Life on the Top By Margaret Gillespie

Snowshoe hares, Lepus americanus, along with rabbits, are from the order Lagomorpha, Greek for “hareshaped.” While similar, there are distinct differences between hares and rabbits and a major contrast is seen in their young. Newborn hares, called leverets, are born fully furred, with eyes open, and ready for action
whereas rabbits are born with minimal fur, eyes closed, and in need of immediate warmth and care. Hares are not in the same order as rodents (Rodentia), although
superficially they may appear closely related. Both hares and rodents are herbivores and have large ever-growing incisors. For those interested in skull identification, hares also possess two small peg-teeth behind their upper incisors, vestigial teeth, without a real function. Rodents, like squirrels and beavers are gnawers, using their teeth to open an acorn or take down trees. In contrast, hares nip off twigs at a 45 degree angle and in winter also eat buds, tree seedlings, and tender bark.
Which came first – the snowshoe or the snowshoe hare? Since lagomorphs have been in North America for millions of years, the answer is clear. However, there is much to learn from nature and perhaps Native Americans observed activities of hares on the snow’s surface when they developed their own snowshoes. In the case of snowshoe hares, life on the top is thanks to exceptionally large hind feet, which in winter grow an inch of fur on the bottom, further enhancing their size and insulation
value. On soft snow, hares can spread their four long toes to increase surface area. They can even put all their weight on their hind feet while they stand up to nibble
high twigs. By maintaining trails to and from feeding and resting areas over their three to 25 acre home range, snowshoe hares can be prepared for a quick escape. Caught sleeping? Snowshoe hares literally doze on their feet. With their large hind
feet under them, these three to four pound mammals are poised to leap away, covering
12 feet in a single bound and accelerating to over 25 miles per hour! Another name for the snowshoe hare is the varying hare, indicating that their fur changes color seasonally. Over a period of 10 weeks in the fall and spring, snowshoe hares make the color transition, as only the guard hairs and just their tips change into the new color – white in winter and reddish brown in summer. The winter coat also
adds an additional 25 percent insulation. What is the key to this color shift? It’s
photoperiod, specifically shortening days in fall and lengthening in spring. Another
color “trick” is the black-tipped ears on this white creature – the black color draws
attention, allowing the body to be less apparent against the white snow. Of course,
camouflage works best in combination with the hare’s freezing behavior. How did the hare I found with Andy know we were coming? I’m sure it was easy with the hare’s large ears and good sense of smell. Eyesight may have played a lesser role. Adapted for low light levels of dawn, dusk, and night when hares are active, their eyes do not detect color and are located to the side of their heads where they when can spot predators, even behind them. Speaking of predators, those interested in hares include foxes, coyotes, fishers, bobcats, lynxes, and large owls. To minimize exposure to danger, hares literally “grab a bite” and return to the safety of their
shelters. There they engage in a process called refection to assist with the digestion of this quickly eaten high cellulose meal. By ingesting the first soft green pellets they excrete, hares absorb extra nutrients and vitamins on a second digestive trip. This final digestion and excretion results in the solid brown pellets we see along their pathways – truly recycled material! Are you thinking of dusting off your own snowshoes and taking a look for their name sake? It is much more fun if you take along someone young or young at heart. Even more captivating is to have a mystery to solve. Which way did the hare go? It seems obvious, but most things in nature have an intriguing twist. As the snowshoe hare runs, it first places its tiny forepaws in the snow and then brings its larger hind feet around the front legs and plants them in front. So, the “snowshoe” hind feet are really the leaders. Pick a clear, crisp day for your adventure and enjoy your time living on the top!

Mushroom

Mysteries

by Margaret

Gillespie

This mushroom story still makes me smile even years later. While at Cornell University, I lived with two other graduate students

in an apartment downhill from campus. Each day on our walk home we passed a fraternity that I barely noticed. My roommate Cathy, however, spotted shaggy mane mushrooms on the broad lawn and during the fall she picked a crop daily, turning them into mushroom delicacies in our kitchen. One afternoon a fraternity brother sauntered out while she was harvesting and asked a simple question. With a sweep of his hand across the lawn he queried, “Are all these mushrooms edible?” Cathy replied slowly, “Some of them are,” thus securing our mushroom supply for the remainder of our stay in Ithaca! Shaggy mane mushrooms resemble the widespread perception of a typical mushroom - one with a cap and stem. In reality, mushrooms are

fungi that grow in a variety of shapes including round, club-shaped or bracket-like to those resembling coral or even tiny cups containing what looks like eggs. These are all the fruitbodies of fungi, literally the tip of the iceberg. Beneath is a labyrinth of threads or hyphae which absorbs nutrients. It can extend for miles! If you turn over a rotting log, you will get a glimpse of

this expanding network in action. With the correct moisture and environment, hyphae generate into the familiar mushroom fruitbodies whose function it is to form spores that disperse on the wind. Spores germinate into new hyphae and renew

the cycle. Let’s take a closer look at three mushrooms you are likely to encounter. See if you can recognize them from the descriptions.On many walks in the woods, I am intrigued by the brilliant yellow to orange color of a classic-looking cap and stem mushroom. Its cap flattens as it ages and is covered with light-colored flakes. A large ring, which originally covered

the gills, now encircles the stem below the cap. Immediately I am reminded of the stories of toadstools – a term sometimes referring to poisonous mushrooms. Any guesses? If Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric) jumps to your mind, you are right and yes, it is fine-looking but deadly for humans to eat. On a morning after wet summer or autumn weather, these mushrooms seem to have inflated into giant white balls on a lawn. If they are still young, the inside whensliced is white and solid. When you come back a few days later, the outside is deteriorating and the inside is yellowing as the spores mature. A smaller relative, the

size of a golf ball, has a pore in the top from which thespores emerge like smoke when disturbedDid you solve the mystery? These arepuffballs – round mushrooms with no stems– the Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) and the Tumbling Puffball (Bovista plumbea). Exploring by an abandoned beaver pond, you see that remnants of chewed stumps are now festooned with layers of small fan-shaped bracket fungi that havesemi-circular patterns of light and dark brown. Do they remind you of part of a

turkey’s anatomy? Yes, these are turkey-tail polypores (Trametes versicolor)! Turkey tails grow on stumps that are at least three years old. If the conditions are right for mushrooms, you can find a multitude of different shapes, sizes and even smells! Mushroom odors range from pleasant fragrances like cinnamon, almond, or apricot to downright nasty ones akin to decaying carrion, rotten cabbage, or bad ham. Another intriguing aspect of mushrooms is the diverse way spores are arranged – they are produced by a structure called a hymenium, which may be located along gills or in pores on the underside of the cap. The hymenium may also be on the surface of the fungi – coral-like fungi for example – or in the case of the cups with egg-like structures, the hymenium is enclosed within “eggs” that splash out when hit by rain water. A fun project with children (and also an important identification technique) is to collect some spore prints from cap and stem mushrooms. Using just the cap of a fresh mushroom, place the gill or pore surface down on paper. Cover it with a bowl andovernight the spores will be deposited on the paper making an intriguing spore print! Spores can come in several colors from white to brown to black so you may need to experiment with light and dark paper. It is tempting, as we walk through the forest, across a field, or even in our backyard, to focus solely on the visible part of mushrooms. Take time to contemplate the teaming mushroom network beneath our

feet. Some mushrooms form associations

with trees which are beneficial to both.

Called mycorrhizal relationships, the fungus

assists the tree in getting water and nutrients

and in turn receives sugars from the tree.

Other mushrooms break down organic

material like fallen trees, thus recycling

nutrients for other living things. Still

others can be parasitic. All are part of the

fascinating diversity and complexity of

mushroom lives. So, remember to stop and

smell the roses but also stoop to sniff the

mushrooms growing underneath!

Up Close To Animals

With summer here, Squam Lakes Natural Science Center has started its Up Close to Animals Series! Come see as our naturalists give mini presentations on the animals here at the Science Center, including the peregrine falcon, porcupine, skunk, great horned, northern saw-whet, and barred owls, opossum, snakes, woodchuck, hawks, turtles, and bats! At today's presentation, Beth showed us all about the barred owl, explaining its different senses and how it hunts and eats its prey. We then got to hear its different calls and see how its feathers and talons are constructed. It was very interesting!

Presentations are held daily at the amphitheater (in Classroom 3 in the Webster Building if raining) from 11 - 3 on the hour and last about 20 minutes. The Up Close to Animals talks are free as part of your trail admission. Click here to view the daily schedule.

We want your old cell phones!

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center wants your old cell phones! Why? To recycle! We have been working with Eco-Cell to collect old cell phones and recycle them in an environmentally friendly way. So if you have any old or broken cell phones that you would like to get rid of, bring them in to Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and we'll take care of it for you!
For more information on Eco-Cell, visit their website at www.eco-cell.com.

Science Center Lake Cruises

A tour of Squam Lake on the Science Center's Lake Cruise revealed many exciting sights! Summer is in full swing here on the lake, and it couldn't be more beauitful! As we left Cotton Cove, we came into full view of the Sandwich Mountains. Along the way, we spotted several loon nests with our binoculars, the loons not far away! Finally, we caught a glimpse of the house occupied by Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda in the film On Golden Pond. It was a great afternoon.

See our Photo Set on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slnsc/sets/72157619847911305/

Kirkwood Gardens

These Yellow Lady Slippers are now blooming at Kirkwood Gardens and aren't they big and beautiful!

Go to our Flickr account and see what else is blooming at http://www.flickr.com/photos/slnsc/sets/

Today was another busy day at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, despite the rain.

More than 300 students visited from the following schools and camps:

• Camp Calumet, Ossipee, NH
• Enfield Village School, Enfield, NH
• Groveton Elementary School, Groveton, NH
• Heavenly Sunshine Pre School and Kindergarten, Belmont, NH
• Lafayette Regional School, Franconia, NH
• Milton Elementary School, Milton, NH
• New Franklin School, Portsmouth, NH
• Saint Elizabeth Seton School, Rochester, NH.

We had as many as nine school buses today:

Black Bear Day

On May 16 Squam Lakes Natural Science Center hosted a special day to teach about the fascinating and resourceful native New Hampshire Black Bear. All ages were admitted to the trails for a special reduced fee of $8 (admission, as always, was free for members and children ages 2 and under). New Hampshire Fish & Game Biologist Andrew Timmons presented a talk about Black Bear ecology at 10:30 a.m. Visitors viewed the Science Center’s two resident Black Bears and volunteer docents were on hand to answer Bear trivia questions. There were crafts and story time for children.

See our Photo Set on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slnsc/sets/72157618494185705/