Nature’s World by Al Batt

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. Time is going by too quickly. I wish last week was next Friday. I’ve decided not to do any more work until I see if I’ve won the lottery. It would be like studying for a test I may never take. I just took Pop’s car to the body shop. They put in a bifocal windshield. Now Pop can still drive even if he can’t find his eyeglasses. I had to clean a year’s worth of junk out of the car — fast food wrappers, newspapers, notes, broken parts, paper towels, unopened junk mail, misplaced tools, disgusting coffee cups and unidentifiable items. His car is a mobile storage unit. While I was waiting, Pop called me on my cellphone to say that his windows had frozen. I told him to pour some hot water on them. It was good advice, but it really messed up his computer. My family drives me crazy. I don’t know why they have to be the way they are. I try to help them, but they won’t let me unless they ask me to.”

“They are a proud lot,” I say.

“They are a vacant lot.”

 

Taking nature for a drive

The weeds along the road ditch bowed to the wind.

I nodded at them as I drove by on a blustery day.

Roadside birds flew up ahead of my vehicle. Horned larks generally fly low and slowly off to the side. Lapland longspurs and snow buntings tend to wing upwards as if they were intending to leave the area. The snow buntings typically fly in a tighter formation than the longspurs. A Lapland longspur looks like a large, dark sparrow. Horned larks have a tawny color on their backs with a light underside. Their black tails stand out as they take off. The snow bunting males show a striking black and white as they take to the air when spooked.

The sun’s higher position in the sky changes things. It warms the inside of the car. It is a welcome thing. Winter is in no hurry to leave, but I’m headed down the road to spring.

I like winter. I like spring.

 

Q&A

“How did the jay get its name?” You’d think the blue jay’s name would derive from the sound the birds make. The Eurasian jay is the bird after which all other jays are named. It’s likely echoic, but dictionaries put the possible origin of jay as being from the Latin “gaius.” The proper name Gaius, was a common first name among Romans. The word “jaywalk” comes from jay walker, coined in Kansas City in 1906, from the sense of a jay being an ignorant person. Jay can also mean an overly talkative person or chatterbox.

“Does a groundhog’s teeth grow all year?” A woodchuck must gnaw persistently to keep its continuously growing teeth at a manageable length. During hibernation, all of a groundhog’s bodily functions slow down. Even its teeth stop growing.

“Could there be bats hibernating in my attic?” Yes. Some of our bats migrate in the winter and others, such as the big brown bat and the little brown bat, hibernate over the winter in caves and buildings. Bats are usually active as long as the evening temperatures stay above 50 degrees. The females give birth in spring and three to four weeks later the babies can fly. In Minnesota the best time to exclude bats is early spring (as soon as it gets above 50 degrees at night) or in September, which gives the bats enough time to find a new hibernation site.

“How long does a dandelion live?” Dandelions are perennials. They take root in nearly everywhere, shoving their way through gravel and cement, and they grow fast even in barren habitats. An individual plant can live for years and the root sinks deeper over time. The taproot is capable of penetrating the soil to a depth of 6 feet, but it’s most commonly 6 to 18 inches deep. The root is capable of cloning when divided, with a one-inch bit of dandelion root growing a new dandelion. Dandelions likely arrived in North America on the Mayflower — not as stowaways, but brought for their medicinal benefits. The University of Wisconsin found that seed production varies from 54 to 172 seeds per flower head with a single plant producing more than 20,00 seeds. The yellow flower looks like the sun, the spherical seed head looks like the moon and the dispersing seeds look like stars. Studies say when conditions aren’t conducive to germination, dandelion seeds can remain viable for decades and may become active when soil is agitated by tilling or when environmental circumstances become more favorable. I suspect most seeds survive up to five years. I’d think that a plant three to five years old would be an elder of high esteem.

“Are black squirrels a separate species?” Black squirrels aren’t a separate species. They are eastern grey squirrels with a condition known as melanism that makes them black. Genetically, black makes for better camouflage in dark wooded areas.

“Don’t all red-tailed hawks have red tails?” Red-tailed hawks don’t have red tails until they are over 2 years old. Immature birds typically molt into adult plumage — including a red tail — at the beginning of their second year.

 

Nature lessons

A Wisconsin study showed that black-capped chickadees with access to bird seed had a much higher overwinter survival rate (69 percent) compared to those without access to bird feeders (37 percent survival).

 

Thanks for stopping by

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“One secret of success in observing nature is capacity to take a hint: a hair may show where a lion is hid.” — John Burroughs

 

Do good.

 

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