April Fun Facts

Most bucks will shed their antlers by the end of this month.
Groundhogs are our most common, true hibernator.
Ohio's bedrock is sedimentary.
Glaciers a mile high once covered the land here.
Salt used in de-icing city streets is a common pollutant in our streams.
Groundhogs are also known as woodchucks, whistle-pigs or land-beavers.
Small rodents will chew on antlers that have fallen off of deer to receive more calcium in their diets.
February 1st is national serpent day.Our native snakes are hiding underground in hibernacula to survive the winter.
Have you tried using beet juice to melt the ice on your driveway? It's a much more environmentally friendly method than road salt.
Chickadees survive the coldest stretches of winter by lowering their internal temperature by 15 degrees F.
The Big Dipper is not an official constellation. It is part of the large constellation Ursa Major, or the Great Bear.
Water is most dense at 4 degrees Celsius or 39 degrees Fahrenheit
During the Devonian Age, we were covered by a vast shallow sea, giving us the marine fossils we can find here today.
Red-winged blackbirds begin returning in late February and are some of the first migratory birds to return to Northeast Ohio
Male rabbits are called "bucks" and the females are called "does".
Owls will often rest on one leg. This is thought to be a way to conserve heat or reduce fatigue in the raised leg.
Groundhogs have teeth that never stop growing. If they stopped gnawing on wood, their teeth could grow around and back through their lower jaw!
Because of their specialized bone and muscle structure, moles are able to exert a digging force of up to 32 times their body weight.
Prior to settlement, bobcats were common throughout Ohio, but were extirpated from the state in 1850. However, bobcats are making a comeback in the Buckeye State.
There are no venomous snakes in Cleveland Metroparks.
The gray fox is one of the two fox species in Ohio, and one of four total species in North America.
Minks prefer small streams cluttered with vegetation or wooded banks.
Gray foxes are monogamous, meaning they only have one mate.
During the winter, dragonfly, mayfly and stonefly nymphs live and feed in ponds and streams, often beneath ice.
Coyotes mate in February and early March.
Great horned owls are our earliest nesting owls (late January through early March).
Skunk cabbage flowers can be seen poking up through the snow in low lying, wet areas.
It takes 40 gallons of sugar maple sap to produce 1 gallon of maple syrup.
Queen bumble bees hibernate in small chambers underground.
Lichens are a partnership between algae which manufactures food through photosynthesis, and fungi, which absorbs water.
Chickadees begin to sing their spring songs.
Red-winged blackbirds begin to appear in large numbers.
The first migrating waterfowl, including; buffleheads, goldeneyes and redheads, reappear in Cleveland Metroparks.
Mourning cloak butterflies overwinter as adults and may be seen on warmer days.
Sap of the sugar maple trees will begin to flow on warmer (above freezing) days that follow cold nights.
Bald eagles begin exhibiting nesting behavior this month in several areas in Cleveland Metroparks.
Flying squirrels remain active, often visiting bird-feeding areas at night.
Buds on red maple trees begin to swell and are usually one of the first trees to flower in the spring.
Willow tree branches begin to brighten and become more yellow as spring approaches.
Groundhogs are true hibernators, meaning their body temperature and functions are greatly reduced as they live in a state much deeper than regular sleep.
It is highly unlikely that your neighborhood groundhog is awake today.It is too early in the year for these rodents to be out of hibernation.
Groundhogs are also known as woodchucks or whistle pigs.
Groundhogs can climb trees.
Eastern white pines, found in Cleveland Metroparks, can grow to be 80 feet tall.
You can identify an Eastern white pine by its bundle of five long, soft, bluish-green needles.
The seeds from an Eastern white pine tree are a favorite food of the red squirrel.
Look About Lodge in South Chagrin Reservation was built by the Cleveland Natural Science Club in 1938.
Deer scat often looks like a pile of chocolate covered raisins.This time of year it can look like someone took that pile of chocolate covered raisins and squeezed it into a large lump.
Animal scat can give you an idea of what an animal was eating. For example, you may see insect shells in bat scat, fish scales in otter scat, squirrel fur in coyote scat, and plant fibers in rabbit scat.
Mink are a member of the weasel family and are excellent swimmers.
Birds can see the color red much more clearly and with greater precision than humans due to having four types of cones in their retina, compared to a human’s three types.
You can often clearly see all five digits on each paw print of a raccoon track.This gives them the distinctive look of baby hands and feet.
River otters are known to slide down snowy hills on their bellies. When looking for otter populations, scientists can spot this unique track “calling card” from a helicopter.
Red fox leave tracks in the snow that are in a neat line like a cat’s tracks but have toenail marks like a dog’s tracks.
Ohio’s owls are well adapted to life in winter. They readily hunt small animals with their excellent vision and acute sense of hearing.
Hawks may appear even larger than normal this time of year.They fluff out their feathers in cold weather to help keep them warm.
Box turtles are named for the hinged bottom shell (plastron) that allows them to close up their shell and hide inside.
The word “brumation” is used to describe when cold-blooded (endothermic) animals go into a period of cold inactivity in the winter.
It still might be a little early, but the first amphibians to awake after winter are the wood frogs and spring peepers.