~The Natural State~.....VERMONT

[olena]

State Bird

Hermit Thrush
Catharus guttatus
Description 6 1/2 -7 1/2" (17-19 cm). Smaller than a robin. The only one of our brown, spotted thrushes with dull brown upperparts and a rusty tail. Frequently flicks its tail.
Voice Series of clear, musical phrases, each on a different pitch, consisting of a piping introductory note and a reedy tremolo. Call note a low tuck.
Habitat Coniferous and mixed forests; deciduous woodlands and thickets on migration and in winter.
Nesting 4 blue-green eggs in a well-made cup of moss, leaves, and rootlets concealed on the ground or in a low bush in the forest.
Range Breeds from central Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to southern California, northern New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Winters from Washington and southern New England southward.
Discussion To many, the song of the Hermit Thrush is the most beautiful of any North American bird. Outside the breeding range it may occasionally be heard late in spring, before the birds head north to nest. This is the only one of our spotted thrushes that winters in the northern states, subsisting on berries and buds. During the warm months, however, it feeds largely on insects taken from the ground, most of the time under dense cover, hopping around and then watching in an upright position like a robin.

 

[olena]

State Animal

The Morgan Horse

In 1791 Justin Morgan, a singing school master in Randolph, walked home from Springfield, Ma. with a bay 2 year old colt taken as payment of a debt. That colt he called Figure, soon created a legend for his ability to outwork, outrun, outtrot, and outwalk any horse in the area. As his saga grew over the 30 years he lived in Vermont, countless sons and daughters were produced in his image. For Morgan's horse, now better known by his master's name, was one of the greatest breeding stallions of any time - the only one to establish a breed by himself.
From Vermont the popularity of Morgan blood spread across a growing nation. Every generation added to its luster: Black Hawk, epitome of equine symmetry and perfection at the trot, Ethan Allen, champion trotter of the world, renowned in the Racing Hall of Fame and familiar from Currier and Ives prints, and Green Mountain Morgan, winner of premiums and championships as a blood stallion as far away as Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan.
Throughout the 19th century wherever the need for a horse, the Morgan seemed to serve best. He earned his keep as a general purpose frontier horse, in teams hauling freight or passengers, trotting races, pulling doctor's buggies, delivering rural mail, drawing carriages of Presidents and financiers, and being cavalry horses.
In the Civil War the 1st Vermont Cavalry was mounted exclusively on Morgans. Only 200 of the 1,000 returned home having surved the 75 major conflicts. They won a reputation for being the best cavalry and artillery horses in either army.
The Morgan is the only breed ever fostered by the U.S. Government to meet America's needs. From 1907 to 1951 what is now the University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm in Middlebury was operating by the U.S.D.A. to perpetuate the breed and provide breeding stallions for Remount stations across the country. Some of the most famous endurances horses were foaled there.
The contribution of Morgan blood to all later American breeds is extensive and well documented; including the Saddlebred, the Standardbred, the Tennessee Walker and the Quarter horse.
200 years of change from frontier Vermont to the space age has meant differing uses for Morgans but they have always adapted to every need. The Morgans innate desire to please and to give his best has remained a constant. So has his versatility - his ability to do many things well.
In harness or under saddle, his marvelous disposition and willing attitude make him an ideal family horse. An amatuer can raise and train him with minimal help. An easy keeper, he remains healthy and sound over a life span 10 years longer than most breeds. On a noisy, busy road or a mountain trail, working cattle or accepting the discipline of dressage, teaching children the basics of horsemanship or showing off his brilliant and animated gaits in a Horse Show Park class - Morgans do it all, with beauty and enjoyment.

 

[olena]

State Amphibian

Northern Leopard Frog
Rana pipiens

Description 2-5" (5.1-12.8 cm). Slender brown or green frog with large, light-edged dark spots between light-colored dorsolateral ridges - ridges continuous to groin. Light stripe on upper jaw. Eardrum without light center.
Voice A low guttural snore lasting abouat 3 seconds, followed by several clucking notes.
Breeding March to June. Egg masses are attached to submerged vegetation or laid on bottom.
Habitat From freshwater sites with profuse vegetation to brackish marches and moist fields; from desert to mountain meadow.
Range Throughout n. North America, except West Coast.
Discussion Primarily nocturnal. When pursued on land, it flees with zigzag leaps to the security of water.

 

[olena]

State Butterfly

Monarch
Danaus plexippus


Description 3 1/2-4" (89-102 mm). Very large, with FW long and drawn out. Above, bright, burnt-orange with black veins and black margins sprinkled with white dots; FW tip broadly black interrupted by larger white and orange spots. Below, paler, duskier orange. 1 black spot appears between HW cell and margin on male above and below. Female darker with black veins smudged.
Similar Species Viceroy smaller, has shorter wings and black line across HW. Queen and Tropic Queen are browner and smaller. Female Mimic has large white patch across black FW tips.
Life Cycle Egg, 3/64" h x 9/256" w(1.2 x 0.9 mm), pale green, ribbed, and pitted, is shaped like lemon with flat base. Caterpillar, to 2" (51 mm), is off-white with black and yellow stripes; 1 pair of fine black filaments extends from front and rear. Chrysalis, to 7/8" (28 mm), pale jade-green, studded with glistening gold; plump, rounded, appears lidded, with lid opening along abdominal suture. Host plants are milkweeds (Asclepias) and dogbane (Apocynum).
Flight Successive broods; April-June migrating northward, July-August resident in North, September-October migrating southward, rest of year in overwintering locales. Year-round resident in S. California and Hawaii.
Habitat On migration, anywhere from alpine summits to cities; when breeding, habitats with milkweeds, especially meadows, weedy fields and watercourses. Overwinters in coastal Monterey pine, Monterey cypress, eucalyptus groves in California, and fir forests in Mexican mountains.
Range Nearly all of North America from south of Hudson Bay through South America; absent from Alaska and Pacific Northwest Coast. Established in the Hawaiian Islands and Australia.
Discussion One of the best known butterflies, the Monarch is the only butterfly that annually migrates both north and south as birds do, on a regular basis. But no single individual makes the entire round-trip journey. In the fall, Monarchs in the North begin to congregate and to move southward. Midwestern and eastern Monarchs continue south all the way to the Sierra Madre of middle Mexico, where they spend the winter among fir forests at high altitudes. Far western and Sierra Nevada Monarchs fly to the central and southern coast of California, where they cluster in groves of pine, cypress, and eucalyptus in Pacific Grove and elsewhere. Winter butterflies are sluggish and do not reproduce; they venture out to take nectar on warm days. In spring they head north, breed along the way, and their offspring return to the starting point. Both Mexican and international efforts are underway to protect the millions of Monarchs that come to Mexico. In California, nearly all of the roosting sites face threatening development.

 

[olena]

State Cold Water 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 Flower

Red Clover
Trifolium pretense

Description Deep pink "pea flowers" in round or egg-shaped heads on an erect, hairy stem, with leaves divided into 3 oval leaflets.
Flowers: 1/2" (1.3 cm) long, in heads about 1" (2.5 cm) long and 1/2-1 1/2" (1.3-3.8 cm) wide; upper petal (standard) folded over 2 fused lower petals (keel) and lateral petals (wings).
Leaves: compound, with 3 broad leaflets, each 3/4-2 1/2" (2-6.3 cm) long; with a lighter, V-shaped pattern near the middle; upper 2 leaves usually close to head, but no collar around stem beneath it.
Height: 6-36" (15-90 cm).
Flower May-September.
Habitat Fields, roadsides, riverbanks, vacant lots, and where the soil has been disturbed.
Range Throughout North America, except far north.
Discussion Introduced from Europe and extensively planted here as a hay and pasture crop, this is one of our most common perennial clovers. However, Red Clover, like many other clover species, does not make good hay. If cut late in the season and fed in quantity to livestock it is debilitating, for reasons not entirely known. Clover is used in crop rotation to improve soil fertility, as it stores nitrogen in its root nodules. Zigzag Clover (T. medium), a very similar but rarer species, has narrower leaflets, and its flower head is raised above the top leaves on the stem. Alsike Clover (T. hybridum) has white-pink flower heads and lacks the chevron pattern on the leaves.

 

[olena]

State Insect

Honey Bee
Apis mellifera

Description Male drone 5/8" (15-17 mm); queen 3/4" (18-20 mm); sterile female worker 3/8-5/8" (10-15 mm). Drone more robust with largest compound eyes; queen elongate with smallest compound eyes and larger abdomen; worker smallest. All mostly reddish brown and black with paler, usually orange-yellow rings on abdomen. Head, antennae, legs almost black with short, pale erect hair densest on thorax, least on abdomen. Wings translucent. Pollen basket on hind tibia.
Food Adult drinks nectar and eats honey. Larva feeds on honey and royal jelly, a white paste secreted by workers.
Life Cycle Complex social behavior centers on maintaining queen for full lifespan, usually 2 or 3 years, sometimes up to 5. Queen lays eggs at intervals, producing a colony of 60,000-80,000 workers, which collect, produce, and distribute honey and maintain hive. Workers feed royal jelly to queen continuously and to all larvae for first 3 days; then only queen larvae continue eating royal jelly while other larvae are fed bee bread, a mixture of honey and pollen. By passing food mixed with saliva to one another, members of hive have chemical bond. New queens are produced in late spring and early summer; old queen then departs with a swarm of workers to found new colony. About a day later the first new queen emerges, kills other new queens, and sets out for a few days of orientation flights. In 3-16 days queen again leaves hive to mate, sometimes mating with several drones before returning to hive. Drones die after mating; unmated drones are denied food and die.
Habitat Hives in hollow trees and hives kept by beekeepers. Workers visit flowers of many kinds in meadows, open woods, and gardens.
Range Worldwide.
Discussion Settlers brought the Honey Bee to North America in the 17th century. Today these bees are used to pollinate crops and produce honey. They are frequently seen swarming around tree limbs. Honey Bees are distinguished from bumble bees and bees in other families mostly by wing venation.

 

[olena]

State Tree

Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum


Description Large tree with rounded, dense crown and striking, multicolored foliage in autumn.
Height: 70-100' (21-30 m).
Diameter: 2-3" (0.6-0.9 m).
Leaves: opposite; 3 1/2-5 1/2" (9-14 cm) long and wide; palmately lobed with 5 deep long-pointed lobes; few narrow long-pointed teeth; 5 main veins from base; leafstalks long and often hairy. Dull dark green above, paler and often hairy on veins beneath; turning deep red, orange, and yellow in autumn.
Bark: light gray; becoming rough and deeply furrowed into narrow scaly ridges.
Twigs: greenish to brown or gray; slender.
Flowers: 3/16" (5 mm) long; with bell-shaped 5-lobed yellowish-green calyx; male and female in drooping clusters on long slender hairy stalks; with new leaves in early spring.
Fruit: 1-1 1/4" (2.5-3 cm) long including long wing; paired forking keys; brown, 1-seeded; maturing in autumn.
Habitat Moist soils of uplands and valleys, sometimes in pure stands.
Range Extreme SE. Manitoba east to Nova Scotia, south to North Carolina, and west to E. Kansas local in NW. South Carolina and N. Georgia; to 2500' (762 m) in north and 3000-5500' (914-1676 m) in southern Appalachians.
Discussion Maples, particularly Sugar Maple, are among the leading furniture woods. This species is used also for flooring, boxes and crates, and veneer. Some trees develop special grain patterns, including birdseye maple with dots suggesting the eyes of birds, and curly and fiddleback maple, with wavy annual rings. Such variations in grain are in great demand. The boiled concentrated sap is the commercial source of maple sugar and syrup, a use colonists learned from the Indians. Each tree yields between 5 and 60 gallons of sap per year; about 32 gallons of sap make 1 gallon of syrup or 4 1/2 pounds of sugar.

Previous Natural States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Rhode Island
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia

 

[Snowwark]

Mmmm...yum...maple syrup! Very familiar with that, up here.

I think I need to do a review. Didn't one of two of the other states have the Honey Bee and Monarch, as state symbols?

Very interesting story about the Morgan horse, Olena, and it all started with a debt.

Thank you very much for putting this together, Heather. I enjoyed it.

 

[olena]

The honey bee seems to be a common denominator for many states. The Monarch appears a lot, too. Tennessee has an official butterfly and two official insects on top of that. The honey bee is sometimes designated as a state's Agricultural Insect.

 

[amid chaos]

That is one beautiful horse...we lived in Vermont for a few years..never saw a horse like that!!! I took pictures at a horse show once in Vermont and the picture got published in Yankee magazine.
Love the spring in Vermont when the maple trees run...special time.

Thanks Olena..I enjoyed visiting Vermont with you!

 

[Snowwark]

Wow...very impressive, Vanessa!!

 

[nativetxn]

Great information and wonderful illustrations, Heather. I love these, I'm learning a lot about the different states, thanks to you.

Katholyn