Hobbies And Interests
Mammals
There are 13 known bat species in Ohio, and the Indiana bat is the only species (and only mammal) that is on the endangered list. The Indiana bat is a rare species that is listed on both the state and federal endangered species list. The first maternity colony of Indiana bats was discovered in Indiana in 1974. Like little brown bats, to which Indiana bats bear a close resemblance, they migrate to caves in southern Ohio to hibernate.
Birds
The piping plover is now only a migrant species in Ohio. It once nested on Lake Erie beaches but has disappeared as an Ohio breeder due to the disturbance and destruction of habitat. Also on the endangered list is Kirtland's warbler, which faces major threats from a lack of crucial young jack pine forest habitat and from the brown-headed cowbird. Cowbirds lay eggs in other bird's nests, leaving the hosts to incubate and care for the young cowbirds, which hatch before the native species, claim more food and may push other nestlings out of the nest.
Fish
The scioto madtom is very small catfish, normally less than 2 inches in length. It was discovered in Ohio's Darby Creek in 1943 and was rarely seen in ensuing years. The fish was suddenly plentiful in Darby Creek in 1957 but has not been seen in the state since then. Because no populations have been found since 1957, the reason for the species decline is unknown.
Mollusk
Species of mollusk endangered in Ohio include fanshell, purple catspaw, white catspaw, northern riffleshell, pink mucket and clubshell. The reasons include dams and reservoirs flooding gravel and sand habitat, gravel dredging of rivers, pollution, agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, agricultural practices that increase erosion and topsoil runoff, erosion caused by strip mining and logging. Farming adds silt to rivers and can clog mussel's feeding siphons and smother them, and zebra mussels reproduce in enormous numbers and tend to cover and suffocate native mussels.