Skunk cabbage: It's what's for dinner?

Poking up from the ground and the water, the spathes of skunk cabbage blooms started to show their maroon colors last week. 

These hood-like leaves that cover the plant's spadix have an almost sculpture-like quality. After photographing several of the burgundy leaves, I noticed that some had the spadixes removed. It wasn't a surgical removal, but for the most part the hoods were still there.

I turned to the internet for what animals might eat skunk cabbage.
What I found didn't really clear up the mystery, but it did provide some insight.

A post on the National Wildlife Federation's website stated, "Most animals avoid skunk cabbage because it causes a burning sensation when eaten, but bears will eat young plants in the spring."

A 2015 article on www.piquenewsmagazine.com provided a possible reason why bears would consume the stinky plants.

"Skunk cabbage is sometimes known as bearweed, as bears are one of the few animals that eat the buds and leaves," the post said.

"When bears awake after hibernating, they haven't defecated in a long time. Prior to hibernation, they ingested leaves, hair, dirt and needles to form a fecal plug up to a foot long in their lower intestine," the site posted.  

"Enter skunk cabbage, nature's Ex-Lax. Bears eat the plant to get things moving again," the post claimed.

I doubted it was bears that ate the spadixes out of the cabbages at the neighbor's pond. So I continued to search.

A post on the Cornell Botanical Gardens' website cornellbotanicgardens.org added a few more critters to the list of those who might consume skunk cabbage.

"Most herbivores avoid skunk cabbage foliage, but hungry black bears and snapping turtles may sample the leaves in early spring when they come out of hibernation. Wood ducks, ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasants, and bobwhite quail eat skunk cabbage seeds," the post stated.

Other posts had mentioned that wood ducks and squirrels may eat the seeds.

However, they made it seem like the animals would only be consuming the spadixes after the fruit or seeds had ripened.

Nonetheless, I believed that wood ducks were the most likely suspects.

Early last Sunday morning, the gang and I spooked about half a dozen wood ducks at the neighbors pond. I always try desperately to get photos, but they are much too skittish.

This week we managed to scare off two Canada geese, three wood ducks and a mallard couple.

I crossed my fingers that maybe the trail camera was able to get something.

The trail camera usually captures better photos then I can of the colorful waterfowl. However, the captures this week were in poor lighting and only showed shapes on the water.

Meanwhile, the trail camera along another path showed some deer on the run.
The next frame showed the reason why they were on the move.

It was a fisher. While it seemed unlikely to me that a fisher could take down a full-size deer, the Pennsylvania Game Commission's website said it was possible.

"There is evidence of fisher predation on white-tailed deer, but the frequency and effects of such predation are thought to be limited," said a Wildlife Note on the commission's site.

One of that camera's other captures was a cute photo of a deer sticking it's tongue out. Perhaps it was to say "Not this time Mr. Fisher."

Also caught on camera was my finger pointing sternly. I surmised that it was most likely a gesture toward Kennedy the goat to leave the camera alone.

I was tired of a week of crooked pictures after Kennedy felt the need to adjust the angle daily.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

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