Thursday, July 8, 5:30 PM We’ll carpool from the

Hermann Fine Arts Center parking lotTour Guide: Dr James Bonta

You have to see it to believe it! – one of theoriginal watershed research stations and inoperation more than 60 years. Learn abouta monolith lysimeter and how it answersquestions concerning surface runoff. Andwhat is a Coshocton Wheel anyway? (Anapproximate 1.5 hour drive to the facility

east of Coshocton.)

Thursday, August 12, 5:30 PM

We’ll carpool from the Hermann Fine Arts Center parking lot

Back by popular demand – late summer willbe a different cast of characters from spring.

Aka the ‘Big Natural Bridge’, this naturalbridge is in western Washington

County and is a dedicated State Nature Preserve. The 20 minute easy walk

to the bridge is an enjoyable way to spend an August evening in itself.

Public Is Invited

Summer 2004Summer 2004

Field trip to theNorth Appalachian North Appalachian

Experimental WatershedExperimental Watershed

Thursday, September 9, 6:30 PMMeet at the new parking lot between the old

Chinese Restaurant and Krogers . . . for the easy walk around the trail. Perhaps we’ll seebeavers that have their own ideas about appropriate

water levels, and perhaps some of the turtles that inhabit this neat area or some of

the south-bound birds just passing through.

MMarietta arietta NNatural atural HHistory istory SSocietyociety

.

PPage 2 MMarietta NNatural HHistory SSociety SSpring 2004

Recycled Paper 100% Post-Consumer

New paper for the Newsletter!We have finally moved onto paper made from100% non-deinked, post-consumer waste. So

keep bringing your office paper to the MariettaRecycling Center on Gilman Street so that we

don’t run out!

Which Sound’s Right? What sound in nature creates thatinner calm that tells you that you have arrived – no matter where you thought you wereheaded? Or do you prefer soundsthat bring a spark of excitement? The National Wildlife Federationis requesting their members to votefor their favorite sound in nature. So far, the voting has produced alist of 4 finalists -- wolves, frogs,dolphins and loons – which one isyour favorite? If you send your vote with a short reason why the sound is so important to you (and write-ins are welcome) toMarilyn Ortt, 701 Colegate(marilynortt@charter.net) a profile ofthe favorite sounds of MNHSmembers will be run in a futurenewsletter.

Look at your mailingLook at your mailingaddress label!address label!

Is there a red dot? If so, it means that your

MNHS membership is past due.(See membership list on page 5.)

Web ThreadsWeb Threads

Natural View, # 3The 2004 edition of The Natural View ofWashington County, published by theMarietta Natural History Society, wasinserted in the Marietta Times on May 18and is available at businesses thatadvertised in the paper as well as librariesand other sites. If you have not yet seen acopy, please call 373-5285 or 373-3372 andwe will get a copy to you. Lots ofinteresting articles; and be sure to mentionto our advertisers that you saw their adwhen you visit their store.

Save the world! - -Locally

Worthy causes such as Kroger Wetlandand Friends of Lower Muskingum River

Land Trust would be able to do morewith more funding. You can thinkglobally but write checks locally. Checks can be sent to Marietta

Community Foundation, P.O. Box 77,Marietta. Indicate on check for which

fund the donation is intended.

Beetle Beat. Beetles are estimated to account for 20% of all species; so many toinspire English geneticist J.B.S. Haldane to suggest that God must have “aninordinate fondness” for them. The site provides photographs, intricate drawingsand footage of these insects. The Virtual Beetle feature allows you to zoom in and rotate beetles in three dimensions. You canalso learn about some of the damaging effects of beetle larvae ontree species. Meet the beetles athttp://explore.cornell.edu/scene.cfm?scene=beetle%20science.

PPPPage 3 M M M Marietta NNNNatural HHHHistory SSSSociety S S S Spring 2004

July 2004 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

AAAA

Indepen-dence Day

Earth atAphelion(farthestfrom sun)

MNHSField Trip

CCCC

DDDD

EEEE AAAA

Cicada-Killer Wasps Hunt Prey

Eastern Blue Birds Begin 3rd (And Last) Nesting

Goslings Learning To Fly

Dragon Flies Laying Eggs On Ponds And Streams

Warblers Putting On Weight For Fall Migration

Wild Blackberries Ripen

Past Passaging Through Ohio “Passenger pigeons lived in Ohio throughout the year, but they were most numerous during spring and summer. Large flockswould fly, sometimes hundreds of miles, until a largefood supply was found. In 1806, ornithologist AlexanderWilson reported seeing a flock of migrating passengerpigeons that was a mile wide and forty miles long. Heestimated that there were 2 billion birds.” [Ohio HistoricalSociety website (http://www. ohiohistorycentral.org)] “Before sunset I reached Louisville…the pigeons werestill passing in undiminished number, and continued todo so for three days in succession. The people were allin arms. The banks of the Ohio were crowded with menand boys, incessantly shooting at the pilgrims, whichthere flew lower as they passed the river. Multitudeswere thus destroyed. For a week or more, the populationfed on no other flesh than that of pigeons, and talked ofnothing but pigeons.” (John James Audubon, The Birdsof America, 1844.) Martha, the last passenger pigeon, died in captivity atCincinnati Zoo in 1914. In less than 70 years, from suchabundance to extinction.

An average tank of auto gascontains the remains of 1000tons of ancient plant matter (J.Dukes, U of Mass, 2003)

September 2004 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

CCCCLabor

Day

MNHSField Trip

DDDD

EEEE FallEquinox

AutumnBegins

AAAA

Cattails Have Gone To Seed

Brown Bats Gather To Hibernate

Sassafras, Sumac and Virginia Creeper Showing Fall Color

PawPaw Fruits Ripen

Early Wintering Sparrows Arrive

Mice Storing Seeds And Nuts In Nests

August 2004 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

CCCC

MNHSField Trip

PerseidmeteorShower

Peak

DDDD A GoodDay To

Troll ForMuskies?

EEEE

AAAA

Look For Hummingbird Moths On Garden Phlox

Are Hawthorn Fruits Ripe?

Don't Forget To Water Trees During Summer Dry Spells

Young Male White-Tailed Deer Begin To Rub Velvet From Antlers

Look For Mature Walnuts, Butternuts And Hazelnuts

PPage 4 MMarietta NNatural HHistory SSociety S Spring 2004

Suggestions, Commentsor Contributions for the

MNHS Newsletter?Send them to the

Editor:625 5th St Marietta, OH

45750 374-8778 spilatrs@marietta.edu

So much to knowIn a recent publication (How Much Information 2003?), scientists at UC Berkeley calculate that the information

content of the world has doubled in the last three years. In digital terms, this represents 5 exabytes (‘exa-‘ = 1018 ), enoughto fill the Library of Congress 500,000 times, and approximately as many words as spoken by humans since the evolution oflanguage. Much of this information is transmitted electronically or resides on magnetic and optical storage media, saving50,000 trees worth of paper. It makes one wonder about numbers, big and small . . .

Metric-icity of the large . . .Metric unit Meaning ExampleKilo 103 1,000 A Kilometer (about a mile) is one thousand meters longMega 106 1,000,000 Force of atomic weapons is measured in Megatons of TNTGiga 109 1,000,000,000 Human population recently surpassed 6 Giga-peopleTera 1012 1,000,000,000,000 Really fast computer speeds are measured in Teraflops* per secPenta 1015 1,000,000,000,000,000 US annual energy consumption is about 100 Penta-BTUs**Exa 1018 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 World’s information production is 5 Exabytes (see above)Zetta 1021 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 One estimate of the number of stars in the universeYotta 1024 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Approximate number of water molecules in an ounce (30 ml)

. . . and the small yocto 10--24 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 Mass of a single proton is about 1.7 Yoctogramzepto 10--21 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,001 A probability infinitesimally greater than ‘Zippo’atto 10--18 0.000,000,000,000,000,001 Diameter of an electron (as a particle) is 1 Attometerfemto 10--15 0.000,000,000,000,001 Diameter of a proton or neutron is about 2 Femtometers pico 10--12 0.000,000,000,001 Water contains a PicoMole of H+ at pH 12 (very alkaline) nano 10--9 0.000,000,001 Diameter of the DNA double helix is about 2 Nanometersmicro 10--6 0.000,001 Many common bacteria are about 1 Micrometer in diametermilli 10--3 0.001 There are a thousand Millimeters in a meter (about a yard) *A ‘flop’ is a single mathematical operation carried out by a computer processor. **BTU = British Thermal Unit, the amount of heat that will raise the temperature

of 1 lb of water 1O F.

Some Extreme Numbers: Planck’s Constant = 10–34 joule hertz – magic number of the quantum worldPlanck’s Length = 1.616 x 10 –35 meter – the shortest measure of lengthPlanck’s Time = 5.39 x 10–44 second – the shortest measure of time (=a “jiffy”)Mole = 6.02 x1023 atoms – Avogadro’s number (the chemist’s workhorse)Googol = 10100 – a 1 followed by 100 zeros (and a web page count not yet reached by ‘Google’, which is wallowing in the gigapage range)

A numbering system developed by Nicolas Chuquet (circa 1484) has really BIG numbers (with some really GREAT names), including:

Octodecillion = 10108 Quinquagintillion = 10300

Quattuorvigintillion = 10144 Septuagintillion = 10480

Octovigintillion = 10168 Centillion = 10600

but not “Gazillion”, a colloquialism meaning more than 20 (fingers + toes)

And some numbers you really didn’t need to know:10–12 boos = 1 picoboo10–6 scopes = 1 microscope109 questions = 1 gigawhat?109 antics = 1 gigantic1012 microphones = 1 megaphone2 x103 mockingbirds = 2 kilo mockingbird3 yaddas = most of the information humans have created

see Numericana.com (http://home.att.net/~numericana) for more interesting number information.

PPage 5 MMarietta NNatural HHistory SSociety S Spring 2004

2004 MNHS MembershipMarywynne Winton & Carolyn ZweigartBeth AtkinsJoe & Judy BakerLynn BarnhartDavid & Janet BeckerBrad BondAva BradleyShirley BrownGary and Gloria BrownChristine BroylesBill & Janet ButlerCaroline ButlerBob & Argyle ClarkeWes ClarkeJoan CoffeyDoug & Nancy ColemanPatrick & Harriet CollinsDel & Carolyn CrandellBeverly & Grey DilworthHerma EddyJanine EddyJohn & Sarah EellsTom & Sharon FentonMargaret FredericksMark & Betty GatewoodThomas GodwinMary GrubertNancy HabelMichael, Lori & Ryan HallockReed Hallock

Dan & Gillian HarrisonDave HawkinsBernice HinesDoreen HornKaren HunsakerDawn InabnetAnne JacobyTanya JarrellLyra JenkinsRuth JensenElin & Art JonesFlo KimJane KingJeffrey & Betty KingPaul Knoop, Jr.Joyce Kronberg FamilyDoug LaVasseurMargaret & Zane LazerBeth LePoreMarilyn LogueMarshall & Betty LoweKurt LudwigKevin, Peggy, Nathan & Jacob MalcombMike McauleyGeorge McCarty, MDDoug & Kim McGrewDave McShaffrey & Ann DelleurLaurie MeagleMaggie & Steve MeyerJames Miller

Dr. & Mrs. James MillsDiane MitchellJack & Barb MobergTom & Laurie MuncJim & Gwen NoeJean NussJoanne O'BrienJanet O'BrienMarilyn OrttBob Scott PlacierShaan & Diana PughRoberta Louise ReeseMickie RichardsonRoy SnedikerJane & Steven SpilatroTom SteckelPat StewartStewart-Whistler FamilyRichard StoltenbergCharlie & Teresa StoneDr. Dwayne StoneJay & Joan StoweStump FamilySally TaylorRuth ThornileyBill & Elsa ThompsonCynthia TingAlmuth TschunkoDiane VezzaGene & Melanie WagnerAnita WallPat Winans

Pat & Fred WoodEileen & Nate WooleyLouise ZimmerRosemarie Zimmer

Student memberssponsored by the Marietta College

Department of Biology

Samantha BadgleyBeth BorderCarrie CorderLaurelin Cummins Rosemary C. DawesJennifer DeGainJessica Diaz Laura FitzsimmonsSarah HenryJessica KalusSarah Lane Marissa Lapinsky Mindi LittletonElizabeth McGuire Craig MeredithNathaniel Miller Stephanie MoeningKevin Mudrick

Bat-tling Windmills,or. . . Of Bats and Blades

Will meeting the needs of 6 billion people inevitablyconflict with those of wildlife, even with our best efforts tominimize environmental impact? The Florida Power andLight Energy’s Mountaineer Wind Energy Center, locatedon Backbone Mountain in Tucker County West Virginia, isgenerating both electricity and controversy. And biologistsare trying to understand the deaths of over 500 bats throughcollision with turbine blades from August to October 2003 Wind farms may not necessarily pose a threat to bats. The risks appear to differ for different facilities and fordifferent bat species. While other facilities in the U.S. havepreviously reported that bats occasionally strike turbineblades, the toll at the FPL facility suggests a problemgreater than that observed elsewhere. For example, theBuffalo Ridge Wind Resource Area in

southwest Minnesota(where over 350 turbines arelocated) recorded 151 batcasualties in 2001 and 2002 andan estimated actual mortality of 2 –4 bats per turbine per year. This compares with an observedfrequency of 9 bats per turbine over a three month timeperiod at the FPL facility, with an actual mortality probablyhigher. Biologists studying the West Virginia event found ninebat species affected, including red bats, eastern pipistellesand hoary bats, and raised concerns that they may beseeing only a small percentage of the affected bats.Concern for the problem among biologists is acute sinceanother 366 turbines are planned for the West Virginia sitein the coming years. See Bats, Page 7

PPage 6 MMarietta NNatural HHistory SSociety SSpring 2004

EASTERN HEMLOCK: A NORTHERN REMNANT by Gordon Mitchell

About 10,000 years ago the Ice Ages ofthe Pleistocene Epoch ended and the lastof their glaciers retreated north from Ohio.As the climate in Ohio became warmer,vegetation from the southern part of NorthAmerica began their northward migrationinto Ohio. Because these newersouthern plants were more adaptableto the warming Ohio climatesthan were the previous northernvegetation, they were able todisplace these northernplants. However, there were someparts of Ohio that were still ableto maintain coolermicroclimates and could stillsupport some of theseremnant vegetationspecies from the north.One such northern remnantspecies is the EasternHemlock (Tsuga canadensis[L.] Carriere). The Eastern Hemlock is amember of the Pine Family (Pinaceae).The generic name, Tsuga, is Japanese for“cedar” or “hemlock”, and the specific epithet,canadensis, means “Canada”. Other commonnames for this tree are Canada Hemlock, Hemlock Fir,Hemlock Pine, Hemlock Spruce, Hemlock Spruce Pine, Red Hemlock, Suga, Tanbark Tree, Water Spruce, Weeping Spruce, and White Hemlock. The Eastern Hemlock is native to the northeasternstates, the eastern Canadian provinces, and to theAppalachian Mountains. It is the state tree of Pennsylvania. In Ohio it is usually found in stands within the eastern halfof the state (from Lorain County to Adams County), whichusually has acidic sandstone bedrock. The best place toobserve the Eastern Hemlock in Ohio is in the Hocking Hillsregion. The Eastern Hemlock prefers cool, moist, shadedhabitats. It is frequently found on north-facing slopes or indeep valleys and ravines. It is a highly shade tolerant treeand actually prefers deep shade. Its thick foliage creates amicroenvironment that very few plants can tolerate, and theeastern hemlock may sometimes be found in pure stands. It is considered a climax tree in plant succession. This species commonly reaches a height of 60 - 80 feet,but some grow as high as 160 feet. Trunk diameter canrange from 1-4 feet; the trunk of some specimens may

reach a diameter of 6 feet. The crown istypically conical or pyramidal in shape. The branches, which were once used for

brooms, are often seen droopingdownwards. Many bird species,

including the Golden Crown Kinglet, the Dark-eyed Junco, the Veery, and numerous WoodWarblers, will nest within the foliage of EasternHemlock. The needles of the Eastern hemlock are flat,about 1/4 - 3/4 inch long, and 1/16-1/10 inch wide.

The margins of the needles are very finely toothed.The needles are dark green above and are lightgreen below with one whitish streak located on each

side of the midvein. Each needle is tapered at its base with a 1/32 inch-

long petiole. When the needle falls, the petiole remains onthe twig. The needles appear to be 2-ranked upon the twigbut are actually spiraled around the twig. There is actually athird, but much smaller, row of needles growing upon thetop of the twig. These needles reportedly have medicinal uses. Youngneedles are boiled and allowed to steep for about 10minutes. The tea so produced has been used as adiaphoretic and diuretic, and for treating respiratoryailments. The needles have some edible uses as well. SomeNative American tribes used the needles as a spice whencooking meat. The twigs are slender and flexible. After the needles fall,the petioles remain and give the twigs a rough surface.These twigs are usually yellow-brown and pubescent theirfirst year and are gray-brown and glabrous the followingyears. The twigs can also be boiled into a tea or can beused as an ingredient in making root beer. The White-tailedDeer and the Cottontail Rabbit may browse upon the twigsduring the winter months. Seeds are borne in cones, which are light or red-brownand about 1/2 - 1 inch long. The cones are pendulant andhave only a few scales. The cones ripen in the fall, droptheir seeds in the winter, and then drop from the tree in thespring. The seeds are light brown, about 1/16 inch long, with awing approximately 1/3 inch long. A single tree usuallyproduces an abundant seed crop every 2-3 years. Theseeds are a favored food of many bird and mammalspecies, such as the American Goldfinch, Black-cappedChickadee, Pine Siskin, Ruffed Grouse, White-wingedCrossbill, Wild Turkey, Red Squirrel, and theWhite-footed Mouse. See Hemlock, page 7

PPage 7 M Marietta NNatural HHistory SSociety S Spring 2004

Hemlock, cont. The young bark is dark silver, thin, andscaly. Older bark is thick, deeplyfurrowed, and broadly ridged. The outerbark is a dull purplish red- or gray-brown

and the inner bark is a bright purplish redor a cinnamon brown.

The bark has had severaluses. It was used as a brown

dye for wool or as a red dye forwooden eating utensils. Toavoid detection, hunterssometimes rubbed this bark

upon their bodies to mask theirodors. Because the bark contained about 10-12% tannic acid(tannin), it was often used in the tanning industry during the19th Century. The whole bark was often peeled from thetree while the rest of the tree was then left to rot. At onetime the tanning industry nearly depleted the EasternHemlock. When tanned in this way, pigments are depositedupon the leather, giving it a reddish color – and addedweight. Before the 1880’s leather was sold by weight,and dealers preferred leather prepared with tannin fromEastern Hemlock bark than that from of other treespecies. The inner bark had some uses, too. It wassometimes dried and ground into flour. This flourcan be used as a thickener in cooking or asemergency food. It can also be used fortreating burns, cuts, and other types ofwounds. A tea made from the inner barkwas used for bladder, intestinal, andkidney ailments. The tea was also usedas an external wash for various externalinjuries and as a gargle for canker sores andfor sore throats. However, the inner bark teashould not be consumed during pregnancies.The best time to harvest the inner bark is inthe late winter or in the early spring. The sap contains resin, which had somemedicinal uses and was used to induce skinblistering. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers like the sapand drill holes in the tree to obtain it. The wood is light yellow to red-brown, and coarse-grained. Eastern hemlock wood isconsidered inferior and has few commercial uses.Although it can hold nails and spikes, its hardknots can dull or chip a saw or an axe. It issometimes used for coarse or rough lumber,beams, boxes and crates, railroad ties,shingles, and for pulp (especially in Michigan and inWisconsin). The wood makes poor firewood becauseit throws sparks when burned. The roots are shallow and spreading. They are highlysensitive to droughts, ground fires, windthrows, andcompaction. The roots frequently straddle large rocks andboulders. The roots also prefer cool, running water. A red

dye for wooden eating utensils can be made from theseroots. There are 3 major insects pests that attack the EasternHemlock: the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae),the Hemlock Looper (Lambdina fiscellaria), and theHemlock Borer (Melanophia fulvoguttata). The Eastern Hemlock is able to withstand very coldweather. It has been known to survive in temperatures below-100 degrees F. Unfortunately, the Eastern Hemlock doesnot tolerate heat or pollution well. Finally, the Eastern Hemlock is a slow growing, long-lived tree. The average annual growth rate is about 12-18inches. At least one tree was believed to have lived over900 years.[Gordon Mitchell is Park Technician I for ResourceManagement, Westerville, OH

Bats, con’t Environmentalists have challenged the adequacy ofwildlife and habitat studies that have been performed before

wind facilities are constructed. The Fish and WildlifeService has little regulatory power, and while it hasissued guidelines for the siting of facilities, these are

voluntary. The FWS can take no action until athreatened or endangered species is actually killed. Fortunately, the Federal Government and the wind

industry have recently agreed to fund a threeyear study by scientists and batconservationists to better define the problem

and seek solutions. Bats are renowned for their ability tonavigate even the darkest paths usingecholocation, and why this fails in wind

farms is unknown. Some scientists havespeculated that the turbines emit high-frequency sound waves that attract the

bats. Local ecology is clearly importantand, in some areas, the impact on birds is

higher than that on bats. The casualtiesat Backbone Mountain during the fallsuggest that poorly understood migratory

behaviors are involved. What is known is thatour understanding of bat biology is verylimited. The construction of a windmill alsoplays a role, and newer turbine designsare believed to reduce casualties amongboth bats and birds. Since proximity to breeding habitat and

migratory pathways are important factors, theBackbone Mountain event has biologistsparticularly concerned about some pending wind

farm proposals. One planned at Meyersdale PA,is near summer habitat for the endangered Indiana

bat. The Allegheny Front facility planned near DollySods WV, will be approximately 32 miles from a caveused by the endangered Virginia big-eared bat.

Invite a Friend to Join the Benefits of

MMariettaarietta NNaturalatural HHistoryistory SSocietyociety Membership

LL Monthly programs

Wood Thrush — Individual $15 LL Field trips

River Otter — Family $25 LL Quarterly newsletter

Monarch — Friend $50 LL Educational experiences Why not give a gift membership? for kids and adults

Mail check to address given below LL Conservation Projects

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

Marietta Natural History Society P.O. Box 1081 Marietta, Ohio 45750 (740) 373-5285