by Chris Earley

We had a spider workshop this past summer and now our interpretive staff are on the look out for spiders all the time! And we have found some amazing ones. In this quiz, your objective is to match the following descriptive spider names with the correct species of spider pictured below. Can you get them all? Answers at the end of the newsletter. A printable version is available by clicking here.

Special thanks to John Reaume for all of these amazing spider photos! And, by the way, we now have some new biodiversity placemats including one on, you guessed it, spiders! Click here to see what the sheets look like: https://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/educationandevents/arboretumbooks

Oblong Running Crab Spider, Cross Orbweaver, Six-spotted Orbweaver, Black-and-Yellow Garden Spider, Zebra Jumper, Shamrock Orbweaver, Northern Crab Spider, Candy Stripe Spider, Bronze Jumper.

by Shelley Hunt

After a long, hot, seemingly endless summer, fall is finally here, complete with explosions of colour at The Arboretum (the trees’ final ‘party’ before winter dormancy). It’s a great time to come for a visit! You can even plan a walk to visit particular trees of interest – use the ‘Arboretum Explorer’ button on our website to search for individual trees and shrubs in our collections and pinpoint their locations. Want to compare fall colour among different varieties of sugar maple? Just type ‘sugar maple’ into the ‘Common or scientific name’ box. Interested in checking out specimens collected from China? Click on the drop-down menu in the ‘Country’ box and choose from a list of countries represented in our collections. Have fun exploring!

Along with enjoying brilliant foliage, fall is a time for harvest here at The Arboretum – you may see our horticulture staff and volunteers out on the grounds harvesting seed from various trees and shrubs. The seeds are used in our conservation programs, for distribution to researchers and growers who have requested them, and for propagation of plants for further use in our living collections. For the past few years, we have been able to reach a lot higher into the treetops thanks to the loan of a boom lift from SkyJack Inc. We had use of this fantastic machine for two weeks this fall, long enough to also complete some much-needed tree maintenance in hard-to-reach places. Thanks again, SkyJack!

Those of you who have come for a visit in the last few days have noticed that the entrance from College Avenue is closed due to construction. Some long-planned road repairs are underway to help alleviate problems caused by poor drainage. Regular visitors will remember the car-rattling ruts and potholes that plague our entrance road, mainly in winter. The closure won’t last for long – the entrance should re-open in a few days or so. The view will be different – some of the vegetation at the road’s edge had to be removed – but having a more sustainable, functioning road will allow us to make plans for the surrounding landscape into the coming decades (and, hopefully, centuries!). Short term pain for long-term gain!

Veronica Stach, Volunteer, Recent U of G Grad

Perhaps you are not a bird enthusiast, and anything flying around outside either goes unnoticed or subconsciously registers in your mind simply as "bird" and nothing more. This was definitely the case for me, until I decided to plunge into the plumaged world of birds and came very quickly to realize, there is more to them than meets the eye. Particularly, to the cawing American Crow, especially impossible to ignore this time of year. The Arboretum is one place these creatures not only call home but have been recorded breeding in as well.

Generally, most muggles will associate these birds with horror films, superstition and impending death. Some may even refer to a flock of crows as a murder, which may seem quite fitting, especially if you believe in old folk tales. Alas, upon reading this article, I solemnly swear as opposed to evoking a rather sinister feeling, these birds will leave you in awe, as your mind now consciously whispers, "Wow, that's an American Crow."

The Crows Are Watching

Remember that one time...Well you can be sure a crow will! When dealing with crows, you better be on your best behavior as these guys have an amazing memory, so much so that one bad impression can leave you in their bad books for a very long time. Crows also possess the uncanny ability to recognize faces with an extraordinary accuracy, based on previous experiences.

In 2010, scientist John Marzluff and his team decided to conduct an experiment testing the effectiveness of these abilities in the wild American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos. Sporting a collection of "dangerous" masks, participants captured, banded and released 7-15 birds across 5 different sites. Now, the intention of this study was to test whether the birds would remember the negative experience, distinguish the faces involved and whether this would affect their behavior when recurrently exposed to the mask. You can say the results were eerily impressive.

Before the capture, crows in the area showed little interest in participants with the "dangerous" masks, however, following the trapping, the crows were recorded dramatically scolding and mobbing masked participants via harsh vocalizations. Their reactions did not cease even when masked volunteers swapped and or stood in a crowd. Any masks not worn during the time of the trapping, dubbed as "neutral" masks, did not elicit this aggressive reaction in the crows. Pretty jaw- dropping evidence if you ask me! Such behavior successfully proved just how quickly and accurately the American Crow possesses the ability to recognize the face of a "dangerous" person. So the next time you plan on plotting against a crow, remember, they have a very particular set of skills; skills they have acquired over a very long course of time. Skills that enable them to remember a "dangerous" person for at least 2.7 years to be exact.

The Study was published in the journal "Animal Behaviour." by Elsevier. Read the abstract of the article at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347209005806

The Crow and His Toolbox

If you have ever had the pleasure of stumbling into a tense and rather awkward conversation, and heard the phrase, "Jim, you are such a tool!" then you may have grasped that Jim was being referred to as a rather stupid individual. Compared to Jim, crows are quite far from being tools but have the amazing ability to problem solve by using tools instead.

Tool use in crows is depicted various times throughout history, long before the intelligence of these birds was taken under scientific study. In an old fable titled, "The Crow and the Pitcher," a thirsty crow attempts to drink from a nearly empty pitcher and fails to reach. As a result, the crow begins to drop pebbles into the jug until the water level rises enough to quench his thirst. Genius!

In 2009, scientists attempted an experiment comparable to Aesop's fable with rooks, also belonging to the Corvid family, and were taken aback when the birds solved the problem in the same way with high accuracy.

The Study was published in the journal "Current Biology" by Elsevier. Read the abstract of the article at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982209014559.

In 2002, a captive New Caledonian crow named Betty, excelled in an experiment that required her to lift a basket of goodies from a plastic well. She did so by bending pieces of garden wire into hooked tools that she used to fish the basket out. This initially appeared as a unique and original problem solving idea due to the circumstances Betty was placed in, however in 2015, studies discovered the use of hooked tools does in fact extend to wild crows!

One of these experiments featured 18 wild-caught crows performing under controlled conditions in field aviaries. Together, the birds were recorded to have produced 85 hooked stick tools in an attempt to extract food from holes drilled into wooden logs. If the ability of these birds to respond in such a manner, repeatedly, both in captivity and in the wild is not mind blowing, I'm not sure what is.

The Study was published in the journal "BMC Biology". Read the abstract of the article at: http://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-015-0204-7

Although these particular studies may not include to the American Crow per se, tool use, an extraordinary memory and the haunting ability to recognize faces does exist, in varying degrees in most Corvid species. Exactly to what extent remains a topic shrouded in mystery until further studies are performed. Now, with Halloween right around the corner, you can be sure the opportunity for crow talk will arise, and sharing these amazing facts may just be your crowning achievement.

A printable version of this article is available here.

Oh no! You haven't booked your company's Christmas Party yet! That is okay, The Arboretum still has some dates available. The Arboretum is a perfect location for your Christmas party for groups up to 130 people. For further information please contact Dawn Ann Webster, Bookings Co-ordinator at extension 54110, [log in to unmask]

All catering is provided by Hospitality Services, University of Guelph. For further information on the catering please call extension 53350 or [log in to unmask].

Auditorium set up for Christmas Party

As The Arboretum wraps up many of its outdoor activities for the year we would like to say THANK YOU to all our wonderful volunteers. Our volunteers include the people who staff the front desk, the grounds crew, the docents, the gardening group, the seed collection and cleaning crew, the individuals who go out to staff a table at events, and more. The Arboretum couldn't be all that we are without your contribution! Thank you for helping The Arboretum Grow!

Close up and Macro Photography, Owl Workshop, Animal Tracking and Owl Prowls workshops are approaching. The dates and registration deadlines can be found in our Coming Events Listing in the column on the left side of this newsletter. A detailed description of each course is available on our website. Help us promote our programs … please forward this e-mail on to your friends and colleagues who may be interested. The more participants we have, the more programs we can offer.

Registering early is important for us because we need lead time to decide if there are enough people registered to run the workshop or not. To encourage registering before the deadline, we now have an Early Bird Fee. You can still register after the deadline, but it will cost an extra $10, so why not register early?

Registration is available on-line, which allows you to register for our programs at anytime, not just during our regular business hours. A secure link is provided on our website for this easy registration process.

If you do not have internet access, registration can still be made by phone or in person at 519-824-4120 ext. 52358 as in the past. Please remember that a decision is made on the registration deadline as to whether the workshop will run or not, based on the minimum number of required registrants. You may still register after the deadline as long as the workshop is running and there is space.

Fall migration is in full swing. We have been seeing migrants such as Dark-eyed Juncos, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Ovenbirds, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Golden-crowned Kinglets and Swainson's Thrushes this week. We still have some large Praying Mantids and Giant Water Bugs around to thrill our school kids and some of our goldenrod and asters are still blooming to add some colour on the ground to accent the backdrop of orange, yellow and red leaves. Our sugar maples are just about to be at peak colour so make sure you come soon for a visit!

 
Black-throated Green Warbler             Golden-crowned Kinglet
photo by Chris Earley                         photo by Chris Earley

                                
                                 giant water bug
                                 photo by Chris Earley

Be a part of the BetterPlanet Project by donating on-line:

Your donation can be directed to The Arboretum online through the secure University of Guelph donation page: http://uofg.convio.net/arboretum

If you prefer not to make an online donation, there are several other ways to provide your financial support. You can choose to donate by telephone, mail, fax, or in person:

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH Attention Alumni Affairs 50 Stone Road East Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Tel: 1-888-266-3108 ext. 56934 Tel: 519-824-4120 ext. 56934 Fax: 519-822-2670 Email: [log in to unmask]

If you would like information on bequests and planned giving to The Arboretum please contact:

Ross Butler
Director, Gift Planning
at (519) 824-4120 ext. 56196 or by e-mail at [log in to unmask]