“There is more life in dead trees than there is in living ones.” Old Ecologists’ Aphorism, quoted in Feral by George Monbiot The mouse lay in the middle of the trail, desiccated and flat. It didn’t appear to be eaten; it was relatively intact. The ants weren’t finding much to drag away, so it just […]
Author Archives: stevetarlton
“…the fairy tales are more powerful than the facts.” George Monbiot, Feral The big bad wolf blew down the little piggies’ houses. He also ate grandma and terrorized Little Red Riding Hood — not to mention Peter, the boy who cried wolf. TV shows and movies present wolves as the ever-present danger in the woods. […]
The Naturalist’s Axiom: You can’t do just one thing. Law of Successful Tinkering: Save all the parts. Corollary: Save the instructions. Roderick Nash The brown head was just visible above the ripples in the water. We watched it cross the tank (what we called a farm pond) and disappear into the weeds at the […]
“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” A.A. Milne “But these are weeds,” Melanie exclaimed, “We pull these up in our yard.” “Yes, but this isn’t your yard.” Paul noted kindly, looking out over the prairie. We were collecting native plant seeds on the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant site to […]
“It is not enough to know what you are fighting against: you must also know what you are fighting for.” George Monbiot, Feral “Well,” he replied to my question, “If I had lived back then I’d probably have died before I was ten.” I thought a minute, then he pulled off his glasses. My father […]
My grandmother taught ‘voice’ in a small town in Texas. As I understand it, ‘voice’ was how you controlled your singing, which probably meant taking the Texas out of the singer’s voice. When we visited her, we had to stay outside when she was giving lessons, and not be disruptive. Someone, usually some teenage girl […]
The monotony of the trail had made me weary, then I heard the unmistakable buzz and saw movement in the trail ahead of me. Not three feet away was a giant rattlesnake coiling to strike. I was instantly terrified, energized and alert. I recognized the feeling from about thirty years ago when I was snorkeling […]
The backup alarms started about 6:30 am, only one or two faint ones at first, then a couple more. By seven, the rest of the construction noise had started. They’re building a new football stadium a block away from my house, and the noise has been going on all summer. Heavy trucks rumbling down the […]
My seven-year old friend reached into the paper bag and pulled out a yellow lollipop with a grand flourish. Putting it back in each time, she flourished a red, then a blue, then a green. She explained that the green one was her favorite, but we could pick one from the bag. Abracadabra, the bag […]
Lying on top of the bird feeder, it appeared to send an ominous message to the small birds that routinely feed there. It was nearly as large as some of the smaller birds, and seemed placed to establish dominance, like wolves marking their territory. It reminded me of the turkey scat my dad used to […]
Writes of Nature 