Column: Nature’s World

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. You look like $1 million. I’ve never seen $1 million and you look like something I’ve never seen. I started the morning by singing a little aquapella.”

“Don’t you mean ‘a cappella,’ singing without instrumental accompaniment?” I say.

“I mean ‘aquapella,’ singing while accompanied by the shower. I don’t think I got that job I wanted. I filled out the application. It asked me to list my high school and when I attended. I wrote the name of my high school, followed by the dates attended: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I got my fish house off the lake. I noticed another fisherman using a mirror. I asked him what the mirror was for. He told me it was his guaranteed way to catch fish. He shines the mirror on the top of the water. The fish notice the light on the water and swim to the surface to check it out. Then he nets them. I was hooked. I gave him $29.68 for the mirror. That was every cent I had on me. I asked him how many he had caught this week.”

“What did he say?” I ask.

“He told me that I was the seventh.”

Spring

Mark Beltaire wrote, “The nicest thing about the promise of spring is that sooner or later, she’ll have to keep it.”

The spring migrants had arrived. Birds were chirping and burping. The birds provide a touch of wildness for everyone. A male cardinal sang, “What cheer, what cheer, cheer cheer cheer!” He sang in hopes of attracting a female cardinal. I wanted to get a closer look at the redbird, but I wasn’t carrying my binoculars. A birder not carrying binoculars is a cardinal sin!

Skunks

I was driving to work when I spotted a phew skunks lying dead in a pile on top of deep snow in a ditch. I think a few skunks are a phew. There were so many skunk legs, it looked like a scentipede. Loudon Wainwright wasn’t singing on the radio, “Dead skunk in the middle of the road. Dead skunk in the middle of the road. You got yer dead skunk in the middle of the road Stinkin’ to high Heaven!” That was because the ex-stinkers (although they continued to smell after they’d shuffled off this mortal coil) were not in the middle of the road. I have no idea how the three dead mammals came to be where they were. The smell of skunk is the scent of spring to me. Skunks do not hibernate. They hunker down for a good winter’s nap, but it’s not hibernation. They mate in late winter, so they need to be out and moving around. Crows will descend upon the dead skunks and make lunch of them. The big birds eat with such gusto that they make skunk look delicious. Eating skunk should be a guaranteed weight-loss program. The odor of skunk is a gift of spring. Spring is in the air — just follow your nose. Smelling skunk is like being treed by a bear. You might as well enjoy the view. That reminds me of a joke that my math teacher, Clyde Lundholm, was fond of telling, “What did the skunk say when the wind changed? It all comes back to me now.”

Singing sand

I was working in Bayfield in northern Wisconsin. The Apostle Islands are beautiful. I took a boat to Stockton Island, which has one of the largest concentrations of black bears in North America. Once at Stockton, I headed for Julian Bay. I rubbed the palms of my hands on the light-colored sand there. The sand is largely rounded quartz particles. The sands made a squeaking sound, not unlike Abba. The talented ground is called singing sand. I’ve heard it referred to as whistling, whispering, or barking sand. The movements of my hands caused the grains of sand to rub together like tiny marbles. There are musical sands in other parts of the world but pollution has silenced many. The Apostle Islands are being eroded by wind and water. They are becoming a part of Lake Superior.

Q and A

“Do birds get rabies?” In wild animal species, rabies is most common in bats, skunks, raccoons and foxes. It is found in deer and woodchucks. Cats, dogs and cattle can get rabies. Chipmunks, opossums, mice, rabbits, rats and squirrels rarely get rabies. Birds, fish, insects, amphibians and reptiles do not get rabies.

“Do wood ducks return to the same area each year?” Wood ducks have amazing site fidelity. Strong homing instincts cause them to return to the same nests year after year. Wood ducks do not mate for life.

“What kind of an owl is an eight-hooter?” That’s a nickname for the barred owl that often produces an eight hoot call, “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all.”

“What do robins do when they first arrive on territory in the spring?” Male robins spend their time singing, feeding and exploring. They might clash with other males. In cold, wet weather, the males become silent and concentrate on feeding and taking shelter in thick conifers.

Nature lessons

Red squirrels are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders. They eat the seeds of a variety of trees, invertebrates, fruits, fungi, bark, tree sap and bird eggs. They will eat the progeny of birds, mice, rabbits, other squirrels and snakes. Red squirrels actively gather foodstuffs during times of abundance and store it in caches called middens.

Here are a few favorite wildlife-viewing cams.

• Sandhill cranes in Nebraska at http://www.rowesanctuary.org/crane%20cam.htm

• Nesting bald eagles at Decorah http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/

• Black bears http://www.bear.org/livecams/lily-hope-cam.html

• Barn owls http://www.ustream.tv/channel/owlceanside

The 2011 Annual Bluebird Expo takes place on April 16 at Cambridge High School. Learn how to be a brilliant bluebird landlord. For more information phone 507-332-7003 or 507-210-0961.

Thanks for stopping by

“Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.” — William Feather

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful!” — E.E. Cummings

DO GOOD.

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. E-mail him at SnoEowl@aol.com.