| Story past Meghan McMahon |

vii/20/2018

Almost people have an creature or two they would rather not have an up-close-and-personal run into with. Some are avoided because they carry diseases; others are downright feared, irrationally or non. From time to time, people may even wish for a world without these animals and insects.

The reality, though, is every critter – even the ones that creep, clamber, slither and lurk in the night – is an important part of its surround and contributes to salubrious ecosystems.

"They all serve a role," said Angela Rafac, an interpretive naturalist for the Forest Preserve District. "All species are an of import office of their ecosystem and maintaining the rest of nature as role of the food web."

Having a improve understanding of some of the more maligned animals found in Will Canton can help plow our disdain into appreciation. Here's a closer await at some of the animals nosotros love to hate as well every bit the benefits they provide to our environment.

Snakes

Photo courtesy of Lorenzo Pesce

Snakes are i of the virtually feared animals in the world, just they serve an important purpose as a predator of some other blazon of animal most humans aren't big fans of – rodents.

Snakes are disquisitional for keeping the rodent population in check, Rafac said. In addition to mice and rats, the slithering, sliding creatures besides eat frogs, toads and other reptiles; birds; termites and another insects, according to Defenders of Wild animals.

Illinois is domicile to 39 snake species, only four of which are venomous, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources reports.

RELATED: THE WONDERFULLY WILD SNAKES OF WILL COUNTY

And we shouldn't live in fear of snakes, because for the most part they work to stay out of site. Unlike another wild animals, such as raccoons and coyotes, that grow accustomed to being about humans, snakes prefer to remain unseen past people.

"Snakes are just every bit afraid of us every bit we are of them," Rafac said.

Spiders

Photograph courtesy of Suzy Lyttle

Fear of spiders, or arachnophobia, is so common that a hair-raising moving-picture show was fabricated about it back in 1990. Many of us love to hate these leggy, hairy creatures. But is our hatred deserved, or are spiders misunderstood? To exist sure, some spiders are venomous, although only almost a dozen spiders found in the U.s.a. are considered medically significant, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Illinois is home to both brown recluse and black widow spiders, although not typically as far due north every bit Will County.

Several species of spiders are commonly found throughout northern Illinois, but the vast bulk pose no real threats. Some, such as cellar spiders (or daddy longlegs equally they are oft called) and brown spiders, are usually found indoors. Others, like wolf spiders, jumping spiders, orb weavers and nursery spider web spiders, can be commonly found outdoors throughout the state.

While people may have their apprehensions, it's important that we co-exist with spiders, because they benefit our environment, primarily by keeping insect populations under control, IDNR reports.

Spiders command insect populations everywhere outside, including forests, prairies, farmland and most water, and they exercise the aforementioned indoors, eating ants, flies, roaches and more, Rafac said.

"If you see a spider in your domicile, it's definitely feasting on something," she said.

Raccoons

Photograph past Glenn P. Knoblock

Raccoons have earned the nickname "trash pandas" because they are practiced at getting into garbage cans, causing headaches for homeowners in suburban and urban areas.

"The reason they are such a nuisance is they accept thumbs like we exercise," Rafac said.

Raccoons are opportunistic eaters, so they will eat food from garbage cans, bird food from feeders and fish from ponds, along with other animals, berries and other plants.

This scavenger-like diet is likewise of benefit to our environment, though. Because they will feast on what is convenient, they keep our environment clean by eating a lot of carrion, or expressionless animals. They also eat a lot of other animals we consider pests, including snakes, lizards and rats, which helps proceed those populations in check.

Coyotes

Photo courtesy of Kevin Keyes

Like raccoons, coyotes are opportunistic eaters, Rafac said. Only in Volition County and similar areas, where both urban and suburban neighborhoods are adjacent to more rural and natural spaces, the main concern with coyotes is that they will assail and eat our pets, particularly small-scale cats and dogs.

"Coyotes are really smart," Rafac said, adding at that place is bear witness that they know to await both ways earlier they cantankerous the street.

Coyotes utilize their intelligence to help them hunt, and their diet consists mainly of rodents and rabbits, which helps continue those populations from getting out of control.

"Research has shown that where coyotes be, there is a amend residue of nature," Rafac said. "If the mammals do non have a predator, they could pig all the delicious bugs themselves, leaving animals similar songbirds to refuse in population."

I positive benefit of their diet is that keeping the rodent population from rising helps prevent the spread of diseases carried by these creatures, including hantavirus and the plague, according to Coyote Scout. And farmers, too, do good from coyotes because they help forestall crop loss and damage to crops by rodents.

Despite these benefits, coyotes do pose run a risk to our pets, which anyone who owns a small dog or outdoor cat should be enlightened of.

"If you lot can hear coyotes at night (where y'all live), it's your responsibility to accept care of your little dog," Rafac said.

Skunks

Photo courtesy of Dick Todd

The stinky aroma of skunk spray is a familiar one in Will County and throughout Illinois, where these striped mammals are mutual. The threat of its spray is primarily what makes it a nuisance animal, and more than a few dogs take had face-to-face encounters with skunks that concluded up in a stinky discharge.

But skunks mean no damage, and their diet consists of a lot of the animals and insects we would rather do without. They are omnivores, eating equal amounts of animals and plants, according to IDNR. In the spring and summer months, skunks banquet primarily on insects, including bees, beetles and grasshoppers. They also dine on young rabbits, footing squirrels, rodents, voles and birds.

Skunks do provide a warning before emitting their noxious spray, which they use to protect themselves. If you encounter a skunk arch its dorsum, enhance its tail and postage its feet, consider yourself warned. These are signs it is feeling threatened and, if the warning signs are ignored, information technology will plow around and belch its skunky spray, IDNR reports.

Opossums

Photo by Glenn P. Knoblock

Opossums are known for their unsightly appearance – they won't exist winning any Mother Nature beauty pageants – merely these nocturnal creatures help us in several ways.

The omnivorous critters aren't picky eaters, eating insects, birds, bird eggs, frogs, snails, worms and expressionless animals in addition to fruit and berries, IDNR reports. Opossums also eat a lot of ticks, which they find on their own fur while grooming themselves.

"Opossums tin can be beneficial in your neighborhood peculiarly if you have a garden because they consume the pests of the garden," Rafac said. "They are too good at keeping their competitors away, like rats."

In addition, opossums take some unique qualities that have caught the attention of scientists. For instance, they are immune to snake venom, Rafac said. Researchers are studying what makes them immune and also attempting to develop a universal anti-venom.

Bats

Photograph past Matt Grotto

Bats become a bad rap as disease carriers, and they practise, in fact, comport diseases, simply similar most animals do. The illness most commonly associated with bats is rabies, and rabies is found in bats in Illinois more than in any other wild animals species, IDNR reports. However, it'south of import to have some perspective: typically less than 5 percentage of bats tested for rabies are rabid and, in the bat population as a whole, less than 1 percent have rabies, according to the agency.

Bats flying at night pose no risk to humans, according to IDNR. In addition, these nocturnal creatures help us out in a big style every night when they come out to feast.

"All our local bats are insectivores, keeping the population of those pesky critters under control," Rafac said.

Some bats in northern Illinois adopt mosquitoes, eating hundreds, even thousands, every nighttime, while other species adopt moths and other insects.

Worldwide, bats play an important role every bit pollinators also, Rafac said. In fact, they are the sole pollinator of the agave found, from which tequila is produced. And their echolocation has contributed to the improvement of sonar technology.

Ticks, mosquitoes and other insects

Photo via Shutterstock

Nuisance insects like ticks and mosquitoes really tick people off, and with good reason. These tiny, biting insects tin carry diseases, and the rate of mosquito-borne and tick-borne illnesses more tripled in the United states of america betwixt 2004 and 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Command and Prevention.

While some precautions are necessary to help avoid tick and mosquito bites, it'southward important to acknowledge that fifty-fifty these insects as well play a helpful part in our ecosystem. Ticks, mosquitoes and many other insects serve every bit an of import food source for other animal species, Rafac said. Opossums, for example, eat a lot of ticks, and many bat species eat mosquitoes and other insects.

Insects play some other important role in our environment as well. Many insects in Illinois, including mosquitoes, bees, hornets and wasps, serve every bit pollinators, transferring pollen to fertilize plants.

And finally, some insects, peculiarly ticks, serve as host animals for micro-parasites.

"Although that can be dangerous for humans, infected larger mammals aid continue species' populations within conveying chapters," Rafac said. "They take been providing this service of population control even when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The oldest fossil tick always recorded is from 90 million years ago."

Lead Epitome courtesy of Joe Wittenkeller