That Pocono Wildlife Lady

01/21/2026

The Invisible Killer: Why the Loon is Going Mad. 🦆🏭

The lake looks pure. The water is crystal clear. Yet, the King of the North, the Common Loon, is losing its mind. It abandons its eggs. It lets its chicks starve. This isn't nature. It’s Chemistry.

⚗️ 1. The Transformation (Methylation) Mercury from power plants falls into the lake. Deep underwater, bacteria transform it into Methylmercury. This is the "biological" form of the poison: a substance that binds to fat and never leaves.

📈 2. The Amplification (x 10,000,000) This is the cruel rule of Biomagnification.

Plankton takes in a little.

A minnow eats 1,000 plankton.

A Bass eats 1,000 minnows.

The Loon eats the Bass. At every step, the dose multiplies. The Loon doesn't drink the water; it absorbs the concentrated toxicity of the entire ecosystem.

🧠 3. The "Loon Madness" Mercury attacks the brain (neurotoxin). It doesn't kill the bird immediately. It makes it "stupid" and lethargic. The Loon forgets to incubate. It forgets to feed its young. It lacks the energy to hunt. It is a silent extinction: the adults are there, but the cradles are empty.

The Message: What happens to the Loon is a warning. We often eat the same fish (Walleye, Pike, Bass). Protecting the air is protecting the water.



📌 QUICK FAQ
Q: Does it kill adult Loons directly? R: Rarely. It is more insidious. It weakens them (immunosuppression), making them vulnerable to disease or unable to migrate. It is a slow death by loss of vitality.

Q: Does this affect humans? R: It is the exact same risk. 🍽️ This is why health authorities (FDA) recommend pregnant women and children limit their consumption of apex predator fish (Tuna, Swordfish, Pike). We are Apex Predators too.

Q: If we stop polluting, does it go away? R: Very slowly. ⏳ Mercury is a persistent element. Even if we shut down all coal plants tomorrow, the mercury already in the lake sediment would continue to cycle and poison the food web for decades.

01/11/2026

12/30/2025

It’s time to do what needs to be done. I know I I know several true sportsmen/women who have made the switch to nonlead ammunition. It’s safe for your fi****ms, and works well.

12/07/2025

Want to help wild deer survive the harsh winter? Don’t feed them!

During fall, a deer’s digestive system slowly changes to have a perfect combination of microbes and enzymes to digest its winter diet, which is mostly low-calorie woody vegetation. This amazing adaptation enables deer to survive long, lean winters with very little fresh food.

When suddenly fed supplemental foods like fruit and corn, the deer’s winter-adapted digestive system simply can’t adapt fast enough to properly digest these foods, and it will quickly succumb to acidosis, similar to what people with diabetes experience.

Some particularly healthy deer might survive being fed during winter, only to die later. Foods given by humans will disrupt the sensitive balance of the deer’s digestive system, making it unable to digest its normal winter diet, so it may die very slowly after several weeks of being unable to thrive on its ordinary winter staples. It may become weak, slow, or confused, or may suffer from bone deformities, or may grow skeletal and die of starvation.

Feeding deer can also encourage them to congregate unnaturally in one small area and to share a lot of germs, including those responsible for chronic wasting disease. Your good intentions could create ground zero for an epidemic!

Please don’t contribute to this problem. Enjoy your deer neighbors this winter without giving into the urge to “help” by feeding them.

11/18/2025

11/18/2025

It's National Take a Hike Day! Celebrate by exploring a scenic trail on one of our 13 nature preserves. They are open from dawn to dusk every day. Visit www.phlt.org to find out more about getting outdoors on our nature preserves.

11/15/2025

I LOVE this lady!