Animal programs presented

ORRINGTON – During the week of school vacation, the sightings at Fields Pond were a bit unusual. Not that every sighting isn’t special, but last week, four days of live animal programs kept a large group of adults and children mesmerized.

On Tuesday, entomologist Jim Dill of the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension came to the Fields Pond Audubon Center with his own collection of large and fascinating insects. His giant walking stick, hissing cockroach and giant millipede aren’t creatures that we normally see in Maine, but the audience was thrilled to see these animals and even more excited to see and pet a hedgehog! Unlike our native porcupine, the small (6-inch) European hedgehog doesn’t lose its spines when attacked. The spines stay attached, but the sharp points deter predators from picking it up.

Stan Richmond of Birdsacre Wildlife Sanctuary brought four live owls to the Nature Center. They sat patiently in front of nearly 70 people for close to an hour. The short- eared owl only came out of its box for a short visit, but was remarkable for its narrow hawk-like wings and tiny feather tufts on its head that give the bird its name. The tiny and “cute” saw-whet owl perched patiently as Stan told the story of a saw whet that he went to rescue, only to have its talons puncture his hand and refuse to let go. He has the scars to show for his heroics.

The Great Horned owl demonstrated beautifully how it turns its head rather than turning its eyes to follow movement. The barred owl was the most patient of all. Every person in the room got to come up and touch the back of the owl while Stan showed the different sized ears and depth of feathers that come with a barred owl.

On Thursday, staff members Jane Rosinski and Judy Markowsky were on deck to show off the frogs and salamanders of Fields Pond. With no real facilities for keeping live animals, we were relying on what we could readily capture and release the day of the program.

A jellied, wood frog egg mass captured the attention of the children as they were invited to reach in and lift up the jiggly blob of eggs. Large bullfrog tadpoles that spent the winter in our frog pond spent this day on display in a small aquarium, as did a wood frog and leopard frog.