

Why choose the groundhog to celebrate the longer day? Wild groundhogs are not above ground on February 2. But groundhogs are probably the largest  mammals that truly hibernate near civilization. These rodents enter their underground dens to begin their coma-like state in October and awaken in late March or early April, relying on stored body fat to survive. During hibernation, their breathing and heart rate slows and they move little, if at all.

Soon after awakening, groundhogs mate, and have litters of 2-7 young. Their diet includes various plant parts and small invertebrates. Occasionally,  groundhogs do climb trees to reach food. Groundhog dens can be as long as 45-feet and do include a sleeping chamber and a separate chamber used as a restroom. Groundhog dens can damage building foundations.

But the final question remains, “How big of a log would a groundhog slog if a groundhog slogged a log?”