Terrapine Weather Forecasting

I've been watching for the past few weeks as Terrance slowly moved towards the surface of his burrow.  Brush an inch or two of leaf mulch aside and the top of his domed shell could be seen.  Of course, I'd cover him right back up, to keep him at whatever temperature that depth provided. 

Little by little he moved upwards until one day I could see one orange eye peering up through a small gap in the leaves.  It was as if he was saying, "Turn the light off.  I'm trying to get some sleep down here."

Then the day before yesterday it hit 83 degrees and yesterday, April 30, he fully left his burrow.  I found him about 18" away, still in the Vinca.  A quick weighing on the scale showed him to be 354 grams.  I fed him some sliced up strawberries, which he ate.

Later I saw that he was parked at an odd angle as if he was trying to get inside the house, so I moved him back to his burrow and covered him with mulch.  With temps heading down towards the low 30's tonight, I want him to stay safe. 

Here's his weight graph with the latest data point added.  As you can see, its his lowest weight ever. 

Looking back at the last three years of data, he broke hibernation on May 3, May 15, and this year April 30.  As I recall, he was up and about around April 15 in 2008.  Considering that there's a forecast of wet snow in the foothills, it looks like Terrance is doing a good job of weather forecasting, not coming out during a cold, windy April. 

Bosque Fire

Its been a cold, dry winter and spring here in NM, typical of an El Niño stormtrack this year.  On the way back from Trinity Site today, we came across evidence of just how dangerously dry things are--a large and quickly growing fire in the Bosque just north of Bernardo.  

At first it was a focused, dense plume.  Even from a mile away, the flames could be seen occasionally taller than the 50-60' cottonwood trees.  

The fire continued to spread as we watched, growing to perhaps 1/2 mile in length.  Later after we had driven farther north, it appeared as two separate columns of smoke... it had jumped the Rio Grande and was now burning on both banks.  The winds were picking up for the afternoon just as this started. 


Now, several hours later as I write this, the fire is probably still burning. 

Is It Fall Yet?

Couple of days ago the temps were in the 90's.  Still in the 80's today.  Record warm low temps in the mornings.  Terrance spends some time digging out his burrow, the one he's used the last 3 years for hibernation, but he wanders off sometimes. He's stopped feeding, so maybe he's just thermoregulating.  Clearly, it's day length, not temperature, that drives him under ground.  All that said, he's a healthy 174 g. 

Meanwhile, the Hibiscus is still blooming, hummers still humming, and plenty of bumble bees.  Just no honey bees in sight.  And the little "sweat bees" are nowhere to be seen either.  Even the wasps are weak.  I'm guessing CCD is taking its toll.  Bummer.

Late Summer Weight

Terrance has been pretty easy to track this summer.  He most commonly spends each night in one of his favorite burrows:  at the west end of the Vinca, under the Fescue in the Hidden Garden, or behind the rosemary in the Bodhisattva Garden. 

Because of that, I've gotten another good series of data on his weight.  Most recently he clocked in at 384 g (13.48 oz), just a gram short of his all-time heaviest. 

Sometime within the next month, as Terrance prepares for hibernation, he'll stop eating and clean out his alimentary canal.  There's always a weight drop associated with that, but it's necessary if he's to avoid fermenting all winter long. 

Although the above graph shows fairly little variation in weight due to the y-axis scale, the version below amplifies the week-by-week fluctuations. By scaling the axis to the interval 345-390 g, we magnify the 11 g annual difference this summer.  Also apparent is the weight loss with last year's hibernation. 

Meanwhile, he continues to get frequent snacks from me, usually strawberries.  His discriminating palate continues to amuse me. 

First Terrance Sighting of the Summer

Terrance turned up Saturday May 15 on a warm afternoon snuggled into a sunny spot in the Vinca.  No doubt he's been rumbling around in the Vinca for a couple weeks since I found his evacuated burrow.  He weighed in at 13.1 oz, a very reasonable weight for post hibernation.  He immediately tucked into a plate of strawberries that I sliced up for him. 

This of course makes the Terrance Alert Level red. 

Good to have you back, Terrance.

Breaking Hibernation

Even though it's still in the low 40's at night, it looks like the Terrance Alert Level is Orange--a Terrance siting is imminent.  Checking his burrow this afternoon found it to be open and as far in as I could reach, no Terrance.  There was a tunnel in the tangle of Vinca heading west, so he's likely in there, snacking on WUGS, filling up after a long winter's nap.  I've got strawberries and shrimp in the fridge, two of his favorites, for when he shows up in public.  Stand by for photos and the first weighing of the season. 

Terrance Alert Level

It's spring in NM and that means one thing:  you can't tell one day's weather from the next.  We've been up to 81 last Tuesday, yet tomorrow's high will only be 46.  Sunny one minute, cloudy the next.  Every time we go up to White Rock to work on the folks' house, it seems to snow.  Don't get me started about the wind today....

Right now it's 3:30 a.m. and the wireless remote thermometer at the mouth of Terrance's burrow reads 43.  Looks like he knows better than us what the weather forecast will be like.  Last year he didn't break hibernation until 3 May.

Of course, in years previous he's been out in early to mid-April.  We'll just have to see what transpires this year.

For now, I've devised a Terrance Alert Level and color coded it.  Today's Terrance Alert Level is Green--Terrance sighting is unlikely.