Our Window on Nature

Each autumn for more centuries than man has existed on the North American continent, bald eagles have temporarily abandoned their northern breeding grounds for winter sojourns farther south. Early man lacked the ability to interfere with this migration; not until man was civilized enough to use guns and poisons did the vagabond eagle face peril. Only then could humans make a sport of shooting eagles and poison the earth with DDT, in addition to draining and paving the wetlands that the eagles needed. The bald eagle became an endangered species in the very country that claims it as its national symbol.

Today man is making amends. He builds reservoirs for flood control and then stocks them with fish, at the same time providing eagles with a reliable food supply. He establishes refuges for migrating waterfowl that, aside from providing sport for hunters, serve up eagle food in the form of wounded ducks and otherwise incapacitated birds. Of equal importance, he outlawed the slaughter of predatory birds, thereby making the eagles’ migratory passage less hazardous. As a result of these efforts, once again we can enjoy the sight of bald eagles in the wild. (Read the rest …)

We think we’ve finally trapped the right pack rat – the one who’s taken up residence atop our gray-water tank after building its granary in the engine compartment. Other than the fact that it has chewed through several spark plug cables, the problem is the critter’s nocturnal habits.

The trouble starts when, along about 2:00 a.m., “PR” scratches and scrapes out bits and pieces of insulation with which to line his nest. Our Doberman, Sassy, mutters under her breath in protest, and then Lowell growls at the dog. Hoping to ignore all three, Kaye pulls her pillow over her head.

Trap it, you say. That’s easily suggested, but not so easily accomplished. We bought a live trap and armed it with a gourmet spread of peanut butter and birdseed, but with the abundance of seeds scattered about the desert at the time, our offering held no attraction. (Read the rest …)

There are fungus among us; we call them mushrooms. Just what season they arrive depends upon the arrival of the rainy season, but they will pop up just about anywhere, even in the desert. You can imagine our amazement when a botanist held up a sample of a mushroom of the Sonoran desert. It appears only during the monsoon season and that means July and August. Of course, they look pretty desiccated even in their prime.

Awareness of the fungus, and of its curious properties, stretches far back into antiquity. The Bible refers to these strange plants. Ancient Greeks and Romans harvested them for food, and for their poisons for although many are quite edible, the wrong ones can be deadly.

(Read the rest …)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, eat your heart out. The best browsing isn’t at the beach anymore; it’s at your local landfill. You’d better hurry, though. Word spreads fast, and almost every city dump in gull country already has a resident flock.

This doesn’t mean RVers won’t see these birds along the shoreline, however. A great many landfill gulls join their coastal cousins at the beach, snoozing until the rising tide laps at their feet. But when the dinner bell rings, they turn their backs on the beach and fly inland, swirling across cities large and small on their way to the local dump. In fact, the very presence of the steady supply of human refuse that is found at landfills has contributed to a burgeoning population of certain species of gulls. (Read the rest …)

Think small. We’ve observed many insect architects lately and have been astounded by their diligence. Many of them slave away in campgrounds and in parking lots, oblivious to lazy humans who idle in the shade while they watch others work.

Most insect architects belong to the order Hymenoptera (which includes bees, ants, and wasps), but there are significant exceptions. For example, the praying mantis (a fairly primitive insect), is related to the cockroach, and ant lions are related to lacewings and dobsonflies.

(Read the rest …)