What is it Wednesday: July 29, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

July 29, 2020. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

This is bear scat, found near Baker Chapel last week! 

We know it is bear scat because of the size. The shape and look of the scat is similar to raccoon scat, but about twice as big. Occasionally we find scat here in a pile almost this big, but it is more like a soft blob – sometimes deer scat looks like that instead of a pile of small pellets, depending on what the deer have been eating. The only other scat we find here that is that big is horse manure!

Last week we noticed that some large and heavy garbage cans had been knocked over around camp. Then we found a pile of scat like this one near the dining hall, and this one near the chapel. We have had a black bear hanging around camp! We made sure all the garbage cans were emptied and guests stored all food inside and put all food garbage into the dumpster instead of individual cans, and we have not had any problems since. It is fine to have a bear around occasionally, but we do not want one to get accustomed to eating garbage here. It is not good for the bear; and although black bears are not aggressive, we would have to change some of our behaviors too if we were regularly living alongside bears here at Lutherlyn.

Though we don’t have any resident bears at Lutherlyn, every few years a bear is spotted here, passing through on its way somewhere else. Bear cubs, which are born in January or February, stay with their mothers for about a year and a half. So, this time of year, last year’s cubs are leaving their families and striking out to find a home range of their own. Estimates vary, but black bears need at least 2.5 square miles of habitat of mostly forest, and in many cases they use much more. There is just not that much uninterrupted forest at and around Lutherlyn to provide a good home for bears. Lutherlyn's property is slightly more than one square mile (though in an irregular shape, not a square) and not all forest, and we are mostly not surrounded by forest. However, nearby Moraine State Park does have that much forest, and bears do live there. It is always exciting to see evidence of these beautiful and powerful creatures! 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

 

What is it Wednesday archive: sometime in 2017?

What is it Wednesday

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday

sometime in 2017 - probably August. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

tomato hornworm with parasites

This is a tomato hornworm caterpillar, covered with parasitic wasp pupae! 

Tomato hornworms are a terrible garden pest that can grow to 4-5 inches long and decimate a tomato patch, leaving large round gouges in the tomatoes they have eaten. If you find a tomato hornworm in your garden, kill it! 

But if you find a tomato hornworm in your garden that has white ovals on its back, keep it. Those ovals are the pupae of a parasitic wasp which kills tomato hornworms. Keeping them helps the wasp population, which controls the tomato hornworm population. 

The wasp lays its eggs under the skin of the tomato hornworm. When the larvae hatch, they begin to eat the insides of the caterpillar. The protective case of the pupae stick out of the skin of the caterpillar, and those are the white ovals we see. By the time the wasps emerge as adults, the tomato hornworm is dead or near death. This means the tomato hornworm won't itself go through metamorphosis, become and adult moth, and lay eggs to create more tomato hornworms.  

Allowing the animals that naturally co-exist in your garden to help control your pests is a part of "integrated pest management", or IPM. IPM is an approach to controlling pests that uses as many natural controls as possible, and chemical pesticides as little as possible or not at all. This sometimes involves encouraging predators which will help control pests, by creating habitat for them in or near the garden. Sometimes all it takes is recognizing a beneficial insect (in this case, the parasitic wasp) and not killing it. 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: July 22, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

July 22, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This is the seedpod of a cucumber magnolia tree. This seedpod fell to the ground before it was fully mature.

Cucumber magnolias are large deciduous trees, with a straight broad trunk and large oval smooth-edged  leaves. In the spring, large yellow-green flowers with long oval petals develop on the ends of the twigs, usually high in the canopy. We often see the fallen petals of these flowers on trails in the forest in the spring. 

After the flowers, a seedpod develops. When it is new and unripe, it looks a bit like a small cucumber, giving the tree its name. As the seedpods ripen they turn reddish – they sometimes fall from the trees before they fully develop, like the one in this picture. When they are “ripe” the pods open and release oval-shaped bright red seeds, which we also find often on the forest floor, in the fall.

It is interesting that although both seedpods and flowers originate high up in the canopy, we encounter them often on the forest floor below – right now in mid-July there are lots of these partially developed seedpods on the trails.

For a longer look at nature with our LEEP staff, check out our virtual summer camp videos! Each day of day camp, junior camp, and junior high/senior high camp has a nature video and a Terra Dei video to help you learn more about God’s amazing creation. Find them here: https://www.lutherlyn.com/summercamp/2020-virtual-summer-camp.html.   And like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: July 15, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

July 15, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This is a mushroom known as chicken of the woods, also sometimes called sulphur shelf. It grows on dead trees and logs, and is a beautiful bright orange-yellow color, with color variations around the edge of the growth.

It is called chicken of the woods because it is edible, and the “flesh” of the mushroom has a color and texture a bit like cooked chicken breast. It also keeps its striking surface color when cooked, which makes it a pretty addition to dishes like sautéed vegetables. It is common, easy to identify, pick, and use, and filling – a great wild food find! For many people it is the first wild mushroom they eat, because it has no toxic look-alikes. But even for people who don’t eat wild mushrooms (the safest approach!) its striking color, shape, and abundant layers make it a treat to find.

Always remember that whenever trying a new wild food it is important to make sure you have the correct identification and preparation, and to try a small amount at first to make sure you don’t have a bad reaction. And the safest way to be sure you don’t eat any poisonous wild mushrooms is to not eat any wild mushrooms!

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: July 8, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

July 8, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This is the nymph of Reduvius personatus, commonly known as a masked hunter. This insect is a type of assassin bug, a member of the hemoptera family, or “true bugs.”

The nymph (immature insect) of the masked hunter adds dust and other particles to sticky hairs on its body, creating a layer of camouflage. It has one layer of fine particles close to its body, and coarser particles on longer hairs that create an outer layer. This effectively hides it from both predators and prey.

Masked hunters and other assassin bugs eat other insects (including bedbugs)! This makes them good garden helpers to have around, as they can help control the population of pest insects. Some of them can also bite humans and their bite can be painful, so it’s best to enjoy looking at them without touching, but like most insects only bite when harmed or threatened.

One type of assassin bug, known as the kissing bug, has gotten “internet famous” in recent years for its potential to carry Chagas disease. Kissing bugs are mainly found in Mexico and Central and South America, sometimes in southern U.S. states, and rarely in Pennsylvania. There are very few instances of people being infected with Chagas disease in the U.S. The common types of assassin bugs we find in Pennsylvania are not kissing bugs (though they may have a somewhat similar appearance) and do not carry Chagas disease.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: July 1, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

In this picture we see the leaves and flowers of dewberry.
You can also see the stem or vine if you look closely. 

Dewberry grows low to the forest floor, along a trailing vine that has small sharp thorns.
It produces a small aggregate berry that starts off red and turns dark purple as it ripens. The berries are edible and look a lot like black raspberries, but smaller and not as sweet. Dewberries at Lutherlyn ripen late in the summer.

Dewberries are easily mistaken for wild strawberries at first glance, but looking at them side by side it is easier to see they have clear differences. The most notable difference is that dewberries grow on a thorny vine, while strawberries grow on a soft short upright stem. But the leaves and flower petals of dewberries are also generally smaller and pointier than the leaves and flowers of strawberries, with more prominent veins. 

When you first saw this picture, did you think it was wild strawberries or did you know it was dewberries? Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!