On April 1, 2015

The Outside Story: April Fool! Nature myths and misbeliefs

By Michael J. Caduto

Walking through the woods on a cool spring morning, I saw a barred owl in an old maple tree. I circled the owl three times from a distance. Its head kept turning to follow me, tracking my movements with three complete revolutions.

One of the owl’s chicks had fallen from the nest, so I climbed the tree and placed the chick back in it. Then the owl flew up and pushed the chick out of the nest onto the ground, where it lay in a pile of melting snow.

I noticed that the maple was the biggest tree in sight, so it had to be the oldest. A rusty sap bucket hung from the tree on a tap that had probably been forgotten some 15 years ago. The bucket, which had originally been placed four feet off the ground, was now ten feet high, having moved up as the tree grew.

A cute baby skunk was hiding in a hollow under the tree. I stuck my head in to have a good look, because I knew that immature skunks couldn’t spray. Then I saw a porcupine, but when I drew closer, it shot several quills at me, narrowly missing my neck.

Walking home, I heard a bear off in the distance. It had just emerged from hibernation and was hooting to find a mate.

I passed a fallen tree and contemplated how it must have landed silently because no one had been there to hear it.

When I got home, I looked at the calendar and noticed the date: April 1.

This fictional account is spun of common misbeliefs that are handed down through the generations with surprising tenacity. Here are some common myths, followed by the corresponding truths. (Many thanks to the staff of the Springfield office of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources for sharing their favorite nature misconceptions.)

“An owl can turn its head 360 degrees.”

While it looks like an owl can spin its head around at will, in fact the head only moves up to 270 degrees in either direction. The structure of an owl’s neck vertebrae and specially adapted blood vessels enable these extreme motions. (Red-tailed hawks can turn their head nearly as far owls.)

“If you touch a baby bird that has fallen from its nest, and then put it back, the parents will reject it and let it die.”

Adults will not abandon a chick just because a person touched it. If you find a chick on the ground, search overhead for the nest and gently place the chick back in the nest. Many “baby birds” found on the ground are really fledglings who are learning to fly. If a juvenile bird has young feathers, is awkwardly flying near the ground, and can perch on your finger, then place it on a nearby branch and the parents will find it.

“The biggest trees are the oldest trees.”

Growth rate depends on a combination of genes and growing conditions. Some species (white pine, cottonwood) grow quickly, while others (white oak, hickory) grow more slowly. A red oak 16 inches in diameter that is growing in fertile soil with plenty of sunlight might be 50 years old, while a red oak of similar age that is competing with other trees in poor growing conditions might only be 10 inches across. A shagbark hickory growing nearby that is the same size could be 75 years old.

“A nail driven into a tree moves up as the tree grows.”

Trees only grow upward from the tips of the branches. A nail or sugaring tap driven or drilled into the side of a tree will remain at the same height over time. The bole [trunk or stem] of a tree grows outward, so eventually the nail or hole will be engulfed by wood.

“Baby skunks can’t spray.”

Skunks can spray to a certain extent within a few weeks and can spray at full force at about three months old.

“Porcupines can shoot their quills.”

A porcupine does not have ballistic quills. If you touch a porcupine, its sharp quills may penetrate your skin and separate from the animal. It’s also capable of thwacking predators with its tail.

“Bears hoot.”

Black bear cubs moan, coo, mew, purr, bawl, and make gulping sounds. Adults grunt, bellow and woof. On rare occasions, such as when cornered, bears growl. But they don’t hoot. Owls hoot.

“If a tree falls in a forest and there is no one around to hear, it makes no sound.”

Maybe. Maybe not. You’re on your own for this one.

Michael J. Caduto is an author, ecologist, and storyteller who lives in Reading, Vermont. The illustration for this column was drawn by Adelaide Tyrol. The Outside Story is assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of New Hampshire Charitable Foundation: [email protected]

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Pies, parades, and porch chats

July 2, 2025
“America is a tune. It must be sung together.”—Gerald Stanley lee The month of July is the height of summer, bringing a spirit of celebration to all of us. Our town of Killington may be small, but we know how to celebrate the 4th of July. We start early with the annual book sale at…

Inventing a better ski day: the innovations that drew crowds to Killington

July 2, 2025
By Karen D. Lorentz Editors’ Note: This is part of a series on the factors that enabled Killington to become the Beast of the East. Quotations are from author interviews in the 1980s for the book Killington, A Story of Mountains and Men. “We’ve got a million dollars that says you’ll learn to ski at…

‘Almost Heaven’

July 2, 2025
The stage was simple, designed to resemble a wooden board that resembled the siding of any barn, anywhere across America. It could have been the barn behind my house, or the one that my cousins have down in Georgia. It could have been a barn in Colorado or even West Virginia.  Nothing remarkable at all,…

Getting away from it all

July 2, 2025
My family and I went to the beach this past week. The temperatures were hot, and the weather was sunny, making for a classic seaside vacation. The house we rented was in the harbor of the town where we were visiting, so while we didn’t stare out at the ocean, we were able to sit…