I happened to step outside just after midnight this evening with my golden retriever, Molly. It’s tricky taking a dog out at night where I live. There are always deer for her to chase in the dark, and quite possibly a bear to chase her, especially since the offspring of these inhabitants are not yet fully grown at this point in the year. As I waited for Molly, I saw numerous fireflies around me in the dark. Their abdomens blinked at intervals. “Males looking for a mate,” I thought. In another few weeks, they would be gone. I saw a bright light in the sky to my left behind the trees. It was a waxing gibbous moon, I decided, after having to move about a bit to see the entire crescent, perhaps three-quarters full. I called to Molly lest she stray out of my sight. Once I saw her, I looked up at the “W” of stars above her. I knew from the many hours spent outdoors at night in my youth that this was Cassiopeia. In late summer each year, I would watch the meteor shower in the nearby constellation Perseus. And if this was Cassiopeia, then the constellation Andromeda (her daughter in Greek mythology) could not be far away in the sky. Andromeda is famous for the M31 spiral galaxy within its constellation. M31 is a mere 2.5 million light-years from ours, which is a “stone’s throw” as far as distance goes in heavenly places. Not only that, M31 is moving towards us at 68 miles per second. In a few billion years, our galaxy, which we call the Milky Way, and M31 will collide, or more accurately, merge.
Snores are not all that you hear. In the thick of the forest, there is a music of the night that would make Eric the Phantom proud. The owls such as the horned owl, the barred owl and the screech owl can be found without much searching. Owls will vocalize their presence during mating season, or when they sense danger or feel a need to defend their territory. They also hoot and screech as they communicate with their young, or perhaps while hunting prey as they attempt to locate their quarry.
Other nocturnal avids such as woodcocks and nighthawks are probably quietby now, but possibly not. But there are other sounds such as rustling in the brush.
Of mammals, one of the most vocal–and frightful–you might hear is the cry of the fisher or as it is sometimes called, the fisher cat. Other nocturnal animals such as the opposum and the raccoon you might well see it before you hear it.
But let’s unpack this one observation at a time for a closer look.
Fireflies
No doubt many people have never seen a firefly, even though they are found on every continent except Antarctica. This is because some many people are urban dwellers or live in areas where there is significant light pollution. The firefly is bioluminescent, which means they can produce light with their bodies. The larvaeof these insects eat snails, worms and other creepy insects.
Often female fireflies emit a steady glow, while the males do the flashing. Things that are likely important to the female include the strength of the flash, the pattern and duration, timing, coloration and so on. Most likely weak flashes of light that occur infrequently are not a good sign for marital selection and bliss. Fireflies live only about two months, so there isn’t much time for courtship or being coy.
The light itse;f is produced by a chemical process in the insect’s body. This reaction involves a chemical called luciferin and another called luciferase. The two agents depend on oxygen and other elements to work their magic. Watching fireflies is so riveting that travel companies actually have firefly tours where they take people to places around the globe known for healthy firefly populations.
But the population of fireflies worldwide is steadily decreasing as their natural habitats are being destroued. No doubt insecticides are causing “collateral damage” and taking their toll as well. Read more about this here.
"Now one by one the live winged sparks of night, Like souls allowed to wander as they please Through old loved haunts, go by between the trees In silent zigzags of alternate light; And grow in number, bodiless and bright, So that the eye, too slow to count them, sees Nothing but fire all round; till by degrees Quenched in the dawn, they vanish from the sight. And those more subtle sparks, which they recall, The countless souls with which regret and love Once peopled Death’s great night, are they quenched too? Has Thought’s strong dawn, which searches into all, Reached even them, unpeopling Heaven above, To leave us nothing but the empty blue?"
There are other lights to be encountered in the New England wood at night. For example, the ethereal glow of fungi creating a mystifying effect here and there. And if one is lucky, the will-o-the-wisp in the background. This ghostly specter is scientifically known as Ignis fatuus. It is a flickering phosphorescent light seen at night where the ground is marshy. The decomposing organic matter produces compustible gases that ignite unter the right circumstances. There are many places in New England where the conditions are right for this to occur.
The will-o-the-wisp
The will-o-the-wisp (Ignis fatuus) comes from old English, and the earliest useage I could find was in 1596 where someone wrote: “Hee had read of a going fire called Ignis fatuis, the fire of destenie, or [by] some Will with the wispe.”
The fact that the word “Will” is capitalized seems to indicate that it is a proper noun. The word “wisp” refers to a torch, so put together it might mean. “Will carrying the light (or torch).” What makes this phenomenon particularly ghouly is the fact that it was commonly found in cemeteries and particularly over the remains of the dead. This is because a decomposing corpse provides the gases (primarily methane, phosphine, and diphosphine) needed to cause the flame to combust in the first place. As an example, there is a mass burial site from World War II in Poland where SS soldiers and perhaps Russian soldiers as well took Polish prisoners to be shot. Ignis fatuus is sometimes observed there. You can easily understand how people might mistakenly draw the conclusion that the lights are somehow associated with the souls of the dead.
Right: Green glow of bioluminescent mycena. Pieces of old and rotted oak wood with Armillaria mellea (honey mushroom) mycena on it. A molecule called luciferin and an enzyme called luciferase (cf fireflies) in the prescence of water and oxygen releases energy in the form of light. The chemical reaction produces energy in what we see as green light.
Deer–and bear–love berries
Just last night we had a visittor in our backyard. We have a blueberry bush that had berries growing, enough berries to bend the boughs of the bush. I’ve been watching the berries mature. Until last week they wee entirely green, but their coloration started to change to something close to plum. Today, I notice framing a distance the limb(s) of the bush were no longer bowed. The berries had all been stripped of berries. Now, a bear will do that, but given the lack of other evidence of the other sorts of mayhem a bear is prone to commit, I think it were more likely to be a deer, and more than likely a doe because of the dozens and dozens of white tail deer I’ve seen, all have been doe.
