Some
of the creatures in the lakes of Mountain Lakes:
Please
note:
When we
list something as Òpossibly nativeÓ we mean that its natural range includes
Northern New Jersey. It is hard to know what might have been here in the
swamps and ponds that existed before Mr. Hapgood bulldozed most of our lakes
into existence in the early part of the last century.
ÒBait
bucket biologyÓ refers to the tendency of people to dump unused baitfish into
the lake at the end of the day. The fish may be native species,
non-native species, or the young of something surprising. Some of the odd
fish caught in our lakes can only have come in this way.
Some
people take it upon themselves to dump fish in our lakes because they like that
species better than another. Besides being illegal, it is very poor lake
management. As one of our paid lake biology consultants put it, if we
stocked Muskellunge (a very popular large game fish) in Wildwood Lake, we would
wind up with one very hungry under-sized Muskellunge, and nothing else left.
Dumping
aquarium fish in our lakes can be worse. Besides the non-native snails
and plants that may travel with them, even Goldfish, which will survive our
winters, are bad for the lakes. Goldfish are related to the Common Carp,
can grow to a foot or more long, can live for a decade in the wild, and eat
native plants and the eggs of native fish. DonÕt break the law; keep
aquarium fish until they die, or kill them humanely, but donÕt put them in our
lakes.
By the way,
weÕre not showing Birds on this list because there are too many kinds and their
presence is fairly obvious. Go to www.birds.cornell.edu for a great
guide. Our monthly issues lists
often give more information on Canada Geese and Mute Swans, the most visible birds
around the lakes.
Finally,
we try to keep links up to date but we do not promise that the links will be
available, useful, or screened in any way. Web safety is your
responsibility.
FISH
Largemouth
Bass Ð Micropterus salmoides. Non-native, introduced for
fishing. They eat almost any moving creature that will fit in their
mouths. Most people fishing in the lakes of Mountain Lakes are looking
for bass. See the following site for an image.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/lgmouthbass.gif
Calico
Bass, Black Crappie Ð Pomoxis nigromaculatus. Non-native, introduced
for fishing. A large member of the sunfish family that likes to eat small
fish. Has a large but fragile mouth so handle it gently if you catch one.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/blackcrappie.gif
www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=12
Bluegill
Sunfish Ð Lepomis macrochirus. Non-native, introduced for fishing and
as forage for other fish. See the following sites for images.
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/bluegill.htm
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/bluegill.gif
Pumpkinseed
Sunfish Ð Lepomis gibbosus. Possibly native. See the following
sites for images and information.
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/info/pumpkinseed.cfm
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/pumpkinseed.gif
Redbreast
Sunfish Ð Lepomis auritus. Possibly native. See the following
sites for images.
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/everglades/marshes/glossary/redbreastsunfish.html
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/redbreast.gif
Lepomis
sunfish species are closely related and inter-breed, so it can be hard to be
sure what kind you have in hand.
Eastern
Chain Pickerel Ð Esox niger. Possibly native. See the following
site for image and description. These are aggressive ambush predators
that eat small fish. They have many sharp teeth but will bite only if you
catch one and put your hand in its mouth.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/chainpickerel.gif
Yellow
Perch Ð Perca flavescens. Possibly native. Colorful, likes
cooler water, tends to form tight schools of fish, eats small fish and
insects. See the following sites for images and other perch information.
www.canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/species/fish/fishpages/per_fla.htm
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/yellowperch.gif
Brown
Bullhead Catfish Ð Ameiurus nebulosus. Possibly native. See the
following sites for images.
http://www.nj.gov/dep/wmm/bfbm/fish/brownbullhead.jpg
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/brbullhead.gif
Channel
Catfish have been stocked in Mountain Lakes in the distant past but should not
be present now.
Golden
Shiner - Notemigonus crysoleucas. Possibly native, possibly stocked by Òbait bucket
biologyÓ. See the following sites for images.
http://www.nj.gov/dep/wmm/bfbm/fish/goldenshiner.jpg.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/goldshiner.gif
Goldfish
Ð Carassius auratus. Not native to North America. Pets dumped out
of fishbowls or fish tossed in by Òbait bucket biologyÓ. Grow much larger
in lakes and are damaging to other species and vegetation. It is illegal
to dump non-native species in our lakes, or to deliberately stock native
species without permission. See the following sites for images of
Goldfish, as well as other non-native, closely related, fish such as Carp.
www.njscuba.net/biology/fw_fishes_bottom.html
http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/fish_marine_images/goldfish.gif
Trout
For a
brief period every Spring, there are trout in Birchwood Lake. This
follows stocking for the annual ÒTrout DerbyÓ fishing contest for
children. Luckily, most of the trout are caught and taken away, since
there is little chance that they could survive a summer in any of our
lakes. The most heat tolerant trout are stressed by temperatures above
65¡; our lakes significantly exceed that for months on end.
AMPHIBIANS
Bullfrog
- Rana catesbeiana. Native. The large frog at the edge of our lakes
whose Spring call is usually described as deep, loud, and sounding something
like Òda da duumÓ or ÒjugaruumÓ. The following site has a number of
pictures and sound files describing bullfrogs.
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/bullfrog.htm
We also
have Green Frogs Ð Rana clamitans.
Native. TheyÕre smaller, and less obvious, than Bullfrogs and have
pronounced ridges down each side of their backs. (They have a ÒtwangingÓ call and stay out of the way of
Bullfrogs since a large Bullfrog will happily cram a Green Frog in its mouth
and eat it.)
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Rana_clamitans.html
Wood
Frogs (sound vaguely like a quacking duck) use temporary ponds to
breed. They donÕt use the lakes but you can hear them calling in wet
woods. (If you want to learn more about the ecology of wetland woods, you
could start by looking up Òobligate vernal pond breederÓ.)
American
Toads (call is a high trill), Spring Peepers (loud ringing
chirping), and various salamanders (no breeding call), also use the lakes in
Spring. American Toads usually breed in lakes or ponds that contain water
year round. Spring Peepers are frogs that can breed using lakes or
temporary wet spots.
REPTILES
Snapping
Turtle - Chelydra serpentina. Native. Large to very
large turtles. Probably the only creature in our lakes that can and will
bite hard enough to seriously hurt a human. They do not attack, and usually move away from humans, but
will bite if you step on them or grab them. They stay in the water once theyÕve hatched, though you may
see their heads sticking out as they surface to breath. The females come out of the water once
a year to lay eggs. If you see one, leave it alone because it will bite
to defend itself and its bite can snap a broomstick or sever a finger.
Their necks are quite long, can reach your hand at the side of the shell, and a
Snapping Turtle can move much more quickly than you expect. The primary predator
of adult Snapping Turtles in Mountain Lakes is the automobile. The sites
below show images of snappers.
http://www.nps.gov/wica/Turtle-Common_Snapping.htm
http://www.cortland.edu/herp/keys/images/turtles/cserpelg.jpg
Eastern
Painted Turtle - Chrysemys picta. Native. It grows to a shell
length of about 6Ó. You may see yellow markings on the head. This
is the turtle you are most likely to see sunning itself on a rock in our
lakes. If you see a turtle with a red mark on its head, it is probably a
Red-eared Slider, a non-native turtle whose ancestors were dumped in the lake
when people tired of them as pets.
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/species/display.asp?id=030060
Northern
Water Snake - Nerodia sipedon. Native. A large example of this
snake will usually look all black and it will be swimming (hunting fish) or
trying to get to the water. Do not grab even a small example of this
snake as it has a mouthful of sharp, backward pointing, teeth designed to hold
fish, and it will have a hard time letting go of you when it bites to make you
let go of it. They want to stay away from humans but they can be
aggressive if you corner them, so give them space. They may look
unpleasant but THERE ARE NO POISONOUS WATER SNAKES IN MOUNTAIN LAKES, or New
Jersey for that matter. There is no reason to kill a snake and certainly
none to harm an uncommon water snake in Mountain Lakes.
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/species/display.asp?id=030034
MAMMALS
Muskrat
Ð Ondatra zibethicus. A large aquatic rodent (but much smaller than
beaver) that burrows into the shores of the lakes. They eat plants, cause
some damage to the shoreline, and produce many offspring, which makes the
Snapping Turtles happy. The following site shows far more than you will
ever need to know about muskrats.
http://my.net-link.net/~vaneselk/muskrat/
There
are recipes for cooking muskrat on that Web site. To the best of our
knowledge, no one on the BoroughÕs Lakes Management Advisory Committee has
tried them.
Muskrats
are harmless in the sense that they wonÕt bother you unless you trap them or
threaten their babies. However, they donÕt get out of the water to go to
the bathroom, so they are one of the reasons we donÕt drink lake water (They
can carry Giardia, but so can dogs. http://www.hyperionlab.ca/giardia1.html)
Beaver
Ð Castor canadensis. The largest
native rodent in North America. At
this writing (in 2007), we have Beavers in the swampy areas behind Birchwood
Lake, cutting trees and blocking trails by raising water levels with their
dams. Giardia is sometimes called
Òbeaver feverÓ.
Raccoons
(Procyon lotor) hunt for freshwater mussels and crayfish from the shallows of
our lakes. You may find empty ÒclamÓ shells or broken crayfish shells in the
shallows or on the shore showing where they fed. (Their scientific name
means something like Òearly dog, the washerÓ referring to their habit of
washing their food.)
It is
possible that we have an occasional Mink (Mustela vison) passing through
our lakes. They eat fish, crayfish, Muskrats, and most small creatures.
Deer,
bear, and Coyotes drink from the lakes but donÕt forage there as a primary
resource.
MACROINVERTEBRATES
This is
a partial list of water creatures that are visible to the unassisted eye and
donÕt have backbones, including insects, crustaceans, and molluscs.
Dragonfly/Damselfly
The
insects commonly called dragonflies are usually larger, strong flyers, whose
wings extend perpendicular to their bodies when they are resting. Their
immature stage (nymph) is large, squat, and can jet forward by expelling water
from openings in the rear of the body. They have extendable jaws to catch
their prey.
Damselfly
is the name commonly applied to more slender insects whose wings fold back over
the body at rest. Other than that, they often look much like dragonflies
in flight. The immature stages (nymphs) in the water usually have
leaf-like gills at the end of their bodies and swim by wiggling their bodies.
Dragonfly
Ð Common Green Darner Ð Anax junius
This is
a big green dragonfly likely to be seen over our lakes and lawns, but is not
the only dragonfly in Mountain Lakes. (In June you can easily see three
species in one hour at Birchwood Lake, plus damselflies.) For an
illustration of the complexity of nature, while dragonflies are migrating, they
form a food source for migrating Broadwing Hawks.
Adult:
http://www.njodes.com/Speciesaccts/darners/darn-comm.asp
Dragonfly
Ð Common Whitetail Skimmer Ð Platythemis lydia
This is
a fairly obvious creature with its strongly patterned wings.
Adults:
http://www.njodes.com/Speciesaccts/skimmers/whit-comm.asp
The
immature insects (nymphs), dragonflies in particular, in the lakes are great
hunters of small creatures, even tiny fish.
Common
Green Darner Nymph:
These
are relatively large insects and eat smaller creatures, including tiny fish.
http://www.umd.umich.edu/eic/aquatic_insecta/odonata/aeshnidae_family.htm
Damselfly
Ð Variable Dancer Ð Argia fumipennis
One of
the Damselflies you might see in Mountain Lakes. And for further
confusion, newly emerged adults of a given species may be a different color
than older examples and females of several species (as with Variable Dancers)
are a different color than the males.
Adult:
http://www.njodes.com/Speciesaccts/damsels/danc-vari.asp
Damselfly
Ð Familiar Bluet Ð Enallagama civile
Another
species you might see in Mountain Lakes.
Adult:
http://www.njodes.com/Speciesaccts/damsels/blue-fami.asp
Familiar
Bluet Nymph:
http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/na/aquatic_insecta/odonata/coenagrionidae_family.htm
Other
Insects:
We have
the whole spectrum of aquatic insects to be expected in warm water lakes and
streams. Examples have been
collected ranging from Dobsonfly, http://insects.tamu.edu/images/insects/common/images/b-txt/bimg123.html
to
Mayfly http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/177/Mayfly-Acerpenna-Blue-Winged-Olives
Crustacean:
Crayfish
In
Mountain Lakes, ours are likely to be Procambarus species. They look like
lobsters a few inches long. Bass love to eat these.
http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/NewAstacidea/species.asp?g=Procambarus&s=acutus&ssp=acutus
There
are freshwater mussels in Mountain Lakes (and twelve native species in New
Jersey). The empty, fragile, dark, ÒclamÓ shells you may find on the shores
of the lake are likely to be native mussels.
The
following site will give you more information about molluscs in our area than
any casual reader will need. For example, one of the mussels likely to be
growing in Mountain Lakes has to have Yellow Perch in the lake to
survive. Their young must spend time as skin parasites (mostly harmless)
on Yellow Perch before they can grow to older stages. (They canÕt use the
skin on most other fish, much less humans or other creatures.)
http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/mussel/
In general the bottom material in our lakes (rotting leaves, decomposed organic material, sand, clay, stones) is full of living creatures. These are not swimming pools, sterile and controlled.