Our visit to Cabela’s and reading of Sterba’s Nature Wars seems to have spurred much thought about hunting and trophies and guns in America.
This story will stretch your preconceived notions about the sort of people that seek solace in shooting Odocoileus virginianus in Penn’s woods, and then have their trophies mounted. Also see comments at the bottom.
Yesterday (Dec 1), Japan launched a new program of 12 years of “research whaling” for Minke whales in the Antarctic Ocean. This in defiance of the UN International Court of Justice ruling last year.
The purpose of JARPA II [the new “research” program] was “to monitor the Antarctic ecosystem, model competition among whale species and improve the management of minke whale stocks.”
In “Goose Music” Aldo Leopold writes about the non-economic values of wildlife (somewhat ironic now I suppose, considering the population explosion of Canada geese in the last two decades).
Consider the monarch, what good is it to humankind? A whole lot, this tree-hugger would argue. So this is welcome news:
“High horns, low horns, silence, and finally a pandemonium of trumpets, rattles, croaks, and cries that almost shake the bog with its nearness, but without yet disclosing whence it comes. At last a glint of sun reveals the approach of a great echelon of birds. On motionless wing they emerge from the lifting mists, sweep a final arc of the sky, and settle in clangorous descending spirals to their feeding grounds. A new day has begun on the crane marsh.” – Aldo Leopold, Marshland Elegy
Some photos from Cosumnes Preserve, CA:
In a strange coincidence, we start into the Sterba book, and both your instructors see Ursus americanus!!! Prof Smith and family had one visit their home Wednesday evening, and watched it take a dip in the creek. Yesterday I saw two young bears working their way through the forest near Merrill Creek Reservoir (across the river in NJ). See pics below
closeup view
Last summer one briefly appeared on campus. You may have heard about the attack last fall in northern NJ – see story here
In the Catskill wilderness (not pictured: Teresita, Nicole, Abby & Elly Wrightsmith)
Into the wild
old trees on much older sandstone rocks
Leaf-snapping. It actually works…kinda
this is the spot we were planning to hike to two weeks ago (pic stolen from the Catskill Native Plant Society facebook group):
Recent article in the NYTimes about Jim Toia’s work
I liked this part about getting to know nature:
He had what he calls his “first serious interaction” with one of the creatures that would inspire his imagination in high school, at the Lawrenceville School.
“I was looking out the window and I saw this amanita muscaria,” he recalled; a mushroom. “It was a beautiful thing, and I looked it up and found out that it was poisonous. It could actually kill you with one bite. That was a miraculous moment for me.”
On Friday morning while visiting the former Bushkill Park site (with Jackie, Lori, and Jeremy), we saw a red fox run dash across the back meadow and scoot under an old building. Today I decided to take a break from grading papers and sit by Bushkill Creek with my camera for a while. This was on a patch of preserved land a little downstream of the Park. Had some nice views of nature, and none other than Vulpes vulpes himself as I headed back to my car. He turned tail quickly and melted into the woods.
