Public Is Invited

Summer 2015 Newsletter

Thursday, July 9, 6:45 PM Carpool from Hermann Fine Arts Center parking lot, Marietta College Leader: Jesse Daubert Dana island is a land trust established by Friends of LowerMuskingum River (FLMR). Jesse will talk about the history of the island, why it is no longer an island, stream morphology, and invasive species management.

Thursday, September 10, 7:00 PM, Selby 150, Marietta College Presenter Joe Greathouse

Joe Greathouse, Director of Wildlife Ecology at the Wilds, will be talking to us about wildlife conservationefforts being conducted by the Wilds. These include surveys atthe Wilds of ruffed grouse, native carnivores, and amphibian andreptile species, as well as a regional program aimed atconservation of the Eastern hellbender. He will also describepre-professional intern and apprenticeship programs offeredthrough the Wilds' Conservation Science Training Center.

Thursday, August 13, 7:00 PM Meet at the facility at 900 Greene Street

Presenter Jim Couts

Jim Couts, our speaker from May,will follow up with a tour of Jubilee

Organic Garden's facility. We will learnabout Bokashi, vermicomposting and

in-vessel composting. Wear sturdy shoes.

Dana IslandNature Hike

The CompleatComposter

Wildlife Conservationby the Wilds

Marietta Natural History Society

Page 2 Marietta Natural History Society Summer 2015

FLMR Invite To MNHSMNHS members are welcome to join us at

the FLMR potlucks, held the 4th Thursday ofeach month at our Luke Chute /Cabin Runproperty at 6pm. We will be checking each

month during the potluck for spadefoot toadsat our pond there. For more information

contact Katy Lustofin, President of FLMR.ksl002@marietta.edu.

Some Arthropod Record Holders [‘-‘ = ~1 millimeter ]

Smallest ant: occur in the genus Carebara. The workerant of the species C. bruni is only 0.8 millimeter long. Inthe species C. vidua the queen is 100 times larger thanthe workers ants. C. vidua is also known as the Black antand Edible Ant, and is eaten whole in regions of Africawhere it is native.

Smallest spider: Males of the species Patu digua, foundCentral America, reach a body size of about 0.37

millimeter.

Smallest beetle: Vitusella fijiensiscurrently holds the honor at about 0.3 mm.

Smallest wasp: The fairyfly wasp of the species Kikiki huna,found in Hawaii and Central America, may be the smallestflying insect, with a body length less than 0.2 millimeter. Fairyfly wasps, named for their delicately bristled wings, areparasitic on the eggs of other insect species.

Smallest mites: some Eriophyid mites (a type of arachnid)are less than 0.15 millimeter in length.

Smallest crustacean: Stygotantulusstocki, has a length of only 0.094millimeter. Crustaceans such asthese are truly ‘microscope’ animals,too small to be seen with the unaidedhuman eye

Dinner with the speakers

We will meet at 5:30 at the Levee House RestaurantCheck first with Dave (376-4743) or Elsa (373-5285). to be sure speaker will be there. Members should make their own reservations.

Upcoming Events at Ohio RiverIslands National Wildlife Refuge

These activities are sponsored by Friends of Ohio RiverIslands NWR and are free and open to the public. Formore information, please call or email: Matthew

Magruder, (304) 375-2923, Ext. 117 matthew_magruder@fws.gov.

In July there will be a series of programsdesigned for children ages 6 - 15.

Meet inside the refuge visitor center at 3982Waverly Rd., Williamstown, WV. All

programs will begin at 1:00 PM

July 8 - Forestry ProgramJuly 15 - Bat Program

July 29 - Reptile Program

Recycled Paper 30% Post-Consumer

.

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Upcoming Events at the Anderson-Hancock Planetarium

Each of these shows will begin with a star talk pointingout the highlights of our current evening skies, includingvisible planets and other notable sky features.

Secret of the Cardboard RocketThursday, July 30 at 7pm Sunday, August 2 at 2pm

This program will also include a viewing of "Secret of theCardboard Rocket," an imaginative tour of our SolarSystem. While all ages are welcome, this program isspecifically geared towards grades K-4.

SunstruckThursday, August 20 at 7pm

Sunday, August 23 at 2pmProduced by the Michigan Science Center, this programexplores the various ways that the Sun can affect theEarth.

The AH Planetarium is located in the Rickey ScienceCenter, Marietta College.

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Bokashi: Composting Done Rightby Jim Couts

Most compost bins found near gardens all over theworld use an aerobic or thermophilic method in whichmicrobes are fed organic waste (food and yard wastecombined with carbon materials like leaves). By mixingwater and air when turning organic material, trillions ofmicrobes consume the waste and, in doing so, create heatwhich then destroys pathogens. After a few months ofturning and mixing, the gardener will have available veryrich humus (compost) which can then be applied to soil. Soil, rich in compost, attracts earthworms which boroughthrough the soil making air and water more available toroots thus further enhancing plant growth. Thesewonderful worms consuming and processing soil addseven more microbes which then work together to makeessential nutrients more available to roots. It’s simplynature at work speeded up by the gardener. Industrial agriculture relies on oil and chemicals andreplace nature’s ways by giving soil an overdose ofNitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. This creates theillusion of a highly productive food system, in fact destroyssoil, microbes, and all of those wonderful creaturesburrowing into the soil while at the same time pollutingground water and air. In just a few decades of industrialfarming, top soil depletion is at a crisis level, ourprocessed, chemically laced food supply is making peopleill, groundwater pollution and agricultural runoff havereached disastrous proportions. The average Americans produces ¾ of a pound of foodwaste daily, 95% of which is being dumped into landfills. Food waste decomposing in landfills under anaerobicconditions tons of methane, the most damaging of allgreenhouse gases. What are the answers: (1) Anaerobicdigestion of food waste which creates methane undercontrolled conditions and is then used to create electricalenergy is proving to offer one promising solution. (2)Aerobic composting, similar to the back yard compost bin,only bigger, also reduces waste while enriching soil. Butthere are three difficulties with industrial level aerobic/themophilic composting: odors, pests and carbon dioxide,another greenhouse gas. Using traditional methods, ittakes 10 tons of waste to produce one ton of compost;where do the other 9 tons go? Into the air mostly asCarbon Dioxide. And yet, in spite of these difficulties,waste is being converted into soil and the result is a muchhealthier food supply. Odor and pest problems howeverare proving difficult problems to solve; aerobic compostfacilities, like landfills, are being closed. Please note, “in-vessel” composting machines are growing in popularity and

offer a pest free and virtually odorless solution. Moreabout in-vessel composting in the next article. Processing food waste for agriculture purposes and thedepletion of top soil make strange but wonderful bedfellows. And, there are three methods available capable ofprocessing food waste, converting it into valuable, allnatural and organic soil amendments without rancid odorsand pests and without producing harmful greenhousegases. The first and quite promising method is “acidicanaerobic fermentation,” more popularly known asBokashi. Bokashi offers three advantages over traditionalmethods. (1) The food waste is broken down in sealedcontainers therefore does not attract pests nor createrancid odors. (2) The bi-products are of extremely highquality so that, when mixed with soil, enhances plantgrowth by as much as 20%. (3) Volume – converting ourentire industrial farming system from petroleum basedfertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides will require billions oftons of reasonably priced organic microbe enriched soilamendments and billions of gallons of microbe rich liquid“teas.” Bokashi produces 60 times more natural and organicsoil amendments than does traditional aerobic composting. Given the billions of tons of food waste available, we cannow begin to imagine ridding ourselves of syntheticfertilizers without breaking the farmer’s bank. Incidentally,Bokashi is not new; Asian countries have been using thissame method for centuries. South Korea,Japan, and China are leading the way. British Columbia isthe most advanced in North America. I must mention a second method of odor free, pest freewaste processing for agricultural purposes, namely worms. I am, after-all, known best in Marietta as Dr. Worm. Vermicomposting produces the finest, richest organic soilamendment known. We feed our Bokashi bi-products toworms and the results are magnificent! I look forward totraveling to Cuba soon; the University of Havana hosts oneof the finest vermicomposting research centers in theworld. Why Cuba? When the Soviet Union went belly up,Cuba lost its supply of synthetic fertilizers but replaced itwith worm castings. Hopefully, Jubilee Organic Gardens will soon add an in-vessel composter to our tool box; we will then be acomplete food waste processing company using the threenearly odorless, pest free methods of producing micro-fauna soil amendments. You can live next door and noteven know we’re there.

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Historic Washington County Wildlife As reported in the Spring 2015 MNHS newsletter, Dr.Edward Michael, of WV University, recently discoveredmultiple references to wildlife in a book, "History of Mariettaand Washington County, Ohio." originally published in1902 by Martin R. Andrews. We are running excerpts fromthis book with wording, sentence structure, andpunctuation exactly as they appeared. Below are excerptson game animals and other wildlife in the late 1700's:

"It was said there were better than 400 Indians - men,women, and children - and so thoroughly did they destroythe game, within 10 miles of Marietta [1789], that barely adeer could be seen where before a good hunter could killfrom 10 to 15 of a day, I have heard Hamilton Kerr (whohunted for General Harmar and supplied his garrison withwild meat the year previous) say that the hills between theMuskingum and Duck Creek were the best hunting-groundhe had ever seen, and he could leisurely kill 15 deer of aday, and frequently of a morning The Indians wereburning the woods every year to keep down theundergrowth and made good pasture for the deer, andgood hunting for themselves" "Previous to the landing of the Ohio Company [1790],wild game had been very plenty in the neighborhood ofMarietta, deer and turkeys, and occasionally elk andbuffalo In the winter of 1792, Mr Kerr and MrNeiswanger killed six or seven buffaloes on Duck Creekabout Cedar Narrows They were fat; and a fine qualityof beef, Judge Gilman said, better than any beef he everate" "But in the fall of 1790 the beech and other mast wereplenty on the bottom which brought in turkeys inabundance, so many that people were obliged to securetheir corn before it was ripe, and, if there were any shocksof oats or wheat, they were obliged to cover them thick withbrush, to prevent their being destroyed Theturkeys were killed in all ways One man killed 40with a rifle one day They were trapped,killed with clubs and dogs until, a turkeywould not sell fora fip, becausethe peoplewere cloyedand theycould not beused in thewinter of 1792-93 Messrs Kerr, Henderson andNeiswanger started from Marietta, went to the White Oaksettlement, and killed 45 deer and hung them up theycame home next morning and got some horses they kept

in garrison, and brought allthe deer in "Thattheturkeysshouldbeat in searchof beech mast, is notsurprising, but that the squirrels by millions shouldsimultaneously become itinerant, taking their course,swimming large waters, without apparently seeking for foodbut, like the locust in Africa, stopping long enough todestroy everything they could eat which fell in their wayand perhaps before cold weather would turn and comeback is not so easy for me to account for" [AUTHOR'SNOTE: The mass "migrations" of millions of gray squirrelshave been reported by numerous persons, evenemphasizing the dangers of squirrels to flatboats driftingdown the Ohio River.] "They would get in, and before people were aware theside of the cornfields west of the woods would bedestroyed, and the field must be immediately gathered When I was at Belpre, Captain Dana had got about twobushels of uncleaned hemp seed and wheat a few rodsfrom the house, when we came back from dinner it was socompletely covered with squirrels that nothing could beseen of the hemp seed No one who had not seen themcould have any correct idea of the numbers "There were some few beaver, after the Indians left theirwaters, Isaac Williams used to go trapping for them up theMuskingum and Duck Creek There were a few smallfamilies, after we came up the Muskingum, one at CaptailDevol's Island and some at the mouth of the Rainbow,opposite me"

Bigger Beak Best Among Battling Hummingbirds

Ah, those delicate hummingbird beaks, sowell evolved to mimic trumpet-shaped flowersfrom which they peacefully sip nectar. Butwhich species really evolved to match theother, and is that the only use of their beaks? A recent study of the long-billed hermithummingbird of South and Central America found thatthe males used their beaks in courtship rituals stabbing atrivals, and that females generally preferred a biggerbeaked mate. (Who would have guessed!) The researchers suggest that among some species,flower shape may have evolved to match that of the

hummingbird beaks, rather than the other way round.

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The MNHS Missioni To foster awareness of and sensitivity to our environment and its biodiversityi To provide a place where people with these interests can gather for information and activityi To create a presence in our community representing these ideas

Marietta Natural History Society P.O. Box 983 Marietta, Ohio 45750 (740) 373-5285