W.H. Chip Gross

The entrance to one of the mines, operated by Cargill, Inc., is just offshore from downtown Cleveland on Whiskey Island (so named when a distillery was built on the site in the 1830s). The second mine, operated by Morton Salt, is 30 miles farther east along the lakeshore at Fairport Harbor. The property and mineral rights under the lake are owned by the State of Ohio, but the mineral rights are leased to the two operators.   

After a lengthy search spanning several months, I eventually found just the right tree — growing, of all places, on my own property 100 yards behind the house. About a dozen feet high, it was a thin sugar maple that had grown straight up for about 3 feet, spiraled for 2 feet, then grew straight again. Perfect! 

Poison ivy wears many disguises. It can appear as a single plant, a group of plants, a shrub, a ground vine, or even a climbing vine. And its infamous “leaves of three” can be as small as a 50-cent piece or as large as your hand. In addition, different-shaped leaves (actually leaflets) —their margins smooth, lobed, or toothed — can appear on the same plant. 

Another state (and federally) endangered species is the smallest of Ohio’s three venomous snakes, the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, a name derived from the Chippewa Indian language. It’s also known as the swamp rattler or black snapper — the latter moniker giving some idea of the snake’s dark coloration as well as its aggressive striking behavior upon becoming agitated. Massasaugas measure up to 30 inches in length.

Ubiquitous, conspicuous, and easy to identify, male red-winged blackbirds are a stunning glossy black, their wing epaulets — lesser wing coverts — flashing a vibrant red, highlighted by a yellow bottom-edge stripe. The sight of males bobbing on cattail stalks and sound of their familiar, gurgling “kon-ka-reee” song are sure signs that spring weather is not far off.

I maintain nine bird feeders outside my home-office window. Only two of them were commercially manufactured, and one of those two was given to me as a gift. The other seven I cobbled together from material I had on hand. I don’t mind spending money when I have to, but if I can save a few bucks and still get the job done, I’m all for it, especially with the continually rising cost of bird feed.  

Trail cameras take both still photos and video clips of wildlife and provide endlessly entertaining images. If there’s someone on your Christmas list who would like to try this fun and fascinating outdoor hobby — or if you’d like to try it yourself — here are a few suggestions to help get you started, based on my own experience:      

In general, the weasel family has a dubious reputation, particularly its scientific subfamily Mustelinae, which in Ohio includes not only mink but also ermines, least weasels, and long-tailed weasels. Adding to this foursome’s loathsomeness is the fact that they smell bad, emitting a strong, musky odor from anal scent glands, which they use for marking territory or attracting a mate.  

The ALB is a wood-boring bug that attacks a dozen types of hardwood trees in North America, including maples, elms, buckeyes, birches, and willows. Infested trees do not recover. They then weaken and become safety hazards, especially during storms, and eventually die.