What’s going on out on the land?
Eastern Tent Caterpillar Egg Masses
We were in the midst of a mock evaluation at Mono Cliffs provincial park, making our way slowly through an old orchard which had been left to rewild, when Tamara called our evaluator Alexis over to ask if she could suggest a question for the evaluation. Only thing I heard from their quick conversation was “this will be a hard one”. They directed our attention to the end of an Apple branch where a small jeweled formation wrapped around a thin twig, like a bangle or elaborate armband. This broad ring or twig-band, about 3 cm long, seemed to be made up of smaller gemlike circles of gold lacquered together. These smaller circles were about .6 mm in diameter and tightly packed together. There could’ve been 200 of the small gold circles wrapped in this small shiny bundle. I made a guess right away that it must be an egg mass, but I didn’t know who made it. It was mysterious to me. I wrote out my answer and shared it with Tamara and waited for the big reveal.
Fungi on Black Walnut
I was out with the Learn The Land class at Arkell Springs the other day where we were looking at some trees and shrubs in their winter attire, when we came across a Black Walnut with a strange looking growth coming out of one of the twigs. We wondered about it for a while and then moved on. My partner and I ended up going back the following day to investigate some more.
Are There Dangers In Smelling Red Fox Urine?
Recently, while trailing in Algonquin Park with the Earth Tracks Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship some of us bent down on different occasions to smell Algonquin Wolf, Red Fox, and River Otter scent marks, which were usually small deposits of urine placed in a prominent spot along the animal’s trail. When we got back to the Wildlife Research Station which was our home base for the weekend, we got to talking about safety around sniffing animal urine when trailing.
Personally, I have smelled animal urine literally hundreds of times. Nearly every time I see a urine deposit on an animal trail, aside from Human (Homo sapiens) and other domestic animals, I get down and sniff. But the questions got me reflecting; When tracking or trailing an animal, are there dangers in smelling animal urine?
Identifying an unknown Shrew
A parent of one of the kids at the school where I work wrote to me recently, sharing some photos of a dead Shrew she had found at one of my favorite places near to where I live. She guessed it could be a Pygmy Shrew and asked what I thought. I decided to try and figure it out.
Necrophila americana
Necrophila americana. This phrase isn’t a comment on the extinction culture of the North American colonial project, but instead it is the scientific name of a species within my favorite crew of insects : Carrion Beetles! The simple and concise common name of the particular species highlighted in this post is the American Carrion Beetle. Pretty easy to remember and pronounce. I love these little dudes.
Learn The Land at Bishop Mac
On a recent Sunday I was out behind Bishop Mac High School with one of the classes I facilitate with my colleague Annie. The program is called Learn The Land, and it’s a ton of fun. Together we have been exploring three different locations around Guelph over the past year and getting to know the local ecology (and so much more). When it comes to Bishop Mac, or the South End Community Park, we had been there a couple of times in the past year, though both previous times were in the warmer months. We’ve observed the Osprey nests, and went on a birding adventure but this was our first time out in the Winter months. Sadly there was no snow, but that didn’t mean we didn’t find anything to really dig into.
Examining Coyote Courting Behaviours : Tracking at Bell’s Lake
On Saturday we met up to go tracking with the apprenticeship crew. Marcus and I pulled up I noted the trail along the middle of the road, between the tire tracks, where it looked like some sort of canid had been walking along. The folks who were already there had already noticed this trail and were exploring other trails as well. As everyone arrived we circled up and then decided to follow the trail into the woods and see what else we could figure out.
What began as a wonder, ended as a joyful celebration of the possibility of romance and new life. All from following a couple of Coyotes.
A Basic Guide to Non-Human Mammal Dentition
I am so grateful to have a partner who is willing to sift through my writing and show me things I have overlooked or left out. One of the things that was pointed out to me recently was that in a previous post I assume that folks know what I am talking about in regards to dental formula of Red Foxes and Coyotes. I knew I was bored of writing in the last one and didn’t want to side track too much, so I decided I would write a quick introduction to the teeth of mammals.
Death and Taxus?
A very brief exploration into Canada Yew and their deadly effects, especially on domesticated mammals.
What’s Up With The Ice Crystals On The Path?
It happens every year in the forest where I work. The Eastern White Cedar leaves which litter the ground are lifted away from the trail by strange columnar ice formations. The ice crystals, reminded me of Superman’s “Fortress of Solitude” but I just wasn’t sure what was going on? I had to look it up.
What The Toes Show - A question of deer hooves
For the past four years there has been a bit of a conundrum at the tracking apprenticeship. There has been a theory passed around to be argued and analyzed, challenged and sustained. It has confronted, confused, and confounded many of us who have tried to scry a little more understanding from a couple of seemingly basic teachings, all from the hooves of White-tailed Deer.
Determining The Difference Between Red Fox and Eastern Coyote Skulls
Today I went out to track White-tailed Deer and anyone else I might encounter. I went to the swampy Eastern White Cedar woodlands where I found a beautiful pair of antlers a couple of years ago in hopes that while out tracking the Deer I might come across another antler. Instead, when I walked into the low thickety edge of the darker Cedar woods, I found some bones and eventually a skull.
Camo As Flagging for Place-based Affinities
We all wear camouflage. We clothes ourselves in the fashions of our cultures, of our workplaces and of our identities. I clothe myself in the colours of the Cedar forest where I work and wander, or the dolostone outcroppings where I look for tracks. I am not only wearing the colours, but often the images of Oak leaves, old bark, twigs and grasses. I wear the deep layered images of the land as ceremony and as camouflage.
Corvid Tracks at Bishop Mac
I ended up driving across town this morning to visit a spot where I’ve found Osprey nests, plenty of White-tailed Deer trails as well as tons of Coyote scat and trails in hopes of trailing some animals. While I did backtrack, and later fore track a deer for a good portion of my morning, the most interesting find were the corvid tracks I found in the parking lot as soon as I stepped out of the car.
Which Weasel Was It?
A few years ago, one of my former students called me over to the fire pit to show me something his cat caught. I love it when the kids bring in dead animals because it gives us time to really study them in a way that we wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to. I came over and was totally surprised. A weasel!
A Side Trot On My Driveway
I had stepped outside to take out the recycling when I noticed two canid trails on my driveway. There was one leading towards the back yard, and one heading back out towards the street. I took a closer look to try and see which species it may have been, as I have noted different species in the area on other occasions and wouldn’t have been too surprised to have seen any of them going into my backyard in search of play or prey.
A Field Guide Is A Phone Book
A field guide won’t bring profound connection to the land base, but can facilitate an introduction.
Along came a skull…
On Saturday October 29th, two days before the episode on my inappropriate appropriation of a Great Horned Owl skull aired, I drove to Mono Tract, North of Orangeville here in Ontario to pick up my partner from a day of learning about and harvesting roots from various species. I wasn’t there while they were doing this. Instead I was off at the Boyne Valley, still a little further North, trailing White-tailed Deer and looking for fungi, but when I arrived at the forest I was met with excitement about a skull.
As I came in, my friend handed me a small brown bag with a excited story about how they found a skull. I asked a couple of clarifying questions to seek out some basic answers, but things didn’t seem certain. I heard that there were talons, feathers, and some bones remaining, that the remains seemed maybe a couple weeks old, but aside from some guesses there was i.d. on whose skull it was and how it got there.
How To Clean A Skull
This past weekend with the EarthTracks Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship I got to host a mini-workshop all about skulls. It was a chance to share some of my enthusiasm about the wonderful ecologies of a boney structure which hold, protect, support and enables our lives. Why not be in love with skulls?
One thing I wished I could have touched on more clearly and more eloquently for everyone was how to clean a skull, which is a question that comes up every time I bring out skulls in any of my programs. So in light of that questions, I decided to explain some of how I clean the skulls I find.
Materia Magica for Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
What is a Materia Magica you ask? I guess it is bit of a cultural history of diverse not-so-physical uses of a plant. You’ve likely heard of a Materia Medica, you know, the notes describing the medicinal uses over time of a specific plant? This is like that, but less mundane. This one is all about Mullein.