antlers vs. horns: a clarification

Mike Bottini, whose communications are invaluable, has written me again about a recent post dealing with deer. Antlers and horns, he points out, are not the same thing (I had used the two terms as if they were interchangeable). Antlers -- as in deer -- are shed annually and are restricted to males. Horns -- as in sheep, goats, cattle, antelope -- have a different structure; they are permanent and are sometimes found in both males and female. He also points out that, at this time of the year, male deer or bucks tend to hang out with other males while the females associate with other does as well as their offspring. So our recent visitors are two males, an older guy with a huge rack and a younger buck with small antlers. Glad to get all that straightened out.

Rocky Jr. was back on his Pitch Pine post yesterday, sleeping on his back (!), with his feet up in the air, his head lolling to one side and his stripy tail curved under. One might have thought he was a dead raccoon except this is his favorite sleeping post and I've seen him in all kinds of positions. A truly sad note: a dead Box Turtle on the old right-of-way, apparently hit by a car that used that access road. Hopefully, our Box Turtle population is still large enough to absorb some losses.

Warm, heavy, partially overcast morning. Instead of clearing up however, the wind shifted to the southeast and a dense overcast sky promised stormy weather; a very heavy storm came in the early afternoon and then passed. I'm doing a SoFo field trip tomorrow morning starting at Shinnecock Inlet at 8 am but the weather has to cause some concern. If it's just overcast (as opposed to heavy rain), it will be a go.

Today's herons: Great Blue and Green, both in the marsh; the Green is especially active, very shy, very noisy and surprisingly flighty. What is going on? Spotted Sandpiper in the pond and Northern Waterthrush calling in several locations. Otherwise things are pretty quiet. The Purple Martins are mostly gone and there are few swallows. Young Red-wings congregated into flocks a few days ago and they are mostly gone as well. Small flocks of Common Grackles still in the neighborhood.

Eric Salzman