Volume 14, No. 9 The Springton Lake Village September2018 VOICE INSIDE THIS ISSUE: VIRGINIA OPOSSUM –A TICK MAGNET! Activities Corner 2 Always be kind to Virginia Opos- sums. They’re docile, sweet-tempered and Virginia Opossum 2 totally non-aggressive. They have a wicked More Opossum 3 hiss and a mouthful of teeth they flash when threatened, but they don’t bite, ex- Birthdays 4 cept in self-defense. And, they don’t get rabies because their body temperature is Management Report 4 too low (94 –97 degrees F.). Springton Lake Village 4 Virginia Opossums are ideal visi- tors to urban yards. They’re quiet, they LOOKING AHEAD don’t dig or claw. They don’t eat flowers or chew up the vegetable garden. With the • Tuesday, Sept.4th Juliets huge rise in deer tick populations and the spread of Lyme disease, many friends of lunch 12:30PM wildlife are welcoming opossums into their yards. Why? Scientists have learned that opossums act like little vacuum cleaners when it comes to ticks – with a single • Sunday, Sept.9th US Open opossum killing as many as 4,000 ticks per week. 1PM Opossums are extraordinarily good groomers - they kill more than 95% per- cent of the ticks that try to feed on them. They will catch and eat cockroaches, rats • Monday, Sept. 10th Movie and mice – in addition to consuming dead animals of all types (also known as carri- “The River” 6:50PM on). Gardeners appreciate opossums’ appetite for snails, slugs and for cleaning up over-ripe fruit and berries. Opossums are also resistant to snake venom and prey on • Wednesday, Sept. 12th snakes, including venomous species such as copperheads and rattlesnakes. 2PM Gittin’ Knittin’ This amazing species is North America’s only marsupial (pouched mammal). • Thursday, Sept. 13th 5PM The name 'opossum' was first used in western culture by Captain John Smith in 1608. It comes from the Algonquin name 'apasum', which means 'white animal.' Charades Opossums are 2 to 3 feet long, plus a tail length of 8 to 13 inches. They • Sunday, Sept. 16th 2:30PM weigh between about 4.5 lbs. to 6 or 8 lbs. (sometimes more) Males are usually larg- Ice Cream Social er than females. Virginia Opossums have a long, pointed face with black eyes, long whiskers and a distinctive pink nose. Their ears are black and tipped or edged with • Wednesday, Sept. 19th white, and hairless. White hair covers their face, and their body is a sparse, coarse LakeO 2PM mix of grayish and blackish hair. Their thin hair makes them susceptible to frostbite (particularly their ears), preventing them • Sunday, Sept. 23rd “The from inhabiting regions that are too Making of the Middle cold. But with climate change they are East” 4PM talk expanding north. Virginia Opossums have 50 • Monday, Sept. 24th Rome- teeth, the most of any U.S. land mam- os Lunch Noon mal. When they open their mouth, all those teeth are exposed and look truly • Monday, Sept. 24th Movie menacing. That’s deceptive because “The Great Showman” opossums are mild-mannered unless 6:50PM deliberately provoked; sometimes not even then. • Thursday, Sept.27th 5PM . Charades Continued on page 2

Page 2 Volume 14, No. 9 TRAFFIC STOP ACTIVITIES CORNER—SEPTEMBER Bridge Charades 2PM Mondays 5PM Get fit; feel better! Thursdays, Exercise with Linda Billiards September 10AM every Tuesday (Dunwoody) 13th and and Thursday 10AM Wednes- 27th days Thanks to Knitting MOVIES at 6:50PM Eileen Talk: SUNDAY 2PM September 10th Spinelli Sept. 22nd Wednesday “The River” 4PM Sept. 12th “The Making of September 24th the Middle “The Great Show- East” Lakeo 2PM man” Wednesday

Sept. 19th VIRGINIA OPOSSUM Their tail is hairless, scaly-looking and long. It’s prehensile, which means it can be used to hold or grasp things. You may have heard that opossums sleep while hanging by their tail, but that isn’t so — they’re too heavy to hang for very long. In fact, holding them that way is painful for them although babies may hang by their tails. Their feet are bare on the bottom. They have five hair- less, dexterous toes (some experts call them fingers). Each of the hind feet has a thumb, called a hallux. All their toes are clawed except for the thumbs, which are used to grasp branches when climbing. Virginia Opossums have no body odor because they lick Juvenile possums hanging by their tails themselves constantly. The licking, at least in part, has to do with thermoregulation of their body temperature — they lack sweat glands and the evaporating saliva helps to cool them. Virginia Opossums have a keen sense of touch. Their sense of smell is exceptional — they have 1,188 genes devoted to smell. (By comparison, humans have 396 olfactory genes devoted to smell, and dogs have 811.) Their eyesight is poor, however, and their senses of hearing and taste are rather weak, too. Virginia Opossums make only a few distinct vocalizations. They hiss, snarl, click and screech, and may make all of these sounds when showing aggression. Clicking is also made by males in mating behavior and by females when around their young. Young ones also make clicking sounds. Some sources say moth- ers make a purring sound to their young. Juvenile possums riding on their mother Opossums have a reputation for being dim-witted because they move slowly and have a small brain size (five times smaller than a raccoon’s). However, researchers found in a se- ries of tests that opossums are better than dogs, cats and other animals at remembering the location of food hidden in a maze; only humans were superior to them.

(Continued on page 3) VOICE Page 3 VIRGINIA OPOSSUM Virginia Opossums are solitary, except when mating or caring for young. They’re strictly nocturnal, except in winter when they’re sometimes active in the daytime on warm days. Many people have seen them only as roadkill or in the spotlight of a suddenly-switched-on porch light. Coming face- to-face, opossums may freeze in place, but often they just turn and move away. For them, movement is usually a shuffling, clumsy-looking waddle, but if circumstances compel them, they can run at about 4 miles per hour — equivalent to a fast walk for a human. They know this isn’t fast enough to save them from most predators, so typi- cally they head for safety. They might crawl into a den, scale a tree (they’re expert at this) or swim (they’re able swimmers). Or they may drop “dead.” The Virginia opossum has many behaviors it uses to survive. When threatened, it will exhibit behaviors like running, growling, belching, urinating and even defecating. When frightened or harmed, opossums suddenly freeze, become stiff, drool and lie still as death; breathing will become slow and shallow. This coma-like state can last up to four hours Some predators will think the opossum is dead and go away! Virginia Opossum or Didelphis virginiana, Their genus name Didelphis is Ancient Greek for “double womb.” Their reproductive system is bifid, meaning there are two sets of reproductive organs. (The male’s penis is also bifid). Some of the fetuses develop in a left “Playing Possum” uterus and the others in a right uterus. They have a very short gesta- tion period — only 12 or 13 days. After their birth, the young continue their development in their mother’s pouch (marsupium). But first, they must perform a harrowing journey to get there. The newborns weigh 1/200th of an ounce — the size of a bee. Hairless and nearly transparent, they aren’t much more than embryos. Mothers prepare the way by licking a path through their hair for them to follow. With a swimming motion, the babies pull themselves blindly (literally, since their eyes are closed) along this path. The trek is only three or four inches, but for these little guys, it’s monumental. Treacherous, too. A sudden move by their mother and they’ll fall off and perish. The weaker babies will not make it, regardless. Those who make it to the fur-lined marsupium will find one of 13 teats aligned there in a horseshoe arrangement. This is their lifeline to Mother possum attending to her pouch further physical development, and they hang on tightly. If there are more than 13 babies, the extra ones will die. Two months later and the size of a mouse, babies have begun to outgrow their warm, protected environment that’s now stretched nearly to its limit. Ever so cautiously, they peek out. Then they duck back inside. They peek out. They duck back inside. They’ll do this many time over the next couple of weeks until finally they climb out — still clinging to their teat! They’ll stretch just as far as they possibly can but won’t turn loose. Eventually they let go and climb up onto their mother’s back where they ride for a few weeks learning the ropes. Then they drop off and stay with the mother for a short while before heading off on their own. Although well adapted to city life, their natural habitat is deciduous forests, but they also are found in farm- lands, prairies and wet areas, such as marshes and streams. Opossums live only a year or two in the wild and three or four years in captivity. Even though opossums eat everything, giving them the proper diet in captivity can be diffi- cult and many get painful metabolic bone disease. Opossums’ feet are soft and delicate with small claws, not designed for digging. So, they look for existing nest sites that will keep them warm and safe, such as old burrows, drainage pipes, hollow logs, old squirrel nests, rock piles, woodpiles or under a porch. Even a chimney. They line nests with soft, dry materials, like grasses and dried leaves. They gather their nesting materials by mouth and then shove them under their body, where they loop their tail around them for transport. Natural enemies of opossums include foxes, coyotes, bobcats, eagles, owls and other birds of prey; also dogs and cats. Otherwise, vehicles are their biggest enemy. It’s thought that opossums’ will- ingness to eat carrion draws them to roadkill and then, frequently, they become roadkill. Opossums are another example of our extraordinary and fascinating wildlife! Thanks to Elaine Patrikas for the suggestion. The Springton Lake SPRINGTON LAKE VILLAGE Village Voice Luxury living at its finest abounds at Springton Lake Village. This “just right” commu- Martina Martin, Editor nity of 40 single homes is nestled on the Springton Lake Reservoir. Each home offers 2000 square feet of living space on one floor with an additional floor to use as need- ed. Also an attached two car garage. The spectacular location has breathtaking sun- sets complete with birds and wildlife to be enjoyed from your deck or on the walking path by the Lake. Gourmet dinners challenge the best restaurants in the area. Activi- ties include lectures. bridge, poker, movies and many more including holiday celebra- tions, gourmet wine tasting dinners and many field trips. Cherished friendships are 101 Longview Circle formed with delightful and interesting neighbors. All this and much more are here at Media, PA 19063-2075 Springton Lake Village. This is worry-free living. The monthly bill includes: · Taxes, Gas, Electric, Water and Sewer We’re on the Web! · Gourmet meals · Weekly house cleaning springtonlakevillage.com · Heavy house cleaning, including windows inside and out, twice a year · Landscaping maintenance and snow removal services · Outside maintenance such as gutter and dryer vent cleaning · Maintenance staff on site for your daily needs · Exercise room, personal trainer · Health care manager · Capital programs such as roof replacement, water heaters, driveway, paving, etc. · The only additional check you write is for TV, internet and phone. We look forward to welcoming you for a visit soon. Call us at 610-356-7297 9/8 Walt Fisher 9/12 Bill Rowland 9/16 Newbie Cooper 9/18 Gray Halton

MANAGEMENT REPORT

The Summer warmer weather is quickly coming to an end. Thanks to Kim If you have any exterior painting or Roerig other exterior work you would like to see completed before the winter call the office.

We will schedule it as soon as possible.