Black and White and Read All Over

My first two articles moonlighting as a freelance journalist appear in today's issue of the Lakeville Journal (readable on-line with free registration).  One is a regular feature called Nature Notes that appears below the fold on page 1 that I write on weeks alternating with Fred Baumgarten.  The other covers the Open Forest Day held two weekends ago at Great Mountain Forest on Canaan Mountain.  A taste:

Of seeds and serpents Tim Abbott October, 09, 2008

This appears to be a mast year for oak trees, a time when there is a dramatic increase in acorn production. More small rodents will survive the winter after a mast year when food is plentiful, and that in turn could mean a bonanza for their predators in the coming spring.

I was musing along these lines while hiking in the mountains recently when I came upon two timber rattlesnakes.  Nothing sets the heart to racing quite like finding a fat-bodied pit viper, more than 4 feet long and thick as your forearm, lying beside the trail or coiled in your flower bed...

Sign up and read the rest of Nature Notes here and also the Great Mountain Forest piece here.

Comments

[Sissy Willis]

Wonderful articles. I closed my eyes and imagined I was there tramping through the woods with a band of knowledgeable and passionate field observers.

Philosophically, I found myself comparing Edward Childs's All-American “there was no point in having all this if it could not be shared with others,” with Barack Obama's socialistic "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread [other people's] wealth around, it's good for everybody."

[Football Forums]

I didnt know this fact about oak tree

[Bill West]

Hi Tim!
I hadn't known about mast years for oak trees and how they effect
the local wildlife. I have noticed a lot more acorns littering
the walkway outside my apartment and after reading your article
I suspect I'll be seeing an uptick in the local squirrel population
chasing each other about the lawn next spring.

Oh, btw, I registered with the newspaper so I can read some more
of your writing!

Bill