Regular visitors to our Museum have no doubt seen or heard one of our four-legged visitors on the Paw Paw Nature Trail… a white-tailed deer.

The many deer you may have seen frequently enters and exits the Museum’s grounds of its own accord. Deer have a range of approximately two square miles and often seek refuge in areas providing shelter, food and water. The natural supply of nuts and woody material on the Paw Paw Nature Trail and nearby greenway, and the abundant water supply from Little Sugar Creek create an ideal habitat. The neighborhood surrounding the Museum has a significant white-tailed deer population with regular reports of sightings of individuals and groups in residential backyards.

Please resist the urge to feed the deer in your backyard or... Keep reading.

In the corner of Butterfly Pavilion stands a densely-leaved tree with thorns, it doesn’t bloom, and often doesn’t gain much attention from our visitors. This unassuming tree is a Valencia orange tree donated to us eight years ago, by a former volunteer. If trees could talk, this one would share quite a tale… read on.

About thirty years ago, a juicy, sweet Valencia orange was purchased at a grocery store in Ohio. While eating it, the consumer wondered if the sweet seeds would grow into a tree if planted. So he decided to try it, planted the seeds in a pot, watered, watched and waited. Sure enough a seed sprouted and continued to grow on the man’s porch in a pot, surviving snowy winters surrounded with a plastic sheet and a heat lamp. After fifteen years in... Keep reading.

While leading an enthusiastic school group through Butterfly Pavilion, naturalist, Vonna Brown, noticed there were six caterpillars that looked like bird poop crawling on the orange tree (Citrus aurantium).

(By the way, check back soon to read about the amazing story of how the orange tree came to call the Museum home.)

Knowing that this was unusual she quickly summoned the Museum team to identify the wiggling droppings. Kids and naturalists in tow, we grabbed our field guides and discovered that we were viewing the larval stage of the giant swallowtail butterfly (Papillo cresphontes). Giant swallowtails are native to the southeast and are an impressive butterfly with a wingspan ranging between 3.9-6.3 inches (that’s big for... Keep reading.

One of our favorite features about Charlotte Nature Museum is the outdoor deck and Paw Paw Nature Trail. Often we hear the screech of red-shouldered hawks or catch a glimpse of barred owls perched in the branches peering down at us.

These two species of raptor prefer the same moist woodland habitat and eat similar foods. Red-shouldered and barred owls eat small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. The term, ‘raptor’, is associated with powerful feet used to catch prey, great vision, a hooked beak and a meat-eater.

These birds can be found across our state soaring high in the sky, diving after prey, or perched on tree branches, telephone wires, light posts and even stop signs. Many raptor species have similar markings making identifying them by sight a... Keep reading.

During the past several days, I have received several questions about silver to gray colored small snakes with dark brown blotches in backyards, garages or in the driveway. The snakes in question are juvenile black rat snakes. Juvenile black rat snakes have a distinctly different color pattern than the mostly black adult and are non venomous.

The black rat snake is commonly found in Mecklenburg County and has adapted well to the urban habitat. Like all snakes, the black rat snake is valuable to the environment because they prey on ‘pests’ and help maintain balance in the ecosystem.

Young black rat snakes when threatened will rise up, assume a coiled position and rattle its tail to scare off potential predators. This defense behavior and their unique markings often... Keep reading.