Fat Turtle

I found a turtle between the compost pile and the garden. It was obese! I never knew that a turtle could become overweight. But the fat rolls that were unable to fit inside of this turtle's shell were disturbing. What's more is that I feel responsible! Three days in a row I looked for him when I took the compost out and I found him every time.
My compost pile is not well kept or protected. It is a heap of food that is covered with leaves and left for nature to do as it pleases. I never thought much of it before now. I figured that some wildlife might enjoy it, but I didn't see a problem with that. Most of my compost is fairly healthy. However, looking at this fat turtle I realize that he is addicted to what I throw out and because it is so easy to eat so much, he has become unhealthy. I don't think he can get all of his fat rolls into his shell; therefore, he is easy picking for a predator. I am ruining this turtle's life!
It makes me wonder how many other obese animals are hiding in the woods between our houses, waiting for us to take out the garbage or throw those scraps in the yard. How many dumpsters are all you can eat bars, tempting fat raccoons, foxes, rabbits, and yes, even turtles!
I will properly fortify my compost pile this weekend!    

Bark Scorpion Girl

Striped Bark Scorpion

At the Ozark Natural Science Center, before I take students on our first hike together, I always ask the students to each tell me what they want to learn more about. Most of them either name the first animal that comes to mind (bears, snakes, or deer) or they flip through their field guide and read a heading to me, even if they don't know what it means and are not interested in it. One cool fall day last year I got a surprising answer, "I want to learn more about the Striped Bark Scorpions," said a little girl with black hair and wide wandering eyes.
"Bark Scorpions?" I mused. "I'm not even sure we have them around here..."
"Oh yes, they are here. They live under rocks during the day and then climb trees at night in search for food. They hunt insects and stuff. They are only, oh, about this big..." she showed me a little over an inch with her fingers. "They blend into the bark, especially because it is night, so when you put your hand on a tree they sting you. But they won't kill you, its like a bee sting."
"Wow, I think you might need to teach me about them! Obviously you know quite a bit more about them than I do."
"I like to study them." Her gaze lowered and she seemed slightly embarrassed. Other students were snickering and rolling their eyes at her. At her age, being smart is NOT cool.
Throughout the rest of our time together, the girl continued to teach me things and I taught her what she didn't already know. She was full of questions and answers both. The bark scorpion did not come back up since I felt stupid not knowing anything about them.
This past week, while walking with fellow Ozark Natural Science Center teachers, during staff trailing, we flipped over a rock in the glade and found a stripped bark scorpion. Immediately I thought of the bark scorpion girl. As I asked teacher naturalist more about this species, I realized the girl had been right about everything she had told me, from its size to its habits.
"I knew a guy who picked them up!" someone said.
"I dare you to pick it up, Caleb," said Adam.
Caleb smiled.
"I will rub nose burn on my nose if you pick up the scorpion." Adam dared. (Nose burn is a plain little plant or weed that grows in Ozark glades. People who touch it get a stingy or burning sensation that rarely last more than 20 minutes. However, Adam found it not to be painful when he lost this bet and rubbed it on his nose.)
Carefully, Caleb crept up behind the scorpion and then quickly plucked it off the ground. The scorpion curled its legs in and froze in the giant's grip. While taking a picture of the only Ozark scorpion I have ever seen, I wished the bark scorpion girl was there to see it too.

Caleb Wardlaw Holding a bark scorpion

Shallow Water

 

Green Heron

Creeks and rivers are still very shallow. I went to one of my favorite swimming spots and found that the pools of water were not only shallow, but the water quality was poor. Perhaps this little branch of the white river has always been slightly polluted. It is beside a rural bridge where thoughtless people can so easily drop trash off the side of their truck and into the shadows below. Normally their trash is carried down stream. But this year's stagnant pools revealed every coke can and chip bag. Also, there was an oily or white shimmer of scum on the water's surface.

Blue Heron

Despite these signs of carelessness,  there was no lack of life in these waters! Turtles were thriving, basking on a log sicking up out of the water and floating near the surface ready to plunge into the depths at any moment. Fish filled the water so thickly I was afraid if I stepped into the pool they would come lapping onto shore.
Of course, herons were attracted to these fish filled pools. As we approached the river a small green heron perched and watched us suspiciously before flying into a nearby sycamore tree. Further downstream, a blue heron flew to the far bank and watched us from there. As I crept closer, the huge bird kept its eyes on my every move, but was reluctant to fly away from such a beautiful buffet of fish. After creeping very close, the heron opened its huge arching wings and lifted itself into the air. As it crested the trees it stopped flapping and began to soar.


Watermelon Sprout

Before we also decided to soar away, I spotted a watermelon sprout growing up from between the river rocks. There its seed had fallen after been spat from unknowing lips. The sprout reminded me that not everything humans carelessly discard is garbage, and even amongst the garbage, life grows onward!

Never met a stranger

Zane loves nature. He wants to be outside whenever possible, even in the heat or cold. If he sees a bug, he puts his palm out and asks, "hand?" Which means, "Will you put it in my hand?" He doesn't squeeze or poke at anything I place there. With a beaming smile, he just watches the creature crawl. When it is time to let the critter go, he waves and says, "Bye-bye!" Then he askes me, "Zane kiss? Zane hug?" If I tell him, "No," we don't kiss and hug worms, or frogs, or whatever, he will pout with his big sad bottom lip sticking way out. So I always cave, telling him he can, "Blow a hug and kiss." So he does. He blows kisses and hugs towards every snail, beetle, toad, and roly-poly we find. Of course, I won't let him put just anything in his hand. I have been pointing out spiders and wasps, explaining that these creatures might bite or sting him. I don't want him to be afraid necessarily, just cautious and aware.
When we are in the country we take lots of walks down the dirt road. It delights Zane that there are no cars in the road and it is safe to walk on. He is very observant, stopping to examine every ant. He is also learning which insects are ticks. When he finds a tick he knows to bring to me. He love for living things does not stop at sails or spiders, he has to hug and kiss trees or rocks too. It is almost like he just wants to show his love for life and the world. Maybe he is just trying to give thanks for being alive?
I am proud that he loves every thing so much. Love is much better than hate. But when we are in town, his kindness can be awkward. In the city, it makes people uncomfortable. Because he will hug and kiss nice old cars that he likes, or intersting holes in the sidewalk. Pretty much anything that he likes or finds interesting gets a hug and kiss. I have had to scold him for blow kisses to the lady in the check out line or hugging the random dogs in the park. And it just makes us both look crazy when he kisses the man hole cover in the sidewalk or hugs an street sign. He is passionate. I recognize the strength as well as the weakness in such passion.
Lately, he has become more reserved. His baby days of hugging and kissing everything he likes or enjoys is fading. Now I feel less embarrassed, now that he can be embarrassed. But when we are alone in the backyard and no one is watching, we hug the trees and kiss the ladybugs without an ounce of shame!

Zane letting a millipede walk on his hand.

Sprouts of Hope

 

I am trying to grow a fall garden. This week has brought cooler temeratures, a few summer thunderstorms, and a bit of hope. I know I am not the only species that is rejoicing in a change in weather. This summer has been the hottest and dryest on record, but lately the birds have begun singing again and the grass covered hillsides have changed from brown back to green. So I felt inspired to stick a few seeds in the ground. Only the bush beans seem to be thriving so far. Perhaps the spinach and lettuce knows that summer is not over yet. It may be too soon to start speaking of fall. But at least I can see a bit of greenery at the end of the tunnel!

 



Beside a dry creek

Blue Bird Fledging (taken in June)

An Amazing South American Amphibian

       In the gloomy forests of South America lives a tiny frog called Darwin's Frog (Rhinoderma darwinii), who has one of the strangest reproductive cycles. The female frog lays about 30 eggs in sheltered leaf litter, then she leaves. The male frog, however, stays and guards the eggs. When the tadpoles are just about ready to hatch their egg becomes transparent and their father can see them wiggling inside. The adult male carefully wraps his tongue around each individual egg, picks it up, and slips it into his vocal sac through a slit in his mouth. The eggs then hatch inside the male's vocal sacs. The young tadpoles live inside their father's vocal sac eating the egg yoke as well as a nutrient rich secretion (perhaps similar to milk) made by the male. The tadpoles go through metamorphosis and develop into tiny frogs, a miniature replicas of their parents. When they are mature the male frog sort of burps them up and his children come hopping out of his mouth, one by one!
Like so many amazing animals, this frog species is endangered.
What an amazing world we have! What an amazing world we are losing!

The Drought

What is growing in this drought? What life is stirring in the forest when the temperature is in the triple digits? I am sad to say, not a lot. This summer I am finding it hard to write about the Ozarks because the natural world is struggling. Silver maples all over the towns and villages are dead, eaten away by beetles and then taxed by the drought. All along the rolling hills oak trees have turned brown and will die this year. Some trees have dropped their leaves and gone dormant, I suspect these trees will come back to life briefly in fall and survive the year. Sycamore trees have found a way to drop 80% of their leaves. By holding on to very few leaves they are conserving moisture and might make it through the summer.
It is hard to find many animals other than grasshoppers, cicadas, cardinals and crows. Everything else seems to be hiding. Even at dawn, before the day is unbearable, the forest is quite. Very few birds are rejoicing in the rising of the sweltering sun.
I have tried to focus on my garden. It is the only sense of environmental control I have. Yet I can not seem to water it enough. And the squash bugs ate half my plants. And something stole every last peach! I worked hard to care for my peach trees this year. Then something came in the night and took every one, pits and all. What could it have been? All I can think, is that the desperate soul who stole them, needed them more than I. Even in the garden, I have no control. Nature is huge. The earth will do as she pleases.
It has been a depressing summer for environmentalist and naturalist. We can't help but think this is the beginning of the end. Climate change is taking its toll. How will we all survive? Will we all survive?

Squash Bug Eggs

Squash Bug Eggs

Squash bug nymph

I was in the garden all morning scrapping the eggs of squash bugs off my pumpkin, cucumber, and water melon leaves with my fingernail. I have found that the easiest solution to a squash bug problem is to eliminate their eggs as soon as possible. The eggs are most often found on the underside of the leaf, in clusters along the leaf's veins. Today the light grey nymphs were beginning to emerge. I also spotted a few adults mating. So I tried my best to get every last egg.
I hate killing in general. Even while pulling the eggs, I know there is potential for life in each one, yet to allow them to live would be to allow the squash plants to die. Both adult and nymph bugs will suck nutrients from my plants and could kills off my crops. If this garden were my only means to feed my family, it would be a life or death struggle, it would be a battle of the fittest. Gardening is unlike forestry. There is a balance, but it is also a battle ground.

Adult squash bugs mating

Recently, I got a fantastic picture book for my son from the library called, "Whose Garden Is It?" by Mary Ann Hoberman. In the book, despite the statement by the gardener, "This garden is mine..." every mammal, reptile, bird, and bug claims that the garden is their own. Even the weeds, trees, and plants argue who is more important. By the end, the rain, sun, and soil put in their opinions in as well. Alas, the garden is not mine anymore than the land is mine. I happily share this little patch of earth with the birds, butterflies, and wasps, which all have something to give and something to take. The some birds steal my sunflower seeds but they also eat pests, the butterflies have caterpillars who damage some of my plants but pollinate others, and the wasps make me fearful of a sting but they eat caterpillars or spiders.
 However, when it comes to (literally) thousands of squash bugs, who offer only devastation, something has to give.

Tarantula Hawk

 Tarantula Hawks are the largest wasps in the world. This one was about two inches long. These wasps sting and paralyze tarantulas.  Then they drag the huge spider back to their underground nest and lay a single egg on the spider. When the egg hatches, the wasp larva eats its way into the spider's body cavity, carfully avoiding its vital organs so that the spider doesn't die and stays fresh. They are not agressive; however, it is said that the sting is the most intense pain ever felt! Luckily it only last a few minutes.