Less Common Black Fur Squirrels in the City - Nature 156

The common fur color of squirrels is gray in our city, Baton Rouge. It is Eastern Gray squirrel species. 

Image 01 - A Black fur squirrel

We just saw the black fur squirrel in our neighborhood, quite rare to see this color as far as we remember.

I tried to search through internet, interestingly, the sources said that the squirrel is origin from Eastern gray squirrel breeding with genetic variation process called as "melanism."  

The pigmen which is called "Melanin" has a role to control dark color in organisms. By production of more melanin means more dark color in parts such as fur, scales, skin, eyes or hair. 

Image 02 - Not black fur, illustration

What fur colors have you ever seen squirrels in your areas?

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Canna Lily in the Small Garden - Nature 155

Canna lily is one of plants that spread quickly. A nice bunch of 3 to 4 roots is a good start to grow for small backyards.

Image 01 - Red Canna Lily

The flowers are beautiful and tend to come back season after season in the small gardens or backyards.  

We recognized two varieties, Stripe Canna Lily and Regular Canna Lily. Other well-known Canna Lily in our city are:

- Black Knight

- Pink Sunburst  

- Cleopatra

- Bengal Tiger

Image 02 - A small bed of Canna

There are several colors of Canna Lily, my favorites are red, yellow and pink. These colors are plenty in our areas. 

Image 03 - Colors of Canna Lily

What varieties of Canna Lily do you like?

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The Swallowtail Caterpilar - Nature 154

We saw a bunch of caterpillars on our lemon tree at backyard. Odd looking caterpillars. 

Image 01 - Swallowtail's caterpillar

The critters ate tons of leaves on our lemon tree that stripped the key lime tree bare, almost complete defoliation.

From caterpillars, they will form a cocoon then the gorgeous butterfly, Swallowtail butterfly (You may Google to see complete lifecycle).

Other favorite plants include: 

- Fennel

- rue

- prickly and spicebush.

Image 02 - Gorgeous Swallowtail

We have seen them on mature orange and satsumas and can’t tell that they made any difference at all. They don’t eat the fruit, so they stay on the trees.

Image 03 - Swallowtail, fly over the flower.

Do you recognize Swallowtail butterfly in nature?

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The Apple Snail - Nature 153

We saw many kinds of snails in the ditch nearby our places. The dominant one is an Apple snail (Channeled Apple snails). 

Image 01 - The apple snail. 

The scientific name for this critter is Pomacea canalicuta, kown as an invasive species, and can be found across America.

The negative impacts of invasive species that they can disrupt ecosystem (aquatic ecosystem) by destroy aquatic plants. 

In our areas and the tropic regions, the snails could eat economic plants such as Rice and Taro, and even aquatic animals include crawfish.

However, the snails have predators, including bird called Limpkins or Wading birds. Other are Otters, Turtles and Alligators.

Image 02 - A ditch, after raining.

In some countries, the apple snails are consumed as sources of protein. They are collected from nature and farmed.

Image 03 - Several Apple snails.

Do you know about this snail?

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