In early spring, the striped skunk mated and now the females are caring for their 4-5 young and teaching them to hunt. The little ones will soon learn to eat a little bit of everything: insects, small mammals, birds, eggs, fruits, nuts, and grains. Skunks will even attack nests of bees and ants. They wait for the bees to leave their hive and then grab them out of the air to nibble on. Skunks live in burrows that have been made by other animals or that they create using their long front claws.
Did you know?
Striped skunks are nocturnal and have a wonderful sense of hearing, but not the best vision. A skunk can spray at only one month of age, and can accurately spray a target over six feet away!
Learn more: Animal Diversity Web
White water lilies are blooming all over Minister Lake at this time of year. The plant prefers quiet ponds and lakes, and its plate-sized leaves are great resting places for frogs and insects such as dragonflies. You may even catch a whiff of this common aquatic plant's fragrant flowers. Their petals unfurl in the mornings and then begin to close again by the afternoon.
Muskrats like to munch on the roots of this plant.
Learn more: Robert Freckmann Herbarium
As you've walked along the edges of Sunset or Minister Lake, you've likely heard the repetitive call of this small bird. Its call is a distinctive, scratchy "wich-i-ty, wich-i-ty, wich-i-ty" that you'll probably hear coming from the shrubs around a wetland habitat. The common yellowthroat is a type of bird called a warbler. Warblers spend only a small part of the year here in Wisconsin where they breed and raise their young. Like most birds, the male common yellowthroat with his black mask and bright yellow throat, is much fancier than the female with her brown head and light yellow throat. The common yellowthroat loves to munch on insects and spiders, which it plucks off of plants.
Because these small birds live near water, they are prey to many of the predators that also enjoy that habitat. In one case, a common yellowthroat was found in the stomach of a largemouth bass!
Learn more: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
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