History, Natural History & the Arts
Some of my favorite children’s books describe life cycles as heroic tales of persistence and redemption. From The Ugly Duckling to The Very Hungry Caterpillar to A Seed is Sleeping, these stories have brought the miracles of growth and maturation to life for generations of readers.
I can’t say, however, that I know of a single children’s book describing the impressive hero’s journey of Nematomorpha, commonly known as horsehair worms. [Read more…] about Horsehair Worms: Nasty Nematomorpha
One summer day I lifted the black plastic top of our composter and jumped back, startled – a large snake was curled up on top of the compost.
The yellow stripe down the center of its dark back and two yellow stripes along its sides identified it as a garter snake, our most common snake, found around rock piles, under logs, or – sometimes – even inside a house. [Read more…] about Garter Snakes: A Primer On Surprise Guests
You may be familiar with the “Scopes Monkey Trial.” In 1925, teacher Thomas Scopes was brought into court for violating a Tennessee law that forbade the teaching of evolution. Scopes was defended by famed lawyer Clarence Darrow, who actually asked the jury to find his client guilty in order that the case could be appealed to a higher court.
In 1927, Scopes’ guilty verdict was reversed on a technicality, without addressing the issue of the law’s constitutionality. (That matter was not resolved until 1968, when the United States Supreme Court struck down – on First Amendment issues – a similar law in Arkansas.)
Years earlier, Brooklyn, New York had a monkey trial – but one that was entirely different. The Brooklyn case did not involve Darwin’s theory of evolution in any way – it concerned an actual living, breathing, in-the-flesh monkey. [Read more…] about Brooklyn’s Monkey Trial of 1906
The term psithurism (sith-er-izm) doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it’s not meant to. The word, from the Greek psithuros (whisper), indicates the melody that rolls off pine needles in a gentle wind.
It also means the sound of “proper” leaves shaking in the treetops. Obviously, we need another word, because these two things – whispering pines and rustling leaves – may both soothe us, but they sound quite different. [Read more…] about Whispering Trees: Arboricultural Acoustics
On many hikes, I never truly feel like I have reached the summit of a peak until I’ve found a tiny metal disc set into the rock.
These small plates of metal are called survey markers, or benchmarks, and they are put in place by surveyors to mark important points on the Earth’s surface. [Read more…] about Adirondack Survey Markers: A Conservation Minute
No one wants a meltdown, especially in the style of the Wicked Witch of the West, who in the film “The Wizard of Oz” dissolved into a puddle on the floor until only her hat remained.
But if anything can produce a meltdown faster than a bucket of water on a witch from Oz, it’s the stress induced by the Covid-19 crisis.
Everything is uncertain these days. Jobs are on the line, kids are home from school, and social bonds are strained, sometimes to the breaking point. There is a lot of melting-down going around. [Read more…] about Dissolution And Metamorphosis: A Caterpillar Soup
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) begin their annual fall migration in mid-August. These butterflies are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that migrated to Mexico last fall. [Read more…] about Help Monarchs on their Long Migration South
I love the summer. It’s the time of year when animals are most active; when the sun is warm and plants of all kinds are thriving; and when the first harvests start to ripen.
I was talking with a friend of mine recently and asked his young grandson if he liked the flowers in my garden. His response was, “Plants make me sneeze,” to which I lightheartedly replied, “Me too.” [Read more…] about Plants That Make You Sneeze
The Northeast Motus Collaboration recently installed a Motus Wildlife Tracking Station on Lake Shore Marshes Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
Located on the edge of Lake Ontario, this station is the first of five that are being installed on WMAs in New York this summer to track wildlife movement. [Read more…] about Tracking Animal Movement and Migration with Motus
The living light of bioluminescent organisms like fireflies, anglerfish, and marine plankton is legendary.
The dazzling light shows put on by synchronous fireflies in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are so popular that park managers have had to institute a lottery system for viewing them.
An entire recreation industry has grown up around kayaking through glowing surf from Florida to Washington.
And a few years ago, I even saw someone dressed as a deep-sea anglerfish at a Halloween concert – complete with glowstick lure dangling from her forehead. [Read more…] about Amphibians Aglow: Biofluorescence On Show