August 8, 2023

I have mentioned that I do most of the cooking at home.  When a couple decide to be together the housework and other tasks a single person is required to do are at least halved again for two people.  While household chores were traditionally the domain of the stay at home mom, that has changed since at least the 1950’s.  Now couples tend to divide the tasks so they are shared rather than assuming one person will do everything while the other lounges.  Shopping and making meals are some of the tasks I have chosen to take on.  I have been averse to using cookbooks since I first began to cook at age four (yes, my mom loved to tell the story of remaining silent as her women’s group told of the beginner meals being produced by their 8 to 10 year olds, knowing I did the same at half their age).  While I pride myself on creating (or trying to) innovative meals I know there are times I get into a rut and cook the same things over and over.  Last week I went to the store determined to come up with something new, and with less of an emphasis on red meat.  I made a yellow squash soup last spring that was delicious and thought that might be good again.  When I got the squash out last night, I realized it was too hot for soup.  Knowing Melissa is a southern girl, I instead went online and found a recipe for fritters, of course substituting the squash and altering the prescribed directions.

When I looked online, I found fritters can be any of various types of fried foods, generally consisting of small pieces of meat, vegetables, fruit, or dough.  Plain fritters are deep-fried cakes of chou paste or yeast dough.  Other fritters can be bits of meat, seafood, vegetables, or fruit coated with batter and deep-fried.  Small cakes of chopped food in batter, such as corn fritters in the southern United States, are also called fritters.  Fritters can be found in many types of cuisine.  The French beignets, Italian bigne, and Greek loukoumades are sweet cakes of the plain variety of fritters.  The batter-frying technique was introduced into Japan by the Portuguese and Spanish in the late 16th century and was altered to become tempura (they must not have liked following recipes either) that developed as a mixed fry of shrimps, herbs, and vegetables that is central to Japanese cuisine.  The Indian pakora is a savory deep-fried cake containing bits of cauliflower, eggplant, or other vegetables.  Fritto misto is an Italian dish of bits of meat, seafood, and vegetables dipped in batter and fried in olive oil.  A specialty dish of various local cuisines are flower fritters, using daylilies, roses, violets, acacia, elder blow, or squash blossoms.  Corn fritters, consisting of corn kernels, flour, egg, and milk, are served in many Southern homes and restaurants topped with fruit, jam, and honey.  This dish has its roots in both Native American and Indonesian cuisine.

Being a meat and potatoes Kansas boy, I tend to fry a lot of my meals.  Melissa is trying to eat smarter so last night I made a salad, baked squash fritters, and baked catfish.  I grated the squash (a new technique for me) and combined the squash with corn meal, milk, an egg, and Cajun spices.  While not fried, the fritters were excellent.  The baked catfish was ok, but not nearly as good as if it had been fried.  Next time I need to devise a different recipe for the fish that does not rely on the breaded coating.  

Thoughts:  Part of the fun of cooking is trying new techniques and discovering new styles of cuisine.  That was why I canned my pasta sauce and why I decided to make fritters.  Melissa also knows this is a way I try and support her, allowing her time to work while I do something I love anyway.  Partnerships that last tend to be built on shared responsibilities.  This is all the better if you can find something you enjoy but the mundane chores should be shared as well.  The adage may be, “happy wife, happy life”, but in today’s Western culture perhaps it should be, “happy marriage, do not disparage”.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 4, 2023

Last summer I noted the eastern black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) enjoying the nectar of our Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata) that line the bed along the front of our house.  While I have not seen another of that type, there have been a few monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), also known as the common tiger, flitting the phlox.  Yesterday I went out to the car and noticed another type of butterfly.  This was like the black swallowtail, but the front wings were primarily yellow with four black bands.  My first impression as it flitted from flower to flower was that it looked like a small tiger pouncing on its prey.

When I looked online, I found the eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is a species of butterfly native to eastern North America.  It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern US and ranges north to southern Ontario, Canada.  The tiger is present from spring until fall and will produce two or three different broods over that time.  Adults feed on the nectar of many species of flowers, mostly from those of the families Apocynaceae (oleanders), Asteraceae (daisies), and Fabaceae (beech and oak trees).  The tiger has a wingspan measuring 3.1 to 5.5 inches (7.9 to 14 cm) with females being the larger sex.  The male is yellow with the four black “tiger stripes” that I had seen on each forewing.  Females are dimorphic and may be either yellow or black.  The yellow morph is like the male but has an obvious band of blue spots along the hindwing, while the dark morph is almost completely black.  The young caterpillars are brown and white, and they turn green with two black, yellow, and blue eyespots on the thorax as they age, then turn brown prior to pupating (forming a cocoon). It will reach a length of 2.2 inches (5.5 cm).  The cocoon (chrysalis) varies from whitish to dark brown in color.  Hibernation occurs in this stage in locations with cold winter months.  The eastern tiger swallowtail is the state butterfly of Alabama (and state mascot), Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and is the state insect of Virginia.

The tiger swallowtail presents a variety of defense mechanisms as it transitions through its life cycle.  The first three stages (instars) of the caterpillar are bird dropping mimics, a coloration that helps protect it from predators.  In later instars, the eyespots on the thorax serve to deter birds.  Like all members of the family Papilionidae (swallowtails), the tiger caterpillar possesses an osmeterium, an orange, fleshy organ that emits foul-smelling terpenes to repel predators.  The osmeterium is normally hidden and is located on the first segment of the thorax and can be turned inside out (everted) when the caterpillar feels threatened.  The combination of eyespots and osmeterium makes the caterpillar resemble a snake.  Dark morph females use Batesian mimicry (named after Henry Walter Bates and his work on butterflies in Brazil) where a harmless species imitates the warning signals of a harmful species as protection from predators by mimicking the poisonous pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor).  The pipevine is more common in the south, where the dark morph females are also more prevalent.

Thoughts:  The male tiger does not use Batesian mimicry and are preyed upon more frequently than the females, so why are the females not all dark morphs?  There are two noted hypotheses.  The male avoidance hypothesis suggests the female disguises to evade male harassment, as courtship can be harmful.  The pseudosexual hypothesis suggests the male will aggressively approach the male-looking female, then shift to sexual behavior when they identify them as female.  One study found the Batesian females suffered less predation, but their fitness was reduced most by sexual harassment.  The others faced lower sexual harassment but lost fitness from predation.  Nature balances itself to achieve the best outcome for all.  Humans tend to focus on what is best for me right now.  Until we decide to work for the good of all (human and planet) we will fail.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 2, 2023

My unsuccessful quest for canning supplies on Sunday left me feeling frustrated and unsure if my efforts were going to turn into canned pasta sauce.  I came out to my car wondering what I should do next or where I now needed to check.  As I approached my vehicle, I noticed a small rubber duck sitting on the driver’s side door handle.  At first, I was taken back.  Who would have placed a rubber duck on my car and what was the intended meaning?  I remembered the story of how the Jeep wave had begun after World War II as ex-GI’s purchased surplus army Jeeps.  The Jeep wave became a recognition of camaraderie that brought this group together.  During the pandemic I also heard something about the Jeep ducks that were placed for this same reason and wondered if I had experienced being part of the Jeep ducks movement.

When I looked online, I found the heart of the Jeep ducks phenomenon is a desire to put a smile on someone’s face.  Jeep owners leave rubber ducks on other Jeeps to surprise the owner.  It is an inside joke and a random act of kindness among fans of the Jeep brand.  Jeep ducks are all about making strangers and travelers feel like they are part of something bigger and kinder.  The movement now known as Jeep Ducking began in 2020 in Ontario, Canada, during the early days of the pandemic.  After an ugly spat in a gas station parking lot, a Jeep owner named Allison Parliament needed to rely on a friend for a much-needed pit stop to calm down before continuing her travel.  To thank her friend, Parliament bought a bag of rubber ducks and hid them around his house as a joke before heading farther north to reach her family’s home.  Before those ducks were scattered around her friend’s home, Parliament put a single yellow duck on a stranger’s Jeep in the store’s parking lot, with a simple, sweet note saying, “nice Jeep.”  The owner of that Jeep saw her and laughed then suggested that she post about it on social media which she did.  That was the birth of a movement that now has more than 73,000 fans (and growing) on Facebook.  Parliament’s social media group is now the official Jeep duck account recognized by Jeep itself.

The question I had was what to do once one of the Jeep ducks shows up on my vehicle?  I could take a picture and post it on social media with the #duckduckjeep hashtag to share it with other members of the community.  I placed my duck on my dashboard as a badge of honor and I continue to keep waving to other Jeep owners as we pass on the road.  The ducks site suggested I could keep the duck you were given or pass that duck along to another Jeep driver.  The only real rule for the Jeep ducks is kindness.  You can buy rubber ducks to keep in your Jeep, then randomly put them on other peoples’ Jeeps as you see fit.  Jeep ducks are often placed just outside the driver’s side window, near the windshield wiper or in front of the inspection stickers, so the driver will easily see it before driving away.  You may want to leave one of the ducks on a Wrangler because you like the color, or on a Grand Cherokee because it’s the same model you drive.  There are no concrete rules for when or why to place the ducks.

Thoughts:  The Jeep ducks started out as a Wrangler thing, but the ducks are no longer exclusive to the Wrangler and can be found on Cherokees, Liberties, Compasses, and every other model bearing the Jeep logo.  Drivers of other car brands are co-opting the ducks trend and placing them on vehicles all over the globe.  When I was blessed with one of the Jeep ducks it brought a little joy to a day gone awry.  Bringing extra smiles to the world is welcome, regardless of whether it comes from a Jeep or any other vehicle owner.  Kindness is more contagious than hate.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 1, 2023

To follow up on my first attempt at canning, it was both rocky and smooth.  The biggest problem was the seven last words that kill most projects (we’ve never done it that way before).  My inexperience added to the constant reminders that if you do not follow the recipe precisely, it could have a toxic result.  Despite feeling the pressure, I reminded myself the process has been successfully accomplished for over 200 years.  I ended up making the pasta sauce on Saturday night after placing the ingredients in three successively larger pots to find enough room.  I simmered the sauce for the required 20 minutes and then pureed the mixture to reduce the large pieces of tomato and help pulverize the seeds.  Melissa and I usually like our sauce chunky style, so we add our own sauteed vegetables and hamburger.  This should be no different than doing the same with my homemade sauce.

By Sunday it was time to get serious about canning.  Melissa reminded me I had given her a pressure cooker when we lived in Kansas, but I remembered a pressure cooker was different than a pressure canner so that was out.  We had a large pot Mellissa’s dad had used for cooking, but it did not have the bottom grate to allow the water/steam to get under the canning bottles.  Rather than purchase online or do the returns I decided to go to the store and buy what I needed.  The market’s website indicated they were available for pickup so I should be able to go inside and find what I needed.  I was wrong.  I could not find anything I needed.  I asked an employee (who asked the manager) where the canning tools might be and was told these were online items and not stocked in the store.  Back to the drawing board for more research and a second night of the sauce sitting covered in my refrigerator.

By Monday I was getting desperate as I knew I had to at least freeze the pasta sauce and a three day delay for shipping was no longer an option.  I checked the local hardware website and found they also carried canning supplies.  I asked the clerk and was shown the row of supplies, pots, and cooking aids I needed to accomplish the job.  I selected the needed tools and after much hesitation decided on the pressure canner rather than the water bath canner.  I no sooner got home than I regretted my decision.  Not only was the pressure canner three times more expensive, but it was also a different process than I had been researching.  I went back to the hardware store and replaced it with the water bath and a recipe book and finally forced myself to start the process.  I filled the canner to sterilize the bottles, put on another pot to sterilize the lids, and put the sauce on the stove to simmer.  After sterilization I filled the quart bottles with the hot sauce (and lemon juice for acidity) and hand screwed on the lids.  After forty minutes in the boiling water and five minutes rest it was time to remove the bottles so they could cool.  My fears were alleviated when we heard all four lids vacuum seal with a slight “pop” as they cooled.  My first attempt at canning was complete.  Now I have a year to enjoy my pasta sauce.       

Thoughts:  As I think back on my three day canning project, I realize it was not all that difficult.  The problems arose with my indecision and not having the right equipment before I started.  Even blanching and removing the tomato skins to make the sauce was easier this time than last week.  When I finally threw myself into the canning process it went smoothly as I followed the written and pictorial directions in my newly purchased canning book.  Having completed the process once I am ready to switch from making sauce to salsa with no fear.  Who knows, maybe even fruits and vegetables?  Life is often about overcoming our fear of the new and unknown.  We can allow our fear to keep us from trying, or we can overcome our fear and move forward.  We often find opening ourselves to new experiences and perspective add enjoyment and new friends.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 30, 2023

Between the heat and the birds, I have been losing tomatoes fast.  I have brought several loads inside the house but there are too many to fit in the refrigerator and they have been slowly deteriorating on the kitchen cabinet.  Yesterday I decided I needed to do something.  I had previously purchased what I thought I needed to can pasta sauce.  I prepared the sauce according to the recipe, including 12 pounds of tomatoes.  I placed the new canning jars in the dishwasher to clean them before I began the process.  We purchased a low energy dishwasher when we moved back to the house and while it saves energy, it seems to take a long time to complete its cycle.  By the time the wash cycle was done it was too late to start the canning process.  I was also a little apprehensive as I had never done any canning before.  I decided rather than buy a pressure cooker like my mom had (that I may never use again) I would use the water bath method to preserve the sauce.  Waiting one more day would let me review the process and be sure I was not pressed for time.   

When I went online, I found home canning or bottling, also known colloquially as putting up or processing, is the process of preserving foods, in particular, fruits, vegetables, and meats, by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars to create a vacuum seal and kill the organisms that would create spoilage.  Although ceramic and glass containers had been used for storage for thousands of years, the technique of canning by applying heat for preservation was only invented in the first decade of the 1800’s.  Prior to the 1800’s food storage containers were used for non-perishable foods, or with preservatives such as salt, sugar, vinegar, or alcohol.  There are two primary ways to can foods.  Pressure canning is the only safe home canning method for meats and low-acid foods and requires a pressure canner.  A pressure canner is like a pressure cooker but heavier.  A small amount of water is placed in the canner, and it is turned to steam (normally 212F or 100C), but under pressure it is raised to 240F (116C).  Water bath canning is only appropriate for high-acid foods, such as jam, jelly, most fruit, pickles, and tomato products with acid added.  This method uses a pot large enough to hold and submerge the glass canning jars.  Food is placed in glass canning jars and placed in the pot with enough hot water added to cover the jars.  Water is brought to a boil (212F or 100C) and held there for at least 10 minutes.  Different foods require a different length of time under boil and larger jars require longer times.

After purchasing what I thought I needed to complete my water bath canning last week I realized I needed a magnetic wand to retrieve the lids from the boiling water to keep them sterile.  When I tried to find a wand at my local market it said there were kits available that included the wand, jar puller, and a wide mouth funnel to pour the sauce into the jar without spilling.  I could only find the wand in store as part of a set, but I only needed the wand.  The set was also less than the single wand.  Now I am torn between returning the two items I already purchased and buying the set or buying the wand online and waiting on 3-day delivery (and at a greatly reduced).  Bundling and online purchase appear to be two of the lasting effects of the pandemic. 

Thoughts:  Growing up my mom canned a variety of fruits and vegetables for use during the winter.  While I never participated in the process, I do remember seeing the rows of jars safely stored in the basement cellar.  Safety measures must be taken when preforming any home canning, including a water bath.  Ingestion of toxin in food produced by Clostridium botulinum can cause death and it is critical that consumers who can at home obtain proper and current information from a reliable source (i.e., not me).  Still, this is a proven way to store and keep summer produce for longer periods of time and a way to avoid wasting food.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 28, 2023

Several years ago, I blogged about the restoration of beavers to Scotland after they had been hunted to extinction four centuries earlier.  Beavers are now a protected species, and while there are still those who object to their presence, the wetlands created are a protection against wildfires and provide a significant source of ecotourism.  Yesterday’s newspaper had an article reporting on California coming to the same conclusion.  California officials have begun to pay close attention to the beavers’ ability to help combat the impact of climate change.  California launched its new Beaver Restoration Program in 2022, which sees beavers as a nature-based aid for boosting biodiversity and mitigating wildfire risk.  And now, a new policy from California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife calls beavers a “keystone species,” highlighting their important role in upkeeping ecosystems.  A keystone species is a species that plays a critical role in maintaining the diversity and health of an ecosystem, and the removal of the species results in a cascade of impacts to the ecosystem.

When I went online, I found beavers influence their environment to utilize resources, particularly with dam building.  The dam raises the water level to keep the beavers safe to forage, cache food under water for the winter, and to increase protection around their lodge. The ponds become a habitat for critical and endangered species of animals and plants.  Hole nesting birds use the waterlogged trees that rot and create nesting habitat which is usually in critically short supply.  The wetlands are a haven for amphibians, and wildfowl find particular benefit from the beaver ponds for feeding and nesting.  The thousands of insects and invertebrate species benefit from beaver wetlands in one way or another.  The beaver dams are so efficient at retaining sediment that beaver wetlands eventually silt over and become “beaver meadows”.  These meadows are a virtual oasis for wildflowers and the rich mineral deposits left in the meadows offer optimal foraging for deer and other species.  The meadow is eventually invaded by alder, willow, and ash trees, arguably the most ecologically rich woodland type available.  Rather than a pest and nuisance, beavers are pivotal in combating climate change and the wildfires that decimate California and our world on an annual basis.

California experienced the over trapping, attempts at reintroduction, and removal by depredation (damage) permits that faced Scotland.  Beavers are now largely located in the Central Valley and northern part of the state.  While the number of beavers living in California is unknown, hundreds of permits are sought by landowners annually.  Kate Lundquist, director of WATER Institute, said the past three years of drought and wildfires have contributed to the motivation to fund and implement nature-based climate solutions.  “Beaver restoration is just that (sort of solution).”  California will continue to issue depredation permits but the state wants people to try other solutions before killing the animals.  These include wrapping trees with wire mesh or using flow devices on the dams to control the pond levels and prevent flooding.  California has two pilot relocation projects planned.  One will bring beavers back to the Tule River in partnership with the Tule River Indian Tribe.  The project has been in the works for ten years and they hope to reintroduce beavers later this year (2023).

Thoughts:  Even with Scotland’s growing ecotourism industry and government support, the 2022 Beaver Management Report by NatureScot stated 63 beavers were killed and 108 dams removed under license.  Another 15 beavers were translocated within Scotland.  This is mirrored by the hundreds of permits sought annually in California despite government support for beaver conservation.  Until humans put aside the immediate monetary gain in favor of long term protection of the planet, we will continue to move closer to midnight on the doomsday clock.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 27, 2023

Since I addressed the decimation of the bird population by outdoor cats, it is only fair to address another destructive enemy (along with humans) faced by the bird population, the rat.  Several days ago, I was sitting in my car having just exited the store.  There was a small hedge interspersed with trees that lined the grassy area of the parking lot and separating the lot from the ditch which held a small runoff stream.  As I turned the car on the frantic activity of a Northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) caught my eye.  The bird was madly diving into the 2 foot (.6 m) high hedge.  I watched as the bird repeatedly dove into the bush.  I could not figure what was causing this activity until the bird neared one of the openings along the hedge.  That is when I saw a rat scurry across the opening with the bird diving to drive it away.

When I went online, I found the term rat refers to various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents.  Different species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus Rattus.  The Ancient Romans did not differentiate between rats and mice, instead referring to the former as mus maximus (big mouse) and the latter as mus minimus (little mouse).  Today a rat is typically distinguished from a mouse by its size.  Usually, the common name of a large muroid rodent will include the word “rat”, while a smaller muroid’s name will include “mouse”.  There are 56 known species of rats in the world, but the best-known rat species are the black rat (Rattus rattus) and the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) both of which originated in Asia.  Rats are bigger than most Old World mice, which are their relatives, but seldom weigh over 17 1⁄2 ounces (500 grams) in the wild.  When the rat is introduced into locations where they did not previously exist, they can wreak grate amounts of environmental harm.  The black rat (or ship rat) is considered one of the world’s worst invasive species and has been carried as a stowaway on seagoing vessels for millennia.  The brown rat (wharf rat) has similarly been carried as a stowaway worldwide in recent centuries.

The ship and wharf rat has contributed to the extinction of many species of wildlife, including birds, small mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, and plants, especially on islands.  A rat is omnivorous and capable of eating a wide range of plant and animal foods and has a very high birth rate.  When introduced to a new area, they quickly reproduce to take advantage of the new food supply.  As the rat spread to isolated islands they preyed on the eggs and young of forest birds, which often have no other predators and no innate fear of predators.  Some experts think rats are to blame for between forty percent and sixty percent of all seabird and reptile extinctions, with ninety percent of those occurring on islands.  That means even though the rat may be responsible, humans accidentally introduced the rat to these new areas.

Thoughts:  While once considered a modern myth, the rat flood in India occurs every fifty years as armies of bamboo rats descend on rural areas and devour everything in their path.  Rats (and their fleas) have long been considered the main source of spread for the Bubonic Plague, even though recent studies show rats alone could not account for the rapid spread of the disease through Europe in the Middle Ages.  Unsanitary conditions and refusal to bathe and wash clothes could have had something to do with a flea outbreak which carried the pathogen.  The CDC lists nearly a dozen diseases directly linked to the rat.  “Rat” in the English is often an insult or signifies someone as an unscrupulous character.  An inflatable rat, or union rat, is a giant inflatable shaped like a cartoon rat, commonly used in the US by protesting or striking trade unions as a sign of opposition against employers or nonunion contractors to call public attention to companies employing nonunion labor.  Perhaps the mockingbird was justified to drive the rat away.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 26, 2023

Photo via Jodie Wilson

Today was the day we had scheduled to get the kids spayed and neutered.  This is not only a good way to keep unwanted dogs and cats from being born, but also the law in our area.  While Loki was bred and registered, we suspect Zena was the result of a fence jump.  If the animal is running loose and captured by the pound it is spayed or neutered (at the owner’s expense) before it is returned.  Animals that are raised for breeding purposes must always be restrained, and if they escape the owner is subject to a fine of US$150.  The ordinance was put in place to combat the growing problem of feral cats roving the city.  Although stray dogs are a problem in other areas, they seem to be added to this ordinance to address the issue before it becomes a problem.  What is the responsible thing to do?

When I went online, I found there are more than 200 million stray dogs worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.  The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates about 3.3 million dogs enter US animal shelters every year.  In Houston, Texas, alone, there are more than 1 million stray dogs, according to the city’s pet shelter, BARC.  After Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017 thousands of dogs were rescued from the floodwaters.  The no-kill movement has contributed to the population growth, as the number of dogs and cats that are euthanized has decreased from 20 million to 3 million each year.  NPR reported there are nearly 14,000 shelters and pet rescue groups in the US that acquire almost 8 million animals each year.  Spay and neuter laws vary by state and have also driven the increase of abandoned dogs, especially in more rural, southern states.  Stray dogs can present safety issues when they roam in packs, causing traffic accidents, attacking residents, and spreading disease.  America’s cats, including housecats that adventure outdoors and feral cats, kill between 1.3 billion and 4.0 billion birds in a year.  What is the responsible thing to do?

When we took the kids in this morning one of the first questions asked was, “Have both dogs been microchipped?”  Microchipping your pet is another way to keep them safe, and in our area is also required.  If your pet runs away or gets lost the vet can run the microchip and find out who the owner is.  Apparently, a con artist in the northwest part of our state has been using this information to scam money from pet parents.  The Lester C. Howick Animal Shelter of Washington County (WCAS) released a statement after Facebook posts claimed that a scammer posing as an employee of the shelter is contacting those in the area with missing pets and asking for money to return the animals.  The man had been stealing information from microchip websites and lost pet flyers to scam the heartbroken pet parents.  WCAS’s official statement says, “For the record, we will never ask you to pay . . . If you receive a call from the Washington County Animal Shelter, it will be from our phone number.”  The scammer has turned a good resource into the mark of the beast.  What is the responsible thing to do?

Thoughts:  I was torn about taking the kids to be fixed and they both seemed to know it.  Loki became a terror scrambling in the waiting room and both were able to work their way out of their collars.  Zena remembered her recent visit for shots and wanted no part of going to the back room.  It will probably take awhile for them to forgive me, and they will need extra love over the next week.  While neither of our dogs are rescues they were both acquired as last resorts from their breeders.  Being a pet parent is a responsibility and that comes with both the good and the hard for your pets.  The same is true for being a human parent.  Being able to have children is not the same as being responsible enough to care for them.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 25, 2023

One of the postings on my neighborhood app today was a repost about how to attract bees and keep them.  The original post came from an Oregon woman whose neighbor kept beehives.  With all the hot weather they had been having she decided the bees needed a way to stay cool and hydrated.  After reading about watering bees my own neighbor had purchased a set of bee watering stations and they were actively attracting bees.  The back and forth banter provided other suggestions for your bee watering station.  Some suggested ice with just a little water so the melting ice would keep the station filled all day.  Others suggested DIY bee stations rather than opting for the store bought plastic models (less than US$10).  The key seemed to be keeping water in the station and providing the bees a place to land where they could drink without drowning.  Everyone who responded thought it was a “cool” idea.

When I went online, I found the western honeybee or European honeybee (Apis mellifera) is the most common of the 7 to 12 species of honeybees worldwide.  The genus name Apis is Latin for “bee”, and mellifera is Latin for “honey carrying”, referring to the species’ production of honey.  Like all honeybee species, the western honeybee is eusocial, creating colonies with a single fertile female (queen), many non-reproductive females (workers), and a small proportion of fertile males (drones).  Each colony can house tens of thousands of bees.  Colony activities are organized by complex communication between individuals, using both pheromones and the dance language.  The western honeybee was one of the first domesticated insects, and it is the primary species maintained by beekeepers to this day.  The western honeybee has been introduced to every continent except Antarctica, but there are indications the species is rare or extinct in the wild in Europe, and in 2014 the western honeybee was assessed as “Data Deficient” on the IUCN Red List.  The western honeybee is threatened by pests and diseases, especially the mites and colony collapse disorder.

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when most worker bees in a honeybee colony disappear, leaving behind a queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees.  These disappearances have occurred sporadically throughout the history of apiculture, and have been known by various names (i.e., disappearing disease, spring dwindle, May disease, autumn collapse, and fall dwindle disease).  The syndrome was renamed colony collapse disorder in early 2007 in conjunction with a drastic rise in reports of disappearances of western honeybee colonies in North America.  Beekeepers in most European countries had observed a similar phenomenon since 1998, especially in Southern and Western Europe, and Northern Ireland.  There is no widespread acceptance among the scientific community for the hive collapse.  Suggested causes include pesticides, infections transmitted by Varroa (V. destructor) and Acarapis (A. woodi) mites, malnutrition, genetic factors, immunodeficiencies, loss of habitat, and changing beekeeping practices.  The only agreement is that the collapse is likely caused by a combination of factors.

Thoughts:  Many of the world’s agricultural crops depend on pollination by western honeybees.  In 2005 the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated the total value of global crops pollinated by honeybees was nearly US$200 billion.  Shortages of bees in the US have increased the cost to farmers to rent them for pollination services by up to 20%.  The US managed hive industry has been shrinking at a steady pace since 1961, predating the current CCD by several decades.  Doing whatever humans can to maintain the honeybee population is in humanities best interest.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 23, 2023

George McCaa, U.S. Bureau of Mines

Toward the back of the front section of today’s newspaper I found a list of the most seen birds in the US.  The top five species were highlighted for their individual uniqueness.   This begins with an immigrant to North America, the House sparrow (Passer domesticus).  The house sparrow originated in the Middle East and spread to most of Eurasia and parts of North Africa along with agriculture.  By the mid-19th century, it had reached most of the world, primarily through deliberate introductions.  The American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) comes in at #2 and is unique among its finch subfamily as the only bird to undergo a complete molt.  The male is a vibrant yellow in the summer and an olive color during the winter, while the female is a dull yellow-brown shade which brightens only slightly during the summer.  The Dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) ranks #3 and is the most variable in color across the US.  These used to be called separate species but have been lumped together over the years.  The Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) comes in at #4 and is one of the most harvested birds in North America.  Hunters killed 11 million birds in 2020 and another 9 million in 2021.  Still, the doves’ prolific breeding habits have saved them from decline.  Rounding out the list at #5 is the House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) which is unique as both native and introduced in the US.  The species is native to western North America and Mexico and the birds were being shipped to New York City and sold as “Hollywood finches”.  When authorities cracked down on the trade (Migratory Bird Treaty Act) the pet store owners released the birds into the wild.  They thrived and within 60 years had reconnected with their western counterparts.  You can now detect all five birds in yards across the US.

When I went online, I found the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 is a US federal law enacted in 1918 for protection of migratory birds between the US and Canada.  The statute makes it unlawful without a waiver to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell nearly 1,100 species of birds listed by the act as migratory birds.  The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs, and nests.  A March 2020 update of the list increased the number of species to 1,093.  The US Fish and Wildlife Service issues permits for otherwise prohibited activities under the act.  These include permits for taxidermy, falconry, propagation, scientific and educational use, and depredation.  An example of this was the killing of geese near an airport, where they pose a danger to aircraft.  The law was enacted in an era when many bird species were threatened by the commercial trade in birds and bird feathers and allowed authorities to detect and prosecute the illegal trade.

Geoff LaBaron, director of the Christmas Bird Count for the National Audubon Science, said these common birds not only eat bugs and seeds of invasive species, but also provide enjoyment for backyard birders (like me).  These species serve as a barometer to detect the declining health of an environment.  Since these bird species are all on the decline, Ken Rosenberg of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology called them the “canary in the coal mine”.  “If we can’t keep healthy populations of these birds, that’s what’s really telling us our overall environment is degrading.” 

Thoughts:  The idea of placing a warm-blooded animal in a mine to detect carbon monoxide was first proposed by John Scott Haldane in 1895.  Canaries (Serinus canaria domestica) were use in British coal mines to detect carbon monoxide and other toxic gasses before they could hurt humans.  The canaries did not fare so well.  The practice was phased out in 1986 with the modern carbon dioxide detector.  Researchers estimate 862 million sparrows and 3 billion birds overall have been lost since 1970.  We need to pay attention to the canary.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.