Hunt for Meaning in Life

This post is dedicated to my friend who died last Friday.  She was a co-worker, team leader, nature lover, kindred spirit, and a good friend.

When I heard the news of her passing, I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe.  I had to take a walk.  So I headed out with my list for this week's assignment, a scavenger hunt.  As I walked the trails, I could feel my friend with me.  She had walked these same trails, pointing out interesting things like an excited child.  That's the way she was. She was an enthusiastic nature geek.

Finding something gross wasn't hard.  There was the pile of deer heads, remnants of the CWD (chronic wasting disease) project that my husband was engaged in last winter.  They had decomposed some but were still stinking and attracting all sorts of insect life.

An on the skulls, I found something small.  A funny looking beetle, probably eating this dead stuff.  Not only small but gross!  But as I would find out, it was also fast.  As soon as I had it focused and ready to take the picture, it moved.  And quickly it disappeared inside the eye socket.

The beetle is about in the center of this photo, but out of focus.  I wish I could get better at close up photography.  My friend would have patiently waited for the animal to reappear, but I had to get moving.  I needed the fresh air and exercise to soothe my soul.

On to something important. Of course, that was all around me.  As I looked at the woods, I was reminded of how often my friend presented workshops on forests.  They are an important ecosystem in this part of the country.

The forest as an ecosystem is important, but when you get close, individual trees, like the one in the foreground, seem even more important.  Those holes can provide shelter for a variety of animals.  But the tree must also die soon.  So here I was thinking of death again.  I needed to change my mindset, so I continued on.

Finding something colorful in this gray, lifeless landscape seemed an impossible task.  But then I looked down and saw green.  The color of life and rebirth of spring.

I liked how the green was emerging out of the dead, last year's growth.  This thought gave me hope.  I felt the shadow of sadness starting to lift.

Only one more thing to find.  Something camouflaged.  I knew this would be hard by the very definition of camouflage.  Hidden from view.  I guess that is what this trek had been about all along.  How to find sense out of a loss.  How to find peace from death.  How to find meaning in life.  These things are all hidden from us.  We don't know why some die and others live on.  The only certainty is that we will all join the legions who have gone before us.  It is the cycle of life.

And then I saw it.  A barred owl on a tree branch looking exactly like a dead limb.  But as I lifted the camera, the bird flew.  I took a picture anyway.

Who's to say it is not there.  Maybe that dead limb is an owl, maybe it is not.  I choose to believe it is there, just as I choose to believe my friend had been with me on this walk in the woods, and all the other nature walks I will take.

Happy trails, my friend.

Is Bird Feeding Ethical?

This week saw the beginning of spring and the beginning of our class, Snapshot of 21st Century Nature Study.  Perfect!

One of the first assignments is to capture ethics or safety in nature in a photograph.  What would I choose?  There are many options, but I chose to think about ethical behaviors in nature.  Often people are so fascinated with animals that they get too close.  Or they interfere with nature, thinking that they are "helping" nature.

I came across the later situation on my January trip to Puerto Vallarta.

This little sea turtle had just hatched and some well meaning humans scooped them up to take them to the sea, thus interfering with an ancient ritual--the hatchlings struggle to reach the sea.  I understand that these are endangered species; there were signs all around that declared this a turtle sanctuary.  But those signs also cautioned against handling the animals.  We were to call authorities.  Frankly, I wanted to watch the struggle to the sea, and these people had tainted that experience for me.

But, closer to home, another ethical dilemma involves human intervention.  What about my bird feeders?  Am I interfering with nature?  Is it OK in one instance and not in another?  I'm not sure.

When we put out feed for birds, we alter their behavior.  In most instances, we are not "helping".  Those birds would find food elsewhere. Just as the hatchlings would make it to the sea.

In concentrating birds at feeders, are we exposing them to diseases and predators (I have seen the Cooper's Hawk pick off a few)?  So is ethical to feed birds?

It could be argued that the winter we just went through was particularly difficult and feeders did save some individuals.  Just as taking the hatchlings to the sea may save a few individuals. But isn't this interfering with nature's population dynamics and survival of the fittest?

So, while I struggle with this dilemma, I still feed the birds and refuse to handle the sea turtles. I want to see the turtles, just as I feed birds so that I can see them better.  While I know I am not "helping" birds much, I hope I am not hurting much either.

One of Nature's Mysteries: Solved!

Mystery: 

My last post on this blog mentioned a mystery of nature that I had observed under my bird feeders.  And several other bloggers had mentioned seeing the same thing.  We found "pellets" of sunflower seed hulls under the feeder in the morning.  Finally, after more observation, the mystery is solved:

Mystery Solved:

A week or so ago, my husband and I saw an opossum under our feeder. It was clearly chewing sunflower seeds.  It would take a mouthful and chew and chew, then open its mouth and spit.  This action reminded me of baseball players that chew sunflower seeds, move them around in the mouth to get the meat out, and spit out the hulls.


We watched as the possum slowly moved on...looking for food elsewhere I imagine, after a hard winter.

So the pellets we saw were not regurgitated because they never left the mouth to enter the digestive system.  And they are held together by the saliva of the animal. 

I am still amazed that this behavior is not documented in any reference book.  It just shows that we don't know everything about even the commonest animals.

I was glad that, through continued observation, we could solve this mystery.