Questions and Answers

Some last thoughts before the weekend involve the most common FAQs for both a botanist and a zoologist. We polled the Curators of Botany and Zoology to see what their top questions for this year might be. In an exclusive interview with Andrew Hebda, we were told that the following questions were top candidates for 2008:

Question: Do bats overwinter in houses?
Answer: Nope. Bats overwinter in caves, abandoned mines and old military bunkers.

Ed. note: Bats are no longer a problem for homeowners as our population of basts is down to 4% of its former population, due to white-nose syndrome.

Bat questions have been replaced by Fire Ant questions since 2008:

Question: How can I prevent fire ants from infesting my property?

Answer:  Do not share plants with friends and neighbours, especially if your neighbours live across the street. Apparently they have diffuse nests within the root mass of bedding plants. The also cannot cross pavement without human assistance via plant-sharing.

Question: Is there only 1 species of ticks in Nova Scotia?
Answer: There are 14 species of ticks found in Nova Scotia. The most common species is the Dog or Wood Tick.

The Curator of Botany was asked for her top questions. With barely a pause, Marian Munro listed her top questions for the spring season:

Question: Is it illegal to pick lady’s-slippers?
Answer: We have 4 species of lady’s-slippers, one is legally protected under the Endangered Species Act (1998). The protected species is the Ram’s-head Lady’s-slipper a small orchid found in only a couple of localities.

Question: I have poison-ivy on my property. When is it safe to burn it?
Answer: Never! Inhalation of the smoke from burning this plant can cause permanent lung damage.

Both curators were asked the following:

Question: If the climate changes, will we see new species of animals and plants?
Answer: Absolutely! We already are seeing evidence of change. Not only will the flora and fauna see new arrivals, the immigrants will persist longer. 


Ram's-head Lady's-slipper, photo by Martin Thomas
Poison-ivy, photo by Marian Munro
Garlic-mustard, photo by Martin Thomas, newly introduced.