Clues left on the ground.

(A coyote track in mud)

I live in a fairly wild part of the bay area. There are bobcats, coyotes, various raptors, and mountain lions sharing the land where I live. Yes, mountain lions. This point has been brought up recently with three staff seeing mountain lions in the past two weeks. About a week and a half ago two of the naturalists had fairly close encounters with a puma. They had found a very fresh deer kill on property. And by fresh I mean within 5-6 hours. 1 of the staff was walking by and saw the lion sitting with its kill and it stared him down. Another naturalist saw the animal loping away. They estimate that the animal was between 130-150 pounds. My partner Jen saw a cat run across the road on the way home from a meeting late one afternoon. I have not seen one yet. 

Anyway, once I heard that a mountain lion was around, and that there was a kill site nearby, I needed to go explore. I have not been able to see a kill that new before, and the thought of finding more tracks was exciting. About a week earlier a naturalist had found three really nice prints when she was out with her field group. I spent about 30 minutes making notes and measurements of the track and imagining what the animal looked like as it moved up the hill.

The kill site was pretty amazing. Don't worry, no photos here. If you would like to see them, email me. It is amazing what a large cat can do. Unfortunately the area around the kill was mostly covered in a thick leaf and twig covering, and with people coming to check out the site, I could only find hints of prints and animal trials. After a little while chatting with two other naturalists about the lion, I headed out to an area where I had seen lion tracks before to see if I could find any new ones. No luck, but I did find some good coyote tracks-like the one above, and some neat deer tracks-See below.

The last photo is not a deer, it is a pair of worm tracks! I found no new mountain lion tracks, but I did have a great time being outside and finding other signs of animals. I also got to see and hear a great many birds. Anyway, as I walked home I spent a good deal of time thinking about tracks. I love seeing footprints left by people, birds, and animals. It is a brief glimpse into the movement of an animal on its daily rounds. Now you can get very obsessed with finding and following tracks. My goal is to give you some basics. The great thing about tracking or becoming track aware, is that you and your kids will begin to re-pattern your brain with how to see patterns in nature. Tracks are simply a different pattern left in the ground than what is usually there. 

So in general tracking requires you to notice things that are out of place or are creating patterns. A depression in the Earth, grass shinning or dull, sticks broken, sharp angles, and recurring patterns. As you notice from the pictures above -especially the deer prints- tracks can come in different shapes even from the same species.

Here are some general tips for tracking:
- Try and keep tracks between you and the Sun. Lighting can make a HUGE difference in how you see tracks.
- Cat tracks tend to be rounder than dogs and rarely show claws.
- Canine tracks tend to be oval in shape and often show claws.
- Deer tracks tend to look heart shaped and have a pointed end.
- Birds that live and hunt mostly on the ground will usually walk, while birds that hunt and live in the trees more will usually hop.

You might notice that I used the terms "usually" and "tend" in these tips. There are trends in tracking, and nature provides us with a wide range of variety. There are some other tips you can use especially when you are just beginning to spot tracks:
- Mud provides a great medium for tracks.
- So does snow.
- If you live in a area with sand, you can find many more tracks than those of us in wooded areas.
- Bodies of water are great areas to look for tracks-animals need water.
- Animals have routines just like us and tend to take the same trails on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

A fun game to play with kids around where you live is to see if you can determine whose shoes left what tracks around your house. Using shoes is great because so many of them have unique patterns on the bottoms. Play around with making tracks in different soils and mediums.

Websites to visit for tracks:
http://www.bear-tracker.com/ A website by a tracking friend of mine here in California.

http://42explore.com/animaltracks.htm A good site with several good links.


Nature Nugget:
Another sign that animals have been around is that they leave scat. Scat is the scientific term for poop.  So to follow that fact, I am going to try and answer the question one of my camp staff asked me years ago: "Why is poop brown"? So here we go:


Scientists have been pondering the question "why is poop brown" for centuries and still have not quite figured out why. As it turns out, and you may have noticed, not all scat is brown.  Sometimes scat can be green, yellow or nearly black.  On occasion there are pieces of plant matter, fur, bones, etc in it too. We are talking about animal scat here, not human.


Some animals like rodents, rabbits, and shrews have two types of scat. One is the typical kind -- waste that is left behind. The other, however, is dark and rich in vitamins. Just like cows regurgitate and chew cud to get more nutrients from their hard-to-digest diet, some animals eat this special scat. Now isn't that a tasty thought!


The color of scat can help determine the animal's diet. Dark scat means lots of meat for carnivores, and moist plants for herbivores. White scat is often dried out. Blue scat means berries, whereas grey carnivore scat usually indicates the presence of fur. Grey, and the presence of actual fur helps too!


Some animals, like deer, leave scat as they walk. But other species, particularly those with dens, have a latrine area so they can keep things tidy. Just like pet cats, wild cats try to bury their scat. And some animals, like mountain lions, use scat as territorial markings. I have found that coyotes tend to poop on a high point in a trial as a marking sign.


Birds, reptiles, and amphibians sometimes combine their scat and urine. A white nitrogenous deposit on scat means it didn't come from a mammal. However, just because there is no whitish layer on the scat doesn't mean it didn't come from a bird.


Bird pellets, also known as cough pellets or casting, aren't scat, but they are similar: pellets are the undigested remains of meals that birds regurgitate from their gizzards. Raptors like eagles and owls and corvids like ravens and crows, as well as other birds cast pellets, including herons, gulls, and kingfishers. Pellets are often found near roosting or nesting sites, though some birds will cast pellets were they ate. In them, you can find hair, bones, beaks, claws, and other clues as to what a bird’s last meal was. You can find owl pellets on-line to order for home science projects.


Now in people, our poop, you could call it scat if you want, is mostly shades of brown or yellow, but other colors can occur as well. I found two explanations of why scat is brownish in color. The first is that digestion is aided by bile and when bile is metabolized by bacteria in the large intestines, a byproduct called stercoblin is created, which gives poop a brown color. The second reason says that dead blood cells release iron that is then converted into bilirubin which gives our poop a brown color.


Now in people we can also have multi-colored poop. Some illnesses in babies gives them green or even blue-green poop. I found out on a backpacking trip with teenage boys, that freeze dried cobbler turns poop a very odd color of green. The kids were a little freaked out at first! In the front country, another source of blue poop in children is more innocent: it can come from eating a concentrated source of blue food coloring such as ice cream. Intense red food coloring can produce bright red poop. Sometimes brightly colored foods pass through the gut almost unchanged, and poop may be speckled with bright red fragments such as pimentos, or that favorite, bright yellow kernels of corn. 

And now you know!

As always, feel free to leave a comment here, or email me at:

asinglefootstep@gmail.com    

How do you know it is spring?

(In some places spring is coming!)

I hope you are doing well and getting out and enjoying the places around where you live. Even if you are still deep in winter, getting outside and exploring, even if it is for a short time, is a worthy pursuit. I have been busy getting ready for and going to few conferences so that is why I have not posted in the past few weeks. I was up at Lake Tahoe, on the Nevada side, in the middle of the month for a conference of Residential Outdoor Environmental Educators. A small gathering of 45 or so folks from all over including 3 Canadians! It was a wonderful venue overlooking Lake Tahoe from the eastern side. One of my fun moments was joining the Tahoe Tessie club one morning. The Tahoe Tessie club involves jumping in lake early in the morning. WOW was it cold; 38.9 degrees to be exact. Yes I had a water thermometer with me. It was also good to drive up and over the Sierra Range and to see a bunch of snow.

Anyway, one of the workshops I went to was called "How do you know it is spring?". It was a great workshop in which I learned about a great civil science project called Project Bud Burst. It is a great project where you get to help collect data for your area and send it to the project. I wanted to let folks know about the project because it can be a wonderful long term environmental project for you and your kids. Even if you do not officially get involved with the project, they provide you with some great tools to help you expand your awareness of plants progressing into spring. They also provide a whole host of resources for studying plants all around the country.

The main focus of the project is to look at Phenology. Phenology is the study of the timing of recurring biological phases, the causes of their timing with regard to biotic and abiotic forces. It also explores the interrelation among phases of same or different species. Phenology is an interesting study because the timing of plant growth, up to including fruiting, determines Food Supply, can affect the survival of plants and animals in their environment, and can provide you with yearly data changes in the plants around where you live. Phenology is also being used to help determine possible climate changes.

If you get involved with the project officially, thanks for providing useful data. If you do not, I encourage you to get involved in a more personal manner. Here are some suggestions on how you could do a plant phenology project of your own. Simply start observing the plants in your own yard or nearby park. Maybe even in your Anchor Spot. Keep a watch on plants that interest you and watch for the first buds, leaves, flowers, and fruits as spring progresses. You can use the tools on the Project Budburst site.

If you have other families in your area that have kids, or if you work at an outdoor school, get a group together and make observations over time and compare them. At home you could even compare data from your house with data and observations from other house in areas that are either close by or maybe even a little farther away and see what differences emerge. Where I live the progression of spring growth varies greatly from one side of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the other, a distance of about 15 miles.  At an outdoor school, keep weekly data observations and then refer to them next year and create a timeline of plant growth on your site for this spring. 

Even if you do not keep notes on how plants are progressing in your area, keep some mental notes on what you are observing in the plants you see. You can also keep an eye out for spring animals as they arrive. There are bird migrations you can keep an eye on, and even a bird phenology program. I hope you enjoy looking at the upcoming changes that spring will provide us! Have fun , and get out there!

Nature Nugget:

A wonderful NPR piece on insect migrations! 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123330735&sc=fb&cc=fp

          

What Happened Here?

(Headwaters of the Mississippi-Itaska State Park, MN)

Today we are going to explore some of your local history. No matter where you live people have had an impact on the Earth in many ways. In many cases there are still reminders of those events from long ago. Part of developing a Sense of Place and developing a greater sense of Ecological Literacy, is learning more about the historical impacts humans have made to the place you live. For this posting, lets go explore some of the unique areas where you live.

Every developed area has some history to it. In some cases it can define the area. Where I grew up, in Storrs CT, many if not most of all the fields had stone walls, and many would have 1 or 2 large trees left in the fields. The stones were often collected by farmers clearing their fields to plant, and used to keep livestock in specific places and to define land boundaries. The trees where left to provide shade for livestock. In addition to copious stone walls, there were numerous mills dotting rivers and streams. In some cases the mills were still in wonderful condition and were museums, and others are simply foundations left to the woods. Much of the forests had been logged beginning in the 1700's, and had been logged several times. Really old trees were rare to find. Here is my favorite in Storrs:

 

I spent 9 years living in central Missouri on a large 5000 acre YMCA camp that was heavily influenced by human behavior. Our 300 acre lake was manmade, there were 13 filled lead mines on and around the property, the spring on property had been used for years as a meeting place for early settlers, and I found an arrowhead and partial knife point in nearby fields. The area had been clear-cut during the civil war to help power iron smelting operations and build wagons and boats.

I now live in the Santa Cruz Mountains and here the area has a little less, only slightly, impact. This area was very busy with the logging of coastal redwood and douglas fir trees during the 1800's gold rush in CA, and then the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. When walking around in the redwood forests you can often see wedges cut out about 6-10' above the ground where lumberjacks cut slots to fit cutting boards into the trucks to get above the hardest part of the trunks on these massive trees.

In every case, some of these historical remains are easy to find, but looking for the less obvious ones is much more exciting and rewarding. When I was a kid I would find old stone walls and walk them for hours. Just wandering. In Missouri, finding great limestone caves and drinking from natural springs was a wonderful treat. And here in California finding fallen 200' redwoods that were left behind or the remains of old logging camps is a wonderful adventure.

So head out and do a little exploring of your areas human history. Some things might be easy to find, so start with those. Others may take some work. Contact local historical societies, ask friends, go visit a museum. Learn more about the history of human impact and development of the place you live. Enjoy! 

    

Nature Nugget:
One of the animals that makes its "living" on the fringes of human society is the Coyote or Canis latrans. They are wonderfully resourceful animals and incredibly adaptable. In many Native American cultures they Coyote is a mythical character who is often a grand trickster. Teaching humans lessons through a round-a-bout method.

Coyotes, both eastern and western, are smaller than wolves. Although eastern Coyotes can be much larger than western ones and are sometimes mistaken for wolves. Unlike wolves, which hunt in packs and live mainly on large game, Coyotes are often solitary and can live on everything from grass and grasshoppers to deer mice and deer.

Usually pups are born in the spring, and both the male and female help to raise the pups. For the past two years a female Coyote would come up to the house during mating season and yip and bark playfully at our dogs. It was really cute. Dogs and Coyotes can breed, but it does change the offspring's behavior.

Coyotes have had a very difficult time interacting with humans in the last 100+ years. On average there are 87,000 Coyotes killed every year in the U.S. Often these are state sponsored kills or during specific hunting seasons. However, the reputation of Coyotes as attacking humans is over-rated. The Coyote was given the same reputation as the wolf. The reality is that the best estimates show that there have been 30-40 coyotes attacks on humans that resulted in injuries. In comparison, the Center for Disease Control estimates that 4.7 million people are bitten by domestic dogs every year, and over 300 people have been killed by dogs in the U.S. since 1979. And as far as the concern about Coyotes being a major threat to livestock populations, the highest number I could find for how much of a Coyote's diet was from domestic sheep, was .2% in British Columbia. They will take carcasses if they can find them.

Coyotes are very shy and keep a low-profile. I have seen Coyotes along major highways here in California, in Connecticut, and Missouri. I have seen and tracked Coyotes in parks in St. Louis, and encountered them on running trails in many states. They can be beautiful animals. And remember, they are WILD animals and distance should be given to them when you see them in the wild.

And now you know.

Websites to visit:
http://www.ProjectCoyote.org/
A Website run by a friend of mine. A wonderful site to explore more about coyotes and how humans treat and mistreat coyotes. A warning for folks, there are some pictures and videos of coyote killing on this website.

Remember you can leave comments here or email me at:

asinglefootstep@gmail.com

Caregiving: An action and an attitude.

(Muir Woods, CA)

I hope you are all getting out and enjoying nature in whatever way you can this winter season. Over the last couple of days we have been having some really wicked rain storms here in Bay Area. High winds, high surf, and a lot of rain-about 10" here at home in 4 days. Sorry for the delay in posting a new entry, I have been with out power for most of the week. While I was out walking in the woods I was noticing what the storms had done in the woods. There were lots of branches down, small and large trees pulled from the rain soaked ground, and a few small mudslides on the trail. Nature was doing some serious winter cleaning. As I walked this morning with the dogs, I began to remove fallen branches from smaller, still living, trees and shrubs. And it got me thinking about taking care of the word we live in.

Now I am not talking about large scale business or government driven plans here. I am talking about things you can do in your own neighborhood and places that you frequent. Some personal responsibility and local Care-Taking. Helping nature in little ways can be fun, adventurous, and an opportunity to help children develop a positive attitude about caring for the environment. For those of you who have gardens or even plants in your home, you probably do some Caregiving already. You water the plants (hopefully), you remove dead leaves and old flower heads (Deadheading my mom calls it), and some weeding. Well, why not take that same attitude outside and help nature with some Caregiving.

Caregiving is an activity that can be done be itself or in conjunction with other nature activities like Disco Hikes, Creating Nature Art, while sitting in your Anchor Spot, on an FBI hunt, or just walking the dogs. As you are out there exploring, if you see where a fallen branch has landed on a living tree or plant, simple remove the branch-try not to damage the live plant-and then break up the stick to help it decompose near the living plant or tree. You can also remove dead branches or leaves from trees or plants. The organism is no longer providing food for that dead area of the plant, and you can place the dead material at the base of the plant or tree for the FBI to begin decomposition and to add to the nutrient cycle.

Caregiving is not necessarily landscaping. I am not encouraging you to go out and clear out whole areas so they look like an English Garden. I am talking about actions like simply providing a little help removing stresses like a branch that is crushing a plant. Another example of care giving is to mow your leaves into the grass rather than raking them up and then mowing. By mowing the leaves into the grass clippings you are helping the nitrogen cycle keep nutrients in the ground and helping your lawn stay healthy. Or at least use your leaves to start a compost pile rather than sending them to a landfill.

Another way to Caregive is to join a local organization that helps remove invasive species in your area. You can also get involved with a trail restoration group, water way clean up days, or road side trash pick up days. By getting out and looking for opportunities to aid nature in processes that are already occurring, you can begin to build that habit in your kids, and develop an attitude of caring for the natural world. It is also a great opportunity to engage your friends, family, and neighbors and do a little community building at the same time.

A quick little story to end todays entry. About 4 years ago I was in New Jersey for a class. Part of the class was to do some caretaking for a cedar swamp in the Pine Barrens. This area had been logged in the mid-late 1800's and the loggers had left cedar stumps in the creeks and many off them had created jams by gathering lots of brush and silt. As a group we spent the better part of two days in the swamp removing logs and brush and clearing out two springs that had gotten clogged up with slit and mud. It was a wonderful group experience. A day after we had finished our caregiving in the swamp, there were frogs and fish in the areas we had cleared that were not there when we started. It was pretty amazing. I went back 2 years later and the area had continued to be very diverse and clear water was flowing in many of the areas that had been clogged by the logs left in the swamps. A great experience, and an example of caregiving on a slightly larger scale. Have fun giving nature a hand!

Nature Nugget:

As I was heading into town yesterday, I looked down into the valley where I live and it was filled with some great fog rising out of the forest.

It got me thinking about fog and how exactly it is formed and why. So here is what I have found out about fog. In short, fog is a cloud that forms or sinks to the surface of the Earth. The thickness of fog depends on the density and size of the water droplets in the air. And fogs are classified by the processes that produce them. Here are five types of fog for your exploration:

Radiation Fog:

This is the most common form of fog seen over land. It is a cooling fog which usually forms in still moist air overnight. This happens as heat radiates away from the Earth and air cools and reaches a temperature that equals the dew point. Yes Dew Point actually has a use. It occurs most frequently in valley bottoms where cool air accumulates after sinking from hillsides.

Advection Fog:

This is another cooling fog which forms when moist air flows over a cold surface. Most sea fog is Advection Fog. Advection-radiation fog which is also called Ground Fog and is generally only a few feet thick. It can also be called valley fog.

Upslope Fog:
A third kind of cooling fog, Upslope Fog is formed as air is forced upward along a surface and expands as it cools, due to lower pressure and temperature, and the then the water vapor condenses. Mt Washington in New Hampshire can experience Upslope more than 300 days a year.
Steam Fog:
A warming fog that forms as cold air passes over a warm water surface. It is also called sea smoke. As the warming air rises off the water, it condenses as it hits the colder air.
Frontal Fog:
A Frontal Fog, another warming fog, is formed with the passage of a warm air front as warm rain falls into colder air below. The evaporating raindrops saturate the colder air layer resulting in condensation. This fog occurs frequently after a prolonged winter storm.  

And now you know. Now get out there and touch a cloud!

Websites to visit:

http://www.wildearth.tv/static/wildearth/channels/we_bear_den.html
 A very cool site of Lily the Brown Bear in MN, in torpor, having cubs on video in her den. At least one this morning! Perhaps two.

http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.html

An artist who does some AMAZING art with nature! This link was sent to me by a reader of What's Out There.

http://www.childrenandnature.org/news/detail/npr_does_spending_time_outdoors_prevent_myopia/

A great story on how spending time outdoors can help children keep good eyesight.

http://www.healinglandscapes.org/

A website dedicated to Therapeutic Landscape Design from one of our members Naomi Sachs.

The Art of Nature.

A great example of living Art in Nature.
(Photo by Leisl Pimentel of Phoenix Zoo fame!)

Nature if full of absolutely amazing patterns, colors, shapes, and forms. I find that when I am taking a walk and I stop for a few minutes, even a few seconds, and look around I see an incredible amount of intricate details. I am constantly in awe of the rich collection of colors that change with the adjusting light, and the seemingly endless arrangements of patterns. So, how can we use this rich collection of inspiration to have fun outdoors, and create stronger connections to the natural world? Well, by getting outside to start with. And secondly, by creating some of your own art in nature.

Now I know that it is winter for all of us in the northern hemisphere and we here in America have been getting some proper and some unusual winter weather. It was 17 degrees in parts of Florida this morning! So getting out in the winter can be a challenge. And a good portion of this activity can be done indoors after a quick exploration outside. And really, doing art projects while drinking hot coco is a ton of fun.

There are a couple of options that come to mind when I think about creating art in and with Nature. The first one is to head outside, perhaps near your Anchor Spot and look for materials. I would also encourage you to explore all around your neighborhood or local parks as well for "art materials". The greater the variety of materials will lead to more diverse masterpieces!

Look for objects that are plentiful. We do not want to over harvest materials and risk harming the long term health of plants or degrading areas that others might enjoy. Some suggestions for materials are: acorns, various leaves both green and dead, twigs, fungi, rocks, pine cones, ferns, bones, feathers, bark, etc. You get the point. Try and collect materials that have a variety of colors, textures, and sizes. I also encourage you to mix materials and combine living plants or organisms with items you bring to a living item. Here is an example of such a mini-project:

I used the growing mushroom as the center piece and then built around it with various leaves from four plants/ trees. I also found another mushroom of the same species that had been knocked off of it's stem by something, and created another little piece.

  For these two pieces I chose to make them outside. However, you can just as easily collect your materials and bring them inside or to another location outside to create your masterpieces. Both of these options work well with one or two kids or even with a large group! Make sure that before you go out and collect materials that you talk with your kids about respecting the plants and other resources that they might choose so that they do not create too much damage to the area you are working in. We will talk more about Caretaking next time.

Another option is to head out with a camera (digital or traditional) and take pictures of patterns that you can find in area around your house. Then you can go home and create some great slideshows or even print out some of your best pictures and put them up in your house. Here are some examples of patterns I found within 50' of the house this morning on my walk with the dogs.

                                                    

As you continue making Art With Nature, experiment with a variety of sizes, colors, and textures. Send in some pictures of your work ( asinglefootstep@gmail.com) so others can be inspired by your creativity. Also, if you are in an area with snow or ice, the white can provide a wonderful canvas to create on! Another option besides taking photos is to find items in nature that inspire you and draw them in a nature journal. A wonderful tradition to start might be to do some Nature Art each season, or even every month! There is no end to the amount of things you could create using the wonderful resources nature can provides. Enjoy connecting with What's Out There and releasing your creative skills!

Nature Nugget:
Today the Nature Nugget is an overview of the components of our Atmosphere. This ocean of air envelopes our small planet and provides us with the air we breathe and the colors of our sky. Our atmosphere is not a uniform mixture of material, it is a layered blanket that changes as it moves away from our planet's surface. So here is a basic primer of Atmospheric Explanation.
(Going from the Earth's Surface upward)
Earth's Surface:


Troposphere: From the surface up to around 9mi (15km).
This layer is the lowest, densest, and the thinnest layer of the atmosphere. Most weather occurs in the Troposphere. On average the temperature in the Troposphere drops about 3.5 degrees for each additional 1000' of altitude. At the upper end of the Troposphere the temperature is around -70 degrees fahrenheit. The Troposphere contains about between 80-90% of the mass in our atmosphere including most of the water vapor.
--Tropopause-- The area where the Troposphere and Stratosphere mix and the area of our Jet Streams.


Stratosphere: Up to about 30mi (50km).
The lower parts of the Stratosphere is around the same temperature as the upper level of the Troposphere, but then gradually warms in the mid to high areas of the Stratosphere as there is an increase in the amount of Ozone (O3). This warmer air over colder air inhibits vertical mixing and creates a fairly stable, stratified distribution of air. At the top of the Stratosphere, the temperature is about 30 degrees fahrenheit.
--Stratopause-- Air pressure is 1/1000 of the pressure at sea level.


Mesosphere: Continues up to between 50-56 miles up (90km).
The Ozone Layer here is almost non-existent and heat actually is radiated out into space and temperature decreases with height. At the top of the Mesosphere the temperature is about -130 degrees fahrenheit. This is the area of our atmosphere where meteors burn up when they enter our atmosphere.
--Mesopause--


Thermosphere: Up to between 350-700 miles high.
Here temperature also raises with a gain in height due to gases absorbing short ultraviolet waves from the sun. The upper Thermosphere has temperatures about 180 degrees fahrenheit. The upper area of thermosphere is where many of our man-made satellites orbit- including the space station and space shuttles. Above the poles in the Thermosphere is where the northern and southern lights or auroras are displayed through energy from the sun exciting gases.  In the Thermosphere is the Ionosphere. This region is where atoms have become ionized by ultraviolet radiation. This is the area where radio waves can be bounced around the world using predetermined angles, eliminating the problem of the Earth's curvature.
--Thermopause--


Exosphere: Any area above the Thermopause.   

So there you go, that is what's above us at any given time. So the next time you look up, keep in mind all the layers you are looking through. Our atmosphere can affect our view of sunsets, and sunrises and the clarity of stars at night.

If you have any thoughts or comments, please leave them here or email me at:

asinglefootstep@gmail.com

Until next time...have fun out there!

Anchors away!

(The view from inside an Snow Cave)

Just thought I would share one option of exploration in these winter months! This photo is from a snow cave class I taught last year near Lake Tahoe. Anyway, let's get this year of nature exploration underway! If you are new to this blog, or you have not yet done so, please make sure you can locate the cardinal directions from where you live. Also, discover what watershed you live in, and make sure you can identify harmful plants such as poison ivy, and stinging nettles. Also make sure you are aware of what wild animals might be of concern such as raccoons, coyotes, deer, bees, and skunks.


For this entry we are going to discuss selecting an Anchor Spot for you and your children. If you are working with kids in an environmental education setting, you can at least introduce your students to the concept of a an Anchor Spot. If time permits during your program, perhaps you can have your kids have at least one Anchor Spot experience.


An Anchor Spot is somewhere outside that is close to your house or a place you visit frequently. It is a place where you and your kids can sit comfortably and have a good view of the surrounding area. The spot you chose may be a spot that you already spend time in anyway such as a garden or porch. The idea of an Anchor Spot is to develop a spot where you sit and notice changes in the area around you. For our first visit simply head out and find a spot that you are attracted to or looks like a good spot to sit in. If you and your kids are choosing Anchor Spots together, you can decide if you want to have your spots together or separate. Either is fine.


Once you find your Anchor Spot, have a seat and get to know your area. Look around with normal vision and your Coyote Eyes. Use you Deer Ears and take a few sniffs of the area and see what you notice. Are you sitting in a windy spot, or is it calm? You can also start a Nature Journal, or continue one you already have. You could start by listing the plants and trees in your Anchor Spot. You do not have to list scientific or even common names. Call them whatever you want. We can get into naming things later. Also list any unique things in your area. We will use the Anchor Spot frequently during the next year. If you can, visit your Anchor Spot at least once a week for about 15 minutes. Try and visit it at different times of day just to see what your spot looks like at different times. If you live in a city, or area where you do not have a space outside, choose a spot near a window that provides you with a view of the outside world.


Your Anchor Spot(s) can be used to work on almost all of the activities posted in this blog. It can become an easy place to build awareness of the natural world just outside your back door! So get out there and just don't do anything, sit and enjoy the world around you!

Remember that if you have any ideas, comments, or thoughts please send me an email:

asinglefootstep@gmail.com

Nature Nugget: The Jet Stream.

Weather in the winter seems to occupy more of our nightly news than other times of the year. Constant reports of record low temperatures, snowfall, rain, sleet, etc seem to dominate the news. For example, it was -37 (without wind chill) this morning in International Falls MN. Now that is proper cold! One factor that is taken into account when weather forecasts are made is the Jet Stream.

Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in out atmosphere. The main jet streams are located near the tropopause, the transition area between the troposphere (where temperature decreases with height) and the stratosphere (where temperature increases with height). The major jet streams on Earth flow from west to east. Their paths usually have a meandering shape; jet streams may start, stop, split into two or more parts, combine into one stream, or flow in various directions including the opposite direction of most of the jet. In short, Jet Streams are mobile things!

The strongest jet streams on Earth are the polar jets, at around 23,000–39,000 ft above sea level, and the higher and somewhat weaker subtropical jets at around 33,000–52,000 ft. Both hemispheres have a polar jet and a subtropical jet.

Jet streams on Earth are caused by a combination of atmospheric heating through solar radiation and the Earth’s rotation on its axis. Meteorologists use the location of the jet streams as an aid in creating weather forecasts. The other main relevance of the jet streams to us humans is in air travel. And one future benefit of jet streams could be to power airborne wind turbines. An estimation is that if we were able to capture around 1% of the wind energy in a Jet Stream, we could produce all the energy we currently need. 

The website below has a whole bunch of information on current jet stream movement. 

http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html




Websites to Check Out:
If you live in a cold and or snowy area, check
out this website from NOAA:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/winter/

Sniff, sniff sniff! Your nose and nature.

(Is that food I smell?)

With the holiday season in full swing for many people, our houses are often filled with the wonderful smells of meals cooking and cookies baking. Even though we as humans are very visual creatures, our sense of smell can be very acute. Some researchers say that our sense of smell has a connection to our memories, and a specific smell can bring back very vivid memories. But what about in the animal world? And how can we use our sense of smell to explore the natural world? Well, let's find out.

Our sense of smell is carried out by two small odor detecting areas-made up of about 5-6 million cells- high up in our nasal passages. As a comparison, rabbits have an average of 100 million olfactory cell receptors and dogs average 220 million! Our nose is also tied into our sense of taste. While our tongue contains our taste buds, our noses add a great deal to our sense of taste. Have you ever noticed that when you have a cold and your nose is stuffed up that your sense of taste is not as keen? A friend of mine Paul has almost no sense of smell and as a result he has almost no sense of taste. Try it yourself. Hold your nose and eat something. What does it taste like? Then take another bite without your nose held and taste the difference.

A good deal of research has been done on human's sense of smell. Most scientists agree that children have a better sense of smell than adults and that women tend to have a better sense of smell then men. There is some debate on when our sense of smell declines, or if it even does. There is evidence to suggest that we do experience some olfactory decline as we get older. However, our state of mind and overall health does have an effect on our sense of smell as we grow older. And some research suggests that just like lifting weights, training your nose and relying on your sense of smell on purpose can increase nasal sensitivity.

So how can we use our noses more in nature, and how can we train them. Nature is full of amazing smells! Many of us have experienced the smell of a rainstorm, or fresh cut grass, and some even say it can smell like snow. Atmospheric condition do effect how smells travel through the air, but more on that some other time. Today we are going to cover two ways to use your nose in nature!

The first can be done indoors our outside. We are going to create a scent trail. Now I use this activity with kids outdoors during the day but also on night hikes if I can get out ahead and set the trail. Look through your house and find some things with both strong and subtile smells. I like to use things like soaps, herbs, sauces, coffee, tea, peanut butter, mouthwash, etc. You can use cotton balls for liquids and paper or cups for solids. Starting in one spot in your house, or just outside, place the starter scent maker there. A cotton ball soaked in lime juice for example. This is where you or your child will "catch the scent".

Then go ahead and hide other scent markers-the cotton balls or cups with the scent in or on them- around your house like a hidden trail. At the end put some reward like a snack. Then have your "bloodhound" take a smell of the first scent marker. Let them get a really good sniff. Then see if they can follow the scent trail through the house and find the end. If you want an added level of difficulty, you can also have the trail run outside and then back inside. Or have the trail go through the kitchen where other strong smells might throw your tracker off the trail. Another variation is to do this activity blindfolded! With the blindfold on, your scent seeker will have to rely on their sense of smell rather than looking for the scent markers as they sniff the air.

Another way you can develop you and your children's sense of smell is to literally follow your nose while out on a hike or disco hike. As you are out walking, either in nature or even in a store or mall, if you smell something, follow it to the source if you can. You never know what you might find. I have found wonderful trees, flowers, pizza shops, dead animals, and even water! Following a smell that reaches your nose can be a wonderful experience in the art of wandering. Since we usually follow what we see, following what we smell brings a whole new level of exploration into a simple walk. Also if you are taking you dog for a walk, see what they stop and smell. I have found skunk tracks, bobcat urine marks, and deer trails when I take a closer look at what my dogs are investigating.

Speaking of dogs, what mammal has the best sense of smell? Bloodhounds, and scenthounds in general, have noses 10-100 MILLION times more sensitive than us humans. But bloodhounds do not have the best noses in the mammal kingdom. That honor goes to the bears. The Grizzly Bear has a sense of smell that is 7 times stronger than a bloodhound! Researchers have found that grizzly bears can detect the scent of food up to 18 miles away!

Other animals in the world have equally amazing "noses". Salmon navigate back to the exact rivers they were born in while out in the ocean, and sharks can smell blood up to a half a mile away in the ocean. Turkey vultures are also known to have a great ability to smell dead things from great distances, and they are one of only a few bird species to have a sense of smell. My award for the coolest animal "nose" goes to the male Red-bellied Lemur (Eulemur rubriventer) which has scent glands on top of the head!

Here is a hint on how to help get a better smell of things. Have you ever noticed how a dog smells something it is interested in? They take several sniffs in and then one big exhale. Try it and see if it makes a difference for you. Also, when you are out exploring, from time to time stop and smell things. Take the time and explore how different things smell. Take a sniff of trees, leaves, mushrooms, dirt, bark, and anything else that strikes your fancy. Now be careful. Don't go just sticking your nose into just anything. Bring things slowly up to your nose, and take your first sniff from a good 6" away from your nose, and then get a closer smell. Have fun exploring with your snouts!

Nature Nugget:
Just a quick reminder, tomorrow, the 21st, is the Solstice. It is the day when we have the shortest amount of daylight all year. After the Solstice we will "gain" a few minutes of daylight each day. It was, and is, a time of the year when people celebrate the death and then the rebirth of the Sun. So enjoy the darkness and know that more light is on the way!

And now for something completely different!

Here is a partial list of the names of groups of animals. Just in case you have been wondering.

Donkey  - Herd

Bear       - Sleuth

Cat         - Clutter. A litter of kittens but a Clutter of cats.

Cattle     - Herd or Drove

Chicken - Brood or Clutch

Deer       - Herd

Dog        - Pack

Duck      - Brace or Herd

and finally...

Fox         - Skulk. Yes a skulk of Foxes.  

And now you know.

As always, please post comments or email me ideas for things to explore.

asinglefootstep@gmail.com

And if you know someone who might enjoy this blog, please pass it on! I have also started another blog for Experiential and Environmental Educators. If you are one of those, or want to be, or know someone who is, check it out:

http://ropesofecology.blogspot.com/