Something Downeast

This fellow was on the patio this morning, under the green plastic chair, which is my excuse for such a poor photo. The Eastern American toad (Anaxyrus americanus) is the only toad native to Maine. They’re pretty common all over New England. Females are generally larger then males (egg-laying necessities) and males usually have a darker colored throat than females. I always liked American toads because, while you can’t see it in the photo below, American toads have gold eyelids. Honest!

Eastern American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus) Image: LLS

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A young fox on May 27, 2020

I missed seeing the fox I’d been seeing last summer and fall; not a single sighting all winter, and I didn’t hear the fox much either. But people had been seeing one on the grounds in May, and finally, a saw a young fox trotting across the patio. I was looking up at the trees with a scope trying to see the crows my mom spotted, when I saw the fox out of the corner of my eye. He trotted across the patio, then along the gravel between apartments to our neighbors patio, where he paused to devour what the neighbor reported as a possible chipmunk.

Since then, I’ve seen very brief glimpses of another young fox/the same fox.

ETA: At least one the young foxes frequenting the campus has been hit by a car. I’m hoping that others will thrive.

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I first saw the fox in early July; its appearance heralded by a cacophony of crows and jay complaining. I saw only the fox’s back at first, and the color, more blonde than red, made me think I was seeing a straying dog. But then I saw the fox’s head, and his brushy tail. It was trotting, and I glimpsed it only for a moment before it disappeared from view. Later, I again heard the crows and jays proclaiming their displeasure, and saw the fox making his return trip. His fur was dense and healthy, the white of his tail and chest gleaming and clean, and his black socks strikingly dark.

Since then, I‘ve seen that first fox, and a smaller, slightly darker and thinner fox together. I’ve also realized the odd, almost feline sounding cry I’ve heard several times late at night is not the Bob cat or Lynx I suspected, but a fox bark. I’ve made two very bad recordings with my phone; I’ve linked to them below, and to a much better YouTube clip for comparison.

Fox Bark 1

Fox Bark 2

This is a better example of the way a fox sounds; more scream than bark.

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I saw a red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) a few times during the winter in 2017, but it disappeared before spring. Recently a red squirrel has been gleaning on the ground near the bird feeders. The red squirrel is a reddish-orange with a white belly, smaller than the numerous (and greedy) Eastern grey squirrels. In late summer and early fall there’s a dark grey to black stripe between the red squirrel’s red-brown body fur and the white belly. That fades as winter nears, as does the bright orange-red body color of the squirrel.

This has the Eastern Gray squirrel on the left and the Red squirrel on the right. I didn’t realize the Gray squirrel was in the photo when I took the shot. 

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A few days ago I noticed a tiny spring peeper clinging to the window screen, on the inside of the window. I have no idea how the peeper got there; the screen has been in place all summer on that window, so I’m guessing it came inside via the cracks around the air conditioner in the neighboring window. He was less than an inch in size.  This is a terrible picture, taken after I escorted him to the patio and a potted plant.

This year I heard the first Spring peepers in March; there was still snow on the ground. Locally, they’re regarded as the true heralds of Spring, and I had numerous people tell me with large smiles that they’d heard peepers (or peepahs) and so Spring was definitely sprung.

Here’s the University of Maine Fact Sheet on Spring Peepers.

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