~The Natural State~......NEW HAMPSHIRE

[olena]

State Freshwater Fish

Brook Trout
Salvelinus fontinalis


Description To 21" (53 cm); 14 1/2 lbs (6.6 kg). Elongate, fusiform, depth about one-fifth length. Marine coloration: back bluish-green, becoming silvery on sides, belly white. Freshwater coloration: back and sides have red or yellowish tint with lighter wavy lines; sides have red spots within blue halos; belly ordinarily white, reddish in adult males; pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins light orange to red, leading edges white followed by dark, dorsal fin with dark, undulating lines. Maxilla extends well beyond eye. Fins relatively large; adipose fin present; caudal fin slightly forked.
Habitat Clear, cool, freshwater streams; tidal streams; rarely in salt water.
Range Native to E. Canada and NE. United States and Great Lakes region south to N. Georgia. Introduced in W. United States at higher elevations.
Discussion The Brook Trout, highly esteemed as food and game, is one of the most colorful freshwater fishes. It feeds on a variety of organisms, including other fishes, but primarily on aquatic insects. Spawning occurs in small headwater streams. The largest Brook Trout, weighing 14 1/2 pounds (6.6 kg), was caught in 1916 in the Nipigon River, Ontario. It is also known as the Squaretail or the Speck.

 

[olena]

State Butterfly

Karner Blue
Lycaeides melissa samuelis

Description 7/8-1 1/4" (22-32mm). Male's wings silver to blue above with fine black borders. Female's wings gray-brown above (often with blue highlights), with orange markings at wing margins. Below, both sexes light brownish white, with numerous white-bordered black spots on inner 2/3 of wings and black-bordered orange submarginal border.
Endangered Status The Karner Blue, a subspecies of the Melissa Blue, is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Like so many endangered species, this butterfly has been the victim of loss of habitat to humans. Each type of butterfly relies on particular plants for feeding and laying eggs on. The Karner Blue can't live without Wild Lupine, a plant that has become increasingly rare in the eastern U.S. Development has overtaken the lupine's habitat in many areas, and fire suppression affects its habitat in others, allowing forests to encroach and shade out the lupines and other meadow plants. The Karner Blue declined alongside the lupine, and then its small populations were further reduced by collectors, who wanted the rare and beautiful butterfly for their collections. While recovery plans are being drawn up for the Karner Blue, the butterfly receives protection in several federal and state preserves.
Life Cycle Eggs laid on lupines, caterpillars hatch in April, feed on lupine leaves; pupate in late May; new adults emerge in early June. Second brood of adults emerges in July; their eggs overwinter, until following April.
Habitat Open areas, meadows, sand barrens, and dry open woods, where lupines grow.
Range Minnesota to Ohio, New York, and New Hampshire. Most prevalent in Wisconsin.

 

[olena]

State Insect

Convergent Lady Beetle
Hippodamia convergens


Description 1/4-3/8" (6-8 mm). Oval, convex above. Pronotum black with white border and 2 converging white stripes. Elytra are red or orange with 13 black spots (1 spot at scutellum and 6 on each elytron); sometimes spots are enlarged to form 3 transverse bands. Larva is velvety black with 8 orange spots. Pupa is black with red spots.
Food Aphids and other small insects.
Life Cycle Female may lay up to 500 eggs during a lifespan of a few months; clusters of 5-30 eggs are attached on leaves and twigs. Larvae feed, then pupate attached by the back end to some support. Many generations a year, if food supply is good.
Habitat Woods, meadows, and gardens.
Range Throughout North America.
Discussion Large numbers of ladybugs occasionally find their way into houses in autumn looking for places to spend the winter. In the West huge swarms fly into mountain canyons, overwinter under leaves, and return to valleys in the spring. Overwintering beetles are sometimes purchased by mail and freed near crops that are vulnerable to aphids.

 

[olena]

State Wildflower

Pink Lady's Slipper
Cypripedium acaule
Pink Moccasin Flower

Description A leafless stalk bears 1 flower (rarely 2) with a distinctive pink, inflated, slipper-like lip petal, veined with red and with a fissure down the front.
Flowers: lip about 2 1/2" (6.3 cm) long; sepals and side petals greenish-brown, spreading; petals lanceolate, narrower than sepals.
Leaves: to 8" (20 cm) long, in twos, basal, oval, ribbed, dark green above, silvery-hairy beneath.
Fruit: erect capsule, to 1 3/4" (4.5 cm) long.
Height: 6-15" (15-37.5 cm).
Flower April-July.
Habitat Dry forests, especially pine woods; often in humus mats covering rock outcrops; occasionally in moist woods.
Range Saskatchewan to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia; south to South Carolina and Georgia; west to Alabama and Tennessee; north to Minnesota.
Discussion This is one of the largest native Orchids and is found both in low, sandy woods and in higher, rocky woods of mountains. At times several hundred of these striking flowers can be counted within a small area. Nevertheless, like other woodland wildflowers it should not be picked. These Orchids propagate poorly and are very difficult to grow in wildflower gardens. The genus name derives from the Latin for "Venus' slipper."

 

[olena]

State Bird

Purple Finch
Carpodacus purpureus

Description 5 1/2-6 1/2" (14-17 cm). Larger and stockier than House Finch, but smaller than Cassin's and darker than both. Dusky rose-red of male, more raspberry than purple, extends from upperparts to breast and flanks, brightest at crown and rump. Off-white below, mantle streaked with brown, wings and notched tail brown. Female has pronounced light stripe behind eye, dark stripe on jaw, and more heavily streaked breast than female House or Cassin's Finches.
Voice Rich musical warble. Call a distinctive tick in flight.
Habitat Mixed and coniferous woodlands; ornamental conifers in gardens.
Nesting 4 or 5 blue-green eggs, spotted at the larger end with dark brown, in a well-made cup of grasses and twigs, often lined with hair, placed in a conifer.
Range Breeds from British Columbia east to Newfoundland, southward in western mountains to California and from eastern Minnesota east to West Virginia. Winters south to U.S.-Mexico border.
Discussion Purple Finches are numerous and conspicuous during spring migration; pairs are territorial, the brightly colored male displaying in front of the female with his rich, spirited, warbling song. After the clutch is raised, they may be seen in large flocks visiting orchards, parks, and other woodlands. In winter they visit feeding stations in large numbers, showing a fondness for sunflower seeds.

 

[olena]

State Flower

Lilac
Syringa vulgaris


Description A slender, delicate perennial, 8-24 in. tall, with a loose-flowered spike of small, lavender, snapdragon-like flowers and dark green leaves.
Flower May - June.
Habitat Prairies; open woods at lower elevations.
Range S.w. Ontario to n.e. British Columbia, south to Wisconsin, n.w. Iowa, s. Nebraska, and along e. slope of Rockies from Montana to New Mexico; also recorded east to Michigan.
Discussion The flowers of this plant attract hummingbirds.

 

[olena]

State Amphibian

Eastern Newt
Notophthalmus viridescens
Red-spotted Newt

Description 2 5/8-5 1/2" (6.5-14 cm). Aquatic and terrestrial forms. Aquatic adult yellowish-brown or olive-green to dark brown above, yellow below; back and belly both peppered with small black spots. Land-dwelling eft, called the Red Eft, is orange-red to reddish-brown; varies in size from 1 3/8-3 3/8" (3.5-8.6 cm). Costal grooves, indistinct.
Subspecies Red-spotted (N. v. viridescens), back with series of black-bordered orange-red spots in adult and eft stages; Nova Scotia west to Great Lakes, south to nw. South Carolina, c. Georgia, and Alabama.
Broken-striped (N. v. dorsalis), broken black-bordered red stripe from head to base of tail on either side of midline, eft reddish-brown with back stripes incompletely bordered by black; coastal plain, ne. North Carolina and se. South Carolina.
Central (N. v. louisianensis), back and belly color sharply contrast, red spots usually absent or small and incompletely ringed with black, efts with reduced spotting; sw. Ontario and w. Michigan south to the Gulf, east through s. Alabama, n. Florida, s. Georgia, and s. South Carolina.
Peninsula (N. v. piaropicola), dark olive to dark brown above, red spots absent or small, faint and unringed, belly heavily peppered with fine black spots; peninsular Florida.
Breeding Late winter to early spring. As season approaches, male develops enlarged hind legs, with black, horny structures on inner surfaces of thighs and toe tips, swollen vents, and broadly keeled tails. Female lays 200-400 eggs singly, on submerged vegetation. Incubation period 3-8 weeks. Hatching larvae average 3/8" (8mm). In late summer or early fall they transform to aquatic subadults or efts.
Habitat Ponds and lakes with dense submerged vegetation, quiet stretches or backwaters of streams, swamps, ditches, and neighboring damp woodlands.
Range Nova Scotia to Florida and west in a swath to sw. Ontario and Texas.
Discussion Adult newts are often seen foraging in shallow water. They prey voraciously on worms, insects, small crustaceans and molluscs, amphibian eggs, and larvae. Searching for eggs, they visit the spawning beds of fish. Newts secrete toxic substances through the skin and so are avoided by fish and other predators. Efts can be found on the forest floor after a shower. A hungry one may consume 2,000 springtails.

 

[olena]

State Saltwater Game Fish

Striped Bass
Morone saxatilis

Description To 6' (1.8 m); 125 lbs (56.7 kg). Elongate, moderately compressed; back olive-green to dark blue, sides silvery, belly white; upper sides with 6-9 dark, uninterrupted stripes; median fins dusky. Mouth large, lower jaw slightly projecting. Teeth small, in bands on jaws, vomer, and palatine bones, and in 2 parallel patches on tongue. Opercle has 2 flat spines near posterior edge. First dorsal fin with 8-10 strong spines, separated from second dorsal by deep notch. Scales extend onto all fin bases except spinous dorsal.
Habitat Inshore over various bottoms; some permanently in fresh water.
Range Atlantic Ocean and associated rivers from St. Lawrence River to St. Johns River, Florida; Appalachicola River, W. Florida, to Lake Ponchartrain, Louisiana. Most abundant from Hudson River to Chesapeake Bay. Widely introduced into rivers and lakes in much of Mississippi River system, Colorado River, and coastal streams in Washington, Oregon, and California.
Discussion The Striped Bass is a very important sport and commercial fish throughout its range, and large individuals are caught by surf fishing, especially on the Atlantic Coast. It is a delicious food fish. It is anadromous, and spawns prolifically in fresh water.

 

[olena]

State Tree

Paper Birch
Betula papyrifera
White Birch

Description One of the most beautiful native trees, with narrow, open crown of slightly drooping to nearly horizontal branches; sometimes a shrub.
Height: 50-70' (15-21 m).
Diameter: 1-2' (0.3-0.6 m).
Leaves: 2-4" (5-10 cm) long, 1 1/2-2" (4-5 cm) wide. Ovate, long-pointed; coarsely and doubly saw-toothed; usually with 5-9 veins on each side. Dull dark green above, light yellow-green and nearly hairless beneath; turning light yellow in autumn.
Bark: chalky to creamy white; smooth, thin, with long horizontal lines; separating into papery strips to reveal orange inner bark; becoming brown, furrowed, and scaly at base; bronze to purplish in varieties.
Twigs: reddish-brown, slender, mostly hairless.
Flowers: tiny; in early spring. Male yellowish, with 2 stamens, many in long drooping catkins near tip of twigs. Female greenish, in short upright catkins back of tip of same twig.
Cones: 1 1/2-2" (4-5 cm); narrowly cylindrical, brownish, hanging on slender stalk; with many 2-winged nutlets; maturing in autumn.
Habitat Moist upland soils and cutover lands; often in nearly pure stands.
Range Transcontinental across North America near northern limit of trees from NW. Alaska east to Labrador, south to New York, and west to Oregon; local south to N. Colorado and W. North Carolina; to 4000' (1219 m), higher in southern mountains.
Discussion Paper Birch is used for specialty products such as ice cream sticks, toothpicks, bobbins, clothespins, spools, broom handles, and toys, as well as pulpwood. Indians made their lightweight birchbark canoes by stretching the stripped bark over frames of Northern White-cedar, sewing it with thread from Tamarack roots, and caulking the seams with pine or Balsam Fir resin. Souvenirs of birch bark should always be from a fallen log, since stripping bark from living trees leaves permanent ugly black scars.

 

[olena]

State Animal

White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus

Description Size varies greatly; a small to medium-size deer. Tan or reddish brown above in summer; grayish brown in winter. Belly, throat, nose band, eye ring, and inside of ears are white. Tail brown, edged with white above, often with dark stripe down center; white below. Black spots on sides of chin. Buck’s antlers have main beam forward, several unbranched tines behind, and a small brow tine; antler spread to 3' (90 cm). Doe rarely has antlers. Fawn spotted. Ht 27–45" (68–114 cm); L 6' 2"–7' (1.88–2.13 m); T 6–13" (15–33 cm); HF 19–20" (47.5–51.2 cm); Wt male 150–310 lb (68–141 kg), female 90–211 lb (41–96 kg).
Endangered Status Two subspecies of the White-tailed Deer are on the U.S. Endangered Species List. The Key Deer is classified as endangered in Florida, and the Columbian White-tailed Deer is classified as endangered in Washington and Oregon. The Key Deer declined in number as more and more of its habitat in the Florida Keys underwent development throughout the 20th century. Development continues to be a threat to the subspecies today. In 1961 the National Key Deer Refuge was established to protect the deer. The population has risen from a possible low of 25 animals in 1955 to about 250 to 300 today. The Columbian White-tailed Deer once ranged from Puget Sound to southern Oregon, where it lived in floodplain and riverside habitat. The conversion of much of its homeland to agriculture and unrestricted hunting reduced its numbers to a just a few hundred in the early 20th century. It now lives in a few scattered populations, and its numbers have climbed to over 6,000. Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian Whitetail Deer provides critical habitat for these deer in southern Washington.

Similar Species Mule Deer has antlers with both main beams branching; tail tipped with black.
Breeding Reproductive season varies: first 2 weeks in November in north, January or February in south. 1–3 young born after gestation of about 6 1/2 months.
Habitat Farmlands, brushy areas, woods, and suburbs and gardens.
Range Southern half of southern tier of Canadian provinces; most of U.S., except far Southwest.
Discussion Although primarily nocturnal, the White-tailed Deer may be active at any time. It often moves to feeding areas along established trails, then spreads out to feed. The animal usually beds down near dawn, seeking concealing cover. This species is a good swimmer. The winter coat of the northern deer has hollow hair shafts, which fill with air, making the coat so buoyant that it would be difficult for the animal to sink should it become exhausted while swimming. The White-tailed Deer is also a graceful runner, with top speeds to 36 mph (58 km/h), although it flees to nearby cover rather than run great distances. This deer can make vertical leaps of 8 1/2 feet (2.6 m) and horizontal leaps of 30 feet (9 m). The White-tailed Deer grazes on green plants, including aquatic ones in the summer; eats acorns, beechnuts, and other nuts and corn in the fall; and in winter browses on woody vegetation, including the twigs and buds of viburnum, birch, maple, and many conifers. The four-part stomach allows the deer to feed on items that most other mammals cannot eat. It can obtain nutrients directly from the food, as well as nutrients synthesized by microbes in its digestive system. This deer eats 5 to 9 pounds (2.25–4 kg) of food per day and drinks water from rain, snow, dew, or a water source. When nervous, the White-tailed Deer snorts through its nose and stamps its hooves, a telegraphic signal that alerts other nearby deer to danger. If alarmed, the deer raises, or "flags," its tail, exhibiting a large, bright flash of white; this communicates danger to other deer and helps a fawn follow its mother in flight.There are two types of social grouping: the family group of a doe and her young, which remain together for nearly a year (and sometimes longer), and the buck group. The family group usually disbands just before the next birth, though occasionally two sets of offspring are present for short periods. Bucks are more social than does for most of the year, forming buck groups of three to five individuals; the buck group, which constantly changes and disbands shortly before the fall rut, is structured as a dominance hierarchy. Threat displays include stares, lowered ears, and head-up and head-down postures. Attacks involve kicking and, less commonly, rearing and flailing with the forefeet. Bucks and does herd separately most of the year, but in winter they may gather together, or "yard up." As many as 150 deer may herd in a yard. Yarding keeps the trails open through the movement of large groups of animals, and provides protection from predators. The leadership of the yards is matriarchal. Deer may occupy the same home range year after year, and may defend bedding sites, but otherwise are not territorial. The White-tailed Deer is less polygamous than other deer, and a few bucks mate with only one doe. The extended rutting season begins at about the time the male is losing his velvet, which varies with latitude. At this time, bucks are still in buck groups, and sparring for dominance increases. (Sparring consists of two deer trying to push each other backward.) The buck group then breaks up, and several bucks begin following a doe at a distance of 150 feet (50 m) or so. They follow the doe’s scent; the largest buck stays closest to the female. A buck attempts to dominate other bucks and may mate with several does over the breeding season. He produces "buck rubs" and also "scrapes," revisiting them regularly during the rut; glandular secretions are left on the rubs. Does visit the scrapes and urinate in them; bucks then follow the trails of the does. After the mating season, the doe returns to the subherd until spring (May or June in the North; January to March in the deep South). A young doe bred for the first time usually produces one fawn, but thereafter has twins and occasionally triplets if food is abundant. The female remains near the fawns, returning to feed them only once or twice a day. Twin fawns are separated, which serves to protect them. Weaning occurs between one and two and a half months. Fawns stay with the mother into the fall or winter, sometimes for up to two years, but the doe generally drives off her young of the previous year shortly before giving birth. The Whitetail’s first antlers are usually a single spike (the "spikehorn"). A three-year-old would be expected to have eight points, but there can be more or less, as the number of tines is influenced greatly by nutritional factors. A Whitetail’s age is determined not by the number of tines on its horns but by the wear on its teeth.
Once nearly exterminated in much of the Northeast and Midwest, this deer is now more abundant than ever, owing to hunting restrictions and the decline in number of its predators, wolves and the Mountain Lion. It has become the most plentiful game animal in eastern North America and is even something of a pest in many areas, eating garden plants and contributing to the spread of Lyme disease. Thinning the deer population is best done by hunting both does and bucks, as hunting bucks only alters the herd rather than reducing it.
There are two dwarf subspecies of White-tailed Deer: the Coues’ Deer, or Arizona Whitetail (O. v. couesi), of the Arizona desert, and the Key Deer (O. v. clavium) of the Big Pine Key area in the Florida Keys. The Coues’ Deer, which has somewhat enlarged ears and tail relative to the other Whitetails, reaches a maximum of about 100 pounds (45 kg). The tiny, dog-size Key Deer weighs 45-75 pounds (21-34 kg) or less. Some mammalogists classify the Key Deer as a separate species.

Previous Natural States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Florida
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Ohio
Rhode Island
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia


Previous Natural Provinces
Manitoba
Ontario
Prince Edward Island

 

[oldkicker]

Interesting theme running through this post, Heather - man's interaction with nature. Interesting how the butterfly's habitat is disappearing and how we try to manage to population of the deer AND how we put the ladybug to good use, particularly as an alternative to spraying.

We seem to have so much to learn in cohabitating with the other species in this world.

As always, Heather - great job!

 

[nativetxn]

I love these, Heather. Thanks!

 

[Snowwark]

With the voting going on today, New Hampshire is a timely choice, Olena!

The other week I "accidently" warmed up a ladybug a little too much! I brought some wood in from the garage for the woodstove. I put a log in, and as I went to shut the stove lid, I noticed a ladybug sitting on the wood. There wasn't anything I could do.....

The Lady's Slipper is lovely, so delicate and dainty!

Thank you for the interesting info, Heather.

 

[olena]

Originally posted by Snowwark
With the voting going on today, New Hampshire is a timely choice, Olena!

The other week I "accidently" warmed up a ladybug a little too much! I brought some wood in from the garage for the woodstove. I put a log in, and as I went to shut the stove lid, I noticed a ladybug sitting on the wood. There wasn't anything I could do.....

The Lady's Slipper is lovely, so delicate and dainty!

Thank you for the interesting info, Heather.

Oh my! Be glad it wasn't a stink bug!