GREEN CONCRETE AND WALLPAPER PLANTS

   

GREEN CONCRETE AND WALLPAPER PLANTS

As the human population skyrockets and human civilization creeps over planet Earth we are seeing the natural environment we have  inherited, being destroyed.  If you look at our cities from the air  they resemble large tumors as they grow out from a central core, consuming everything they encounter. Native landscapes are eaten up and replaced with buildings, green concrete and wallpaper plants. 


We are surrounded by green concrete. It is found in our parks, playgrounds, in people's yards; around schools, corporate headquarters and college campuses throughout America. It encircles our homes in small towns, rural areas and the big cities. We pay to have it "installed"; spend MILLIONS of dollars for toys to keep it in its place; and use MILLIONS of gallons of oil and natural gas products to maintain it. We Americans raise more than 40 million acres of the stuff every year. It is the biggest crop in the country.

Wallpaper plants include mostly alien, exotic vegetation imported from Asia, Europe, Africa or South America.  The nursery industry prefers these plants because they are easy to maintain and provide much of their income. Since wallpaper plants are not native to North America they often do not do well and require frequent replacement.

The pastoral landscape Americans seem to love is an alien, sterile place. Have you ever tried eating the grass in your yard? Right , it tastes awful. Guess what, nothing eats it, unless you import sheep or cows. Oh, I take that back---Canada Geese love it and you can find lots of poop as evidence. The only thing more sterile than the American lawn is bare concrete or blacktop. 

Maintaining this foreign landscape damages the environment and is dangerous to the health of our children and ourselves. If a weed or bug appears we spray it. We add fertilizer to make it greener. We water it when it gets dry in summer  and complain when we have to mow it.  The fertilizers and sprays pollute our waterways; the fumes from the mowers create air pollution; the fuels and chemicals used for maintenance are mostly derived from fossil fuels; the noise is annoying and damaging to our hearing; watering lawns is a waste of precious water; turf absorbs very little runoff from rain storms; and worst of all, almost nothing can use it as a home.

If you insist on a green lawn, why not just "plant" green astro-turf?---it stays green, needs no water or fertilizer and you never have to mow it. Just look at the money you will save.

However if you want to improve your environment, then I suggest you look at your landscape and eliminate some of your lawn and wallpaper plants. Replace them with native wildflowers, grasses, trees and shrubs. The changes will amaze you. Butterflies, bees, birds, mammals and other creatures will be attracted to your territory because they prefer natives.  To start, educate yourself and  visit your local store that carries landscaping materials.  Also there are many native plant sales this time of year. The Manada Conservancy and the Brandywine Conservancy provide native plants to the public.

Join the native plant movement. The planet will thank you.

SNOW GEESE AND TUNDRA SWANS AT MIDDLE CREEK

SNOW GEESE AND TUNDRA SWANS AT MIDDLE CREEK

This year the Snow Geese began to show up at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area toward the end of February. They reached their peak number of 65,000 about the first of March. The 30 inch snowfall we had the last week of January kept the birds away until most of the snow melted.  They spend most of the winter in the wetlands of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia and do not visit Middle Creek until the fields are free of snow and they have an area for feeding.  They are attracted to this place by the 400 acre lake and the thousands of acres of farm fields in the surrounding areas.  Snow Geese travel in large flocks of several thousand, eat waste grain and  graze on the fresh green shoots of plants found in fields in early Spring. 

During the day they range over Lancaster, Berks, Dauphin and Lebanon Counties in search of suitable feeding sites, but usually return to the lake at night.  

The dark colored bird in the center of this photo is called a "Blue Goose" and is a dark gray variety of an adult Snow Goose. Most of the birds are white with black wingtips.

On March first I was watching this flock and they suddenly all took off in a cloud of moving white heading for the lake to roost for the night.

By the end of March the Snows are usually gone, heading to northern Canada and their summer nesting grounds.

The Tundra Swans travel and roost in small family flocks of a 100 or so and also are attracted to the area because of the open countryside. This year about 2000 swans were observed at Middle Creek.  They are all white with black bills, are larger that Snow Geese; and tend to scatter over the entire lake as they roost while the Snow Geese usually roost in larger more compact groups.

The swans have a flute-like call and listening to them sitting on the lake can be quite pleasant until the Snow Geese show up.  
The Snows have a loud raucous call that they use all the time, even at night as they jockey for space on the lake.

By the middle of March the Tundra Swans have moved on west to Montana and from there they head north to Alaska's north slope.
The tundra areas above the Arctic Circle  in northern Alaska are the nesting grounds for these beautiful swans.

Several years ago some of us had an opportunity to assist with a research project studying the swans.  The birds were attracted to an area with corn and a cannon net was fired to trap them. We were able to hold the birds while biologists examined them and took blood samples. Unlike most wild animals the swans were very calm, did not try to bite us or struggle to get away. They looked at us as if to say "Who the heck are you?".  The feathers on their neck and breast felt like silk and it was really cool to hold such a beautiful animal. Several of the female swans were fitted with devices that emitted signals giving scientists information about their migration route to Alaska.

Each year thousands of people visit Middle Creek to observe the huge flocks of geese, swans, ducks and other waterfowl that use this site as a stop on their migration route north. The best time of day to see Snow Geese is early in the morning at dawn or in the late afternoon into the evening  A lady I spoke with during my March 1st visit had discovered the place on the internet and had traveled all the way from Boston to see the birds. The best time of year to see the Snow Geese and Tundra Swans is from February first until March 15th, depending on the weather.  Once the  tour road through the property is opened on March first, visitors have more opportunities to see large flocks of Snow Geese and other wildlife. 

The Pennsylvania Game Commission owns Middle Creek and they provide up-to-date information about the area on their website at www.pgc.state.pa.us.   The Visitor Center opens February first each year and is available to visitors Tuesday through Saturday 8 to 4, Sunday 12 to 5 and closed on Mondays. The phone is 
(717) 733 -1512.

NOTE: There is a pair of Bald Eagles currently nesting along the lake at Middle Creek. At least one egg has hatched and the adults have been observed feeding young in the nest.  

WOOD FROGS---"POLAR BEARS" OF THE AMPHIBIAN WORLD

Monday morning March 6th  we awakened to the calling of Wood Frogs.  We had about one month of winter this year from the end of January to the beginning of March.  The 30+ inches of snow we had at the end of January was about all the real winter we had this year. Yes it stayed cold with temperatures in the single digits a couple of times, but in early March the temperatures shot from the 30's to the 70's in just a couple days  and that was the signal to these frogs that Spring is here.

The Wood Frog singing sounds more like barking and is quite loud.  We have 4 water areas and all of them were captured by these amphibians for their annual Spring mating ritual.

I first encountered these fascinating animals when we moved to Mt Gretna in the 1990's.  They hibernate during the cold of winter, but with the first warm days of March they suddenly appear in open water  areas like vernal pools and small ponds and begin to "sing".  I have seen them do this when there are still large pieces of ice in  the water.   The temperature remains at 32 degrees until the ice melts, so I do not know how they are able to stir up the energy to be jumping all over the place like they do.  They are cold-blooded, but something about their makeup allows them to function at very cold temperatures.

When we were in Alaska in 2003  we stayed at a bed and breakfast owned  by Judy Cooper.  She was a musher, had lots of dogs and lived on a large piece of land near Fairbanks in the central part of the state..  When i asked here about the wildlife in the area, she mentioned that she had a vernal pool in her woods and every year she had Wood Frogs appear and mate just as they do here  in PA.  Now the ground  in this part of Alaska is permafrost, so somehow these little guys can survive being frozen, wake up and mate every year.  No other reptile or amphibian can survive that far north, only Wood Frogs.

After about 2 weeks the frogs stop calling and return to the forest leaf litter where the spend most of the year feeding on creatures they find there.  I rarely see them except when mating season occurs.  In a week or two the gelatinous  masses  of eggs will explodes with hundreds of tadpoles that will develop legs and lungs  and join their parents in the forest ecosystem..  So we have  again enjoyed the announcement  of Spring by the barking  of our resident Wood Frogs.

THE ZIKA VIRUS----GOOD OR BAD FOR THE PLANET?

Recently there have been numerous news  reports about the spread of the Zika virus through Central and South America. This disease is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and its mild  rash-like symptoms have not drawn much attention until now.  Within the last year scientists have observed a strong correlation between this disease and a spike in children born with a birth defect called microcephaly.  Brazil has been particularly hard hit, but the disease is spreading fast and has reached much of the warmer parts of the Americas.  These mosquitos can breed in a tiny amount of standing water and the slums of Brazil and other countries are the perfect locations for this epidemic.  Many of these "shanty towns " do not have sewer systems or  good sources of clean drinking water.  Rain that falls, collects in  puddles and abandoned trash like plastic cups.  The mosquitos have a perfect habitat for their life-cycle that only takes a few days. In the United States cases of Zika have been reported recently in Florida, Texas and Hawaii, all the result of travel to Brazil or other areas where the disease is prevalent.

Why should we care?  Recent evidence suggests that the babies carried by pregnant women  are at extreme risk of acquiring the virus.  This pathogen apparently has the effect of creating the retardation/birth defect we call Microcephaly where the head and the brain are much smaller than normal.  More than 4000 babies have been born in Brazil with this condition.

In my opinion the biggest problem facing the world today is too many people fighting over our limited natural resources of clean fresh water, land, clean air, fertile soil and those needed to sustain our modern economy.  The wars in the Middle East and  the ensuing migration crisis are just the most recent reminders of what we as a species face on this piece of space dust we call Planet Earth.
Some are predicting that the human population could  double from 7.3 billion currently to as high as 15 Billion  in a hundred years.  The planet's resources can not  sustain that level of increase.

In the natural world the systems maintain a balance between resources and living creatures  by a process called  "Survival of the Fittest". We humans also have followed this difficult path for most of our existence.  However starting with the development of agriculture about 10,000 years ago we had a more stable food supply and villages and cities gave us more security.  The result was a marked increase in the number of humans on the planet. Now with the advent of modern medicine almost everyone survives.  People are just "not dying anymore".

As I see it the human species has a choice.  The intelligent way to proceed would be to institute birth control and family planning worldwide.  The UN, the United States and other countries have moved in that direction, but some cultures and religious  groups are resisting the effort.  No one wants to see the death rate rise, but if the countries of the world  do not take it upon themselves to solve this problem, than the natural systems will do it for them.  There are a lot of creatures "out there" that want to "eat us" and one of these days........

Here comes Zika. If this disease is as bad as it appears to be, it could have a real dampening effect on human population growth. The  prospect of millions of babies being born with microcephaly or other birth defects as a result of a Zika infection, has sent shock waves through the medical community worldwide,  Our government has requested more than a Billion $ to deal with  this disease and women who are pregnant are being cautioned not to visit areas in the "Zika Zone".

It is too early to predict what will happen in this situation, but the economic ramifications  of this disease could be devastating.  Any person going to see the Olympics in Brazil  in the Summer of 2016, will have to factor into their thinking  that there is a real possibility of contracting Zika.  Are people willing to take the risk of getting sick and potentially destroying an unborn child? Already the Brazilian government has panicked and is using its military to spray insecticide and do other things to  try to get rid of the mosquitos---this may do more harm than good.  The economy of Brazil is already in trouble  and this is not going to help.

On a human level this is a tragedy   The recent Time magazine photo, of a young Brazilian couple with their microcephaly child, was  heart wrenching.  As this disease continues to spread, millions of couples across the planet will face the difficult choice of postponing  having a child or face the risk of  bringing a child into this world who faces a life full of problems.

There is NO quick fix.  No cure or treatment. No vaccine. There is not even a reliable test for this disease. I believe it will take years to bring this pathogen under control. At this point experts indicate that vector (mosquito) control is the best way forward.  However, new information indicates that the virus can not only pass from mother to child but also between sexual partners as well.  If this proves to be true, then this disease can spread without mosquitos which makes it a threat to the human population world wide.

Through the long history of Planet Earth populations of living things have been controlled  by what we call limiting factors. Limiting factors include available food or water, a disaster like the dinosaurs suffered, a change in climate, invasion by a new species or a disease.

It is my view that we will shortly know if the Zika virus is going to be a limiting factor in the continued population growth of the  human species on Planet Earth.





  

THE EIGHT POINT BUCK I NEVER SHOT

THE EIGHT POINT BUCK I NEVER SHOT

My wife Bea and I live in a log home on six acres of woods adjoining 2000+ acres of game lands owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. We have a resident population of white-tailed deer that we see on a regular basis.  On Friday December 11, 2015,  I drove my tractor up to our barn near the edge of the woods.  When I shut off the engine I heard  rustling in the leaves nearby and I observed a deer stand up and move further into the trees where it stopped and turned its head.  Wow! It had a big rack, but it was getting dark so I could not really count the points.  I was surprised a buck with that set of antlers had survived hunting season.

When I returned to the house I mentioned this to Bea and she remarked that "I hope they don't shoot Bambi tomorrow".  Saturday, the twelfth of December, was the last day of Deer Season and when we heard loud shots during the day we feared the worst.

We did not see any sign of this buck until after the big snow storm.  It started to snow at 3:30 on Friday January the 22end  and ended on Saturday  evening about 9:30. After 30 hours we were looking at 27 inches of the white stuff.

Sunday was "dig out day".  A neighbor plowed out our driveway and I dug paths so we could get around and I would  have access to my bird feeders. I dug out my feeders in the backyard and to help the birds get through this sudden storm, I scattered some birdseed and corn on a piece of plywood.

Monday morning I noticed  the seed and corn had disappeared over night and the area was surrounded by deer tracks. As I was scanning the area for birds I was amazed to see  a four-point antler lying in the snow just beyond the feeders.  Apparently a buck came through the hemlock trees shading the feeders and caught his antler on a low hanging branch causing it to break off.  Although I can not be sure, I do  believe this is the same big buck I saw back in December. Bucks do lose their antlers in winter, but this is the first time I have found one where the location and date could be precisely determined.  Wow! Now I have my 8 point buck (at least half of it).

The antler was still in place when my grandchildren came to visit on Saturday January 30th. When I pointed it out to my granddaughter Bridget, she immediately asked if she could take it to school and show it to her first grade classmates.  I told her she could take it with her when she headed home.  A few minutes later I looked out the window and a gray squirrel was chewing on one of the antler's prongs. Bridget started to worry that the squirrel would eat the whole thing.  We assured her that it could not eat it that fast, but that  the observation of chewing by a rodent would  explain why antlers and bones do not last long in the natural world where just about everything gets recycled.

In rural central Pennsylvania where I grew up, deer hunting is not just recreation, its a passion bordering on religion that is passed from one generation to the next. Everything shuts down on the first day of deer season. Businesses are closed, and schools close at least for the first day.  The reason?  Many adults and any kids 12 years old or older could be out hunting whitetails.

My Dad was a good hunter and he took me along, but my heart was never into hunting like other members of my family. I would go hunting after school and come back with nothing.  Dad once said I enjoyed watching  animals more than I liked to hunt them.  He was right.  I did bag some small game, but I never actually shot a deer. Over the last forty years as a naturalist,  I have enjoyed watching wildlife and trying to understand what make the world we live in tick. It has been the best path for me.

I  support hunting as a recreational activity, but it is not for everybody.  The Eight-Point Buck was the status symbol for a successful deer hunt where I grew up.  The beautiful four-point antler  dropped in the snow in my backyard is as close as I will  ever get to that elusive Big Buck.








  

FOUR EAGLES TAKING A BATH

FOUR EAGLES TAKING A BATH

MIDDLE CREEK  WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA

(NOTE---Willow point is the black dot along the lake)

Last Thursday, the day before the big snow storm. I decided to visit one of my favorite places---Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.  This 6000+ acre site is located on the Lancaster/Lebanon County line and is owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Middle Creek encompasses a wide variety of habitats including upland forests, farm fields, meadows and wetlands, so it is home to many different species of plants and animals.  This time of year the main focus is the 400 acre lake  that proves attractive to the many species of waterfowl that are looking for a place to feed and roost.

Middle Creek  was created in the early 1970's to provide hunting opportunities for goose and duck hunting. Since its inception this place has had a resident population of Canada Geese and has attracted migrating Canada Geese, Tundra Swans  a good variety of ducks and other waterfowl during the Spring migration.  However the stars of the Middle Creek show, the Snow Geese, did not show up until the 1990's.  Unlike the other birds who arrive in small flocks, the Snows show up in early Spring in huge flocks of a couple thousand. When they are coming they look like a white wave and their loud raucous calls tell all that something important is about to happen.  I have watched them come in on a clear Spring morning with their white bodies and black tipped wings glistening in the bright sunlight against a bright azure sky.  It is truly an awesome sight.  Once they reach the lake they begin to descend in swirling masses  that resemble large snowflakes.

Bald Eagles visited Middle Creek regularly once the lake was established  but did not stay until 1998 when a pair created a nest without producing any young.  The following year this resident pair finished their nest and raised young.  After that success, eagles have been a fixture at Middle Creek ever since.

When I arrived at Middle Creek I drove around for a bit, but did not see much, so I decided to head to the Willow Point viewing platform next to the lake.  I loaded my spotting scope onto my roll-later (I'm handicapped) and motored to the Point.  More than half of the lake was frozen over with patches of open water here and there. As I scanned the lake I could see large numbers of Tundra Swans with their snow-white bodies, long necks and black bills, but to my great disappointment I did not see a single Snow Goose. I guess those that had  been  there had headed out when they heard about the gigantic snow storm that was coming. Beside the several thousand swans there were large numbers of Canada Geese and a good variety of ducks roosting on the lake.  They seem to prefer swimming around in the water to standing on the ice.

I had been at the Point only a short time when a guy showed up and after looking at the scene for a couple of minute he said " there are eagles out there".  Sure enough when  I looked at that  spot there were eagles, lots of them.  I scanned the whole area and  counted eight of them. This was unbelievable---I have never seen this many Bald Eagles at Middle Creek.  They were scattered along a spit of ice just beyond the resting flocks of waterfowl.  They all appeared to be immatures---none of them had the brown body and white head of a mature Bald Eagle that appears  after five years.   At least two were all brown while the others were mottled with some white feathers.  All of them faced the waterfowl resting a 100+ feet away and nervously paced around and took short, low flights along the ice as if anticipating something.

Four of them stood together and even when they moved around they always came back together, so I decided to put my scope on them and see what happened.  They seemed to know each other and did not show any aggressive behavior toward each other. They stayed in one spot for quit a while and then they did something I have never seen before.  They took a bath. Apparently there was open water directly behind the ice they were standing on and three  of the eagles jumped into the water.  They immediately began waving their wings and jumping up and down much like we often see a robin  bathe in a birdbath.  I could see the water splashing  and this went on  for couple of minutes while eagle # 4 stood watch. It reminded me of three little kids jumping into a old swimming hole.  After the trio had finished they hopped back on to the ice and eagle #4 took his/her turn.  They probably have lice or some other parasites that are annoying them, so the sudden cold bath must help alleviate the irritation. It was quit a sight  and  a once in a lifetime experience. Note: Most birds have an oil gland that provides them with waterproofing for their feathers, so they dry quickly.

It was quite cold and as I was getting ready to leave, I noticed one of the eagles walk right up  to a group of Tundra Swans.  The swans looked at the young eagle with disdain as if asking what the heck are you doing here?---he quickly retreated back to the  ice spit.  The swan  is bigger than the eagle and a healthy adult would be more than a match for any attacking eagle.  Like most predators Bald Eagles  look for prey that is old, sick or injured.  As I was leaving that is what the eagles were doing.  They would fly or walk up to the waterfowl buffet in front of them to see if they could locate any likely candidates for a quick meal.  At MiddIe Creek it is common to see eagles eating their prey on the ice in the winter time.

Several years ago while I was working at the desk in the Middle Creek Visitor Center, a lady came in  literally jumping up and down with excitement.  She had witnessed  a mature Bald Eagle fly at a flock of Snow Geese, pursue a single goose and  catch it with both birds crashing to the ice.  (Reminds me of the fighter battles in Star Wars.) She described the next scene with "white feathers flying " as the eagle plucked the feathers from this very unlucky bird.

I was sorry to leave the Point, but this time of year it feels like the tundra and I needed to warm up.

The next time you take a bath or shower just imagine what it would be like to bathe in a tub of ice cubes with the water at 32 degrees.

Aren't' you glad you are not a bird?






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BATS, SNAKES AND FLYING SQUIRRELS

Recently my wife, Bea remarked that we had not yet caught any mice this Fall.  Then she added "I guess the black snake must be in the basement".  The black snake is our resident Black Rat Snake that we see from time to time both inside and outside of our buildings  It is a beautiful animal with a coal-black body, a snow-white belly and is about 5 feet long. It feeds almost exclusively on rodents and is a welcome resident.

A couple of weeks ago I was awakened in the middle of the night by the "swish" and breeze of a bat flying around our bedroom.  Our resident pair of bats live in our attic, but they seem to have a problem finding there way outside. From their roost they have two avenues to leave and they sometimes make the wrong choice and end up downstairs. They are annoying, but have always
found their way outside after a few minutes of flying around.  I guess they soon realize that our living quarters don't have a lot of flying insects to eat.

In early August, Bea was sitting in her recliner watching TV, when i heard her say "One just fell on me"  The "One" was a baby Northern Ring Neck Snake that had just fallen from the ceiling.  Each Summer the female Ring Neck Snakes crawl into our attic and lay their eggs.  The heat of summer incubates the eggs and once hatched, the 5 inch babies start looking for a way out and often find a crack in our wooden board ceiling as an exit. So in late Summer, we can always plan on it "raining" snakes.

We have a resident population of Northern Flying Squirrels living in our woods.  When we first moved to our home some years ago, I live-trapped 13 of these animals in our attic.  It took several years to find and plug all the holes they were using to get into the house. These cute little guys are nocturnal and at night they would be scurrying around in the attic while we were trying to sleep, so excluding them was a necessity.

One time I heard a very loud scream.  Bea had discovered a sleeping squirrel in a bag of nylons in our closet. I trapped the squirrel and put it in a large cage.  I included a bluebird box so it would have a place to hide.  Several days later, I took the box (the squirrel was inside) to a wooded area some distance away.  I opened the box and the squirrel jumped out and ran about 20 feet. I saw a small object fall out  and heard a tiny squeak in the box. The squirrel turned around  and ran right toward me and jumped back into the box.  The "object" was a baby squirrel. I put it back in the box with the mother and took the box back home.  I set the box with the mother and babies inside, on a shelf in my barn, where she could finish caring for her young. That was a really neat experience.

This time of year we often hear acorns and hickory nuts falling  on our deck in the middle of the night.  It means Our Flying Squirrels are busy gathering food.

Living in a Log House in the woods, that was built like a sieve, is never boring.