The Coolest & Ghoulish: Halloween Species In Maryland & D.C.

Every day is Halloween if you know where to look in nature!

Phantom Forests

Michael Hodge / Via Flickr: mhodge

The Eastern Shore of Maryland is full of ghosts—or at least what appears to be dozens of tiny ghosts that start swaying or wiggling to spook you away when they sense you’re nearby. But rather than miniature versions of the dead stuck in limbo, these are boogie woogie aphids, also known as the beech blight aphid. The boogie woogies are actually translucent blue, but covered in white waxy fluff that deters predators from eating them. They live in groups on American beech trees, giving the branches a fluffy appearance. Like other aphids, the boogie woogies secrete honeydew, a sticky and sweet excrement that is exclusively associated with a fungus called “sooty mold.” (See below)

Check out these little guys in action (YouTube video).

flickr user cotinis / Via Flickr: pcoin

"Sooty mold" is a fungus that turns tree branches black, adding a spooky ambiance to the forest.

What Does the Fox Say?

© Jon McRay

You’ve probably heard that song once or twice, and the sound may not be too far off for the red fox, a species that lives throughout Maryland. These animals have an extensive vocabulary of strange calls, which you can hear eerily in the middle of the night.

What does the fox actually say? Animalist on YouTube explains (video).

Feed Me

© Kent Mason

An unassuming plant called the pitcher plant lives in the dark, wet, acidic bogs that were once found throughout the Eastern Shore of Maryland. For insects looking for a place to land in all the muck, the plants seem the perfect oasis. But unfortunately for the unsuspecting invertebrate, these beautiful plants have evolved a unique feature to survive in an otherwise inhabitable environment for flora—they are carnivorous. These plants attract bugs to their "mouths" and then pull the bugs downward into a pool of enzymes where they are slowly digested. And if the flesh-eating plant doesn’t get the insect? Then spiders living at the opening of the pitcher plant and stealing food from it will.

Move Over, Honey Badger

© Kent Mason

A new kind of ferocity is in town: Fishers are aggressive weasels that live on The Nature Conservancy’s Cranesville Swamp Preserve and eat everything—frogs, crayfish, mice, small birds, anything they can get their paws on. And if you think that’s scary, they’re one of the few species with the brass to attack and eat a species that is not only larger than them, but that is best known for its natural defense: the porcupine.

Holy Nature, Batman!

Charles DeCurtis/TNC

As creatures of the night, bats are obvious Halloween favorites. In addition to protecting two bat caves, the Nature Conservancy’s Maryland/DC chapter protects interior forest that harbors four species of bats when they’re not overwintering—the little brown bat, the big brown bat, the eastern pipistrelle and the northern long-eared bat.

What’s really scary is the bats’ devastating disappearing act over the last few years. A disease called white-nose syndrome has killed an estimated 5.5 million cave-hibernating bats in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and Canada. The disease has a mortality rate of 90 to 100 percent in little brown bats and populations of the northern long-eared bat in the Northeast have declined by 99 percent since 2006. As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Masters of Disguise

Geoff Gallice / Via Flickr: dejeuxx

Something with the name flannel moth might evoke images of comfort and warmth during the winter months. And as caterpillars they certainly don’t look like they could cause anyone much discomfort—they look like cute little fuzzy huggable (yes, huggable!) bugs. But, each of the caterpillar’s hairs has venomous spines that cause a stinging, painful rash and welts when anything—or anyone—comes in contact with them. Flannel moths are common throughout this region and feed on deciduous trees, such as oaks.

The Hunchback of Nassawango

© Kent Mason

Black-crowned night herons also live throughout this region and haunt the woods in their own special way. They appear to wear a dark cloak and sit sort of hunched over, waiting for small fish, crayfish, and frogs to swim by in the middle of the night, terrorizing the usual nightcrawlers. Night hikes and camping can quickly turn creepy when these birds call, making a jarring noise that sounds like “quark” and pierces the quiet of night.

Listen to their twilight call here (YouTube video).