by Winding Pathways | Jun 6, 2024 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Nature
Gotta Love Media Hype
Just as the summer camping season began our local newspaper ran a story about dangerous animals. Snakes, bears, and mountain lions. It was scary enough to keep anyone out of the woods or campsite.
Are they really dangerous? Well, we’ve been tromping through woods, deserts, wetlands, canyons, and mountains for nearly 70 years in places where these animals sometimes lurk. Here’s what we have learned and had confirmed by “experts” on how to avoid confrontations with them.
Mountain Lions
Over years of hiking and camping in Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and South Dakota mountain lion range we’ve never seen one. The odds of encountering a lion are minuscule. If one is around, it’s likely hiding or beating a hasty retreat. People are dangerous, by the way.
According to the Mountain Lion Foundation, the odds of being fatally attacked are about one in a billion, or longer odds than winning a billion-dollar lottery. Still, there have been seven fatal attacks in the past 25 years. Our advice: Odds of seeing a lion are amazingly unlikely but if one is spotted, stay a long way away.
Snake Adventures
We’ve unwittingly walked right past rattlesnakes in South Dakota, Idaho, and Iowa, and once spotted a copperhead near our tent in southern Missouri, but we’ve never been threatened by a poisonous snake. But we have had a few snake adventures.
Little Shovel Gets the Job Done
Once, when our family lived in Florida, Marion’s mom hollered for us kids to get inside. She rarely hollered so we did. Then, she told the older kids to get the neighbor. She had been hanging clothes when a coral snake wandered by. Mom, at all of 4’10” grabbed a huge shovel and pinned the snake in the sandy soil. Our neighbor came over with a little toy shovel, chopped up the snake, and pitched it into the wood pile. The very one where we used to sit in and eat oranges after playing in the orange grove. We found a new place to sit.
Billy Goat Gruff Adventure
When we were new to Iowa Byron Arnold, then a science teacher at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, took us rattler hunting. Just to see them, not to hurt them. Byron and Rich took off with long strides while Marion, with shorter legs, and curiosity about the emerging wildflowers lingered. Realizing she’d lost sight of the guys, she hopped onto a large flat rock to be greeted in “Billy Goat Gruff” style by a timber rattler underneath inquiring, “Who’s that walking on my rock roof?” Yipes! Now what? Backing up to the far edge, she used her best movement science technique of the running LONG jump off the rock and sprinted across the stone-littered open woods. BTW, the guys had walked right past that rock and never disturbed the gentlemanly timber rattler.
Aptly Named Park In South Dakota
When camping at Snake Creek Campground in South Dakota on a boiling hot summer day, we decided to walk widely mowed paths to the beach. The name of the park is aptly named. Usually, we walk side by side. That day we were going single file when Marion spotted an unusual shape on the edge of the path. A prairie rattler is known to be mean. She called to Rich to watch out. He then stepped closer for a better look. GAAK! The snake kindly retreated. We took the long road back to the tent and slept uneasily that night.
Stay Away From the Sharp End
At an Outdoor Writers Conference years ago, a dog handler who trains hunting dogs to stay away from the sharp end of the snake calculated that for every snake people actually see on a ramble, they have likely passed dozens of unseen snakes over their hiking years. Snakes avoid confrontation. Because people are dangerous!
Snake Facts
According to the University of Florida, the odds of being bitten are about one in 37,500. The chart on the webpage reveals the thousands of people who die from lung cancer and auto accidents. But people still smoke or live in polluted areas and drive cars. So why are we freaked about snakes? Publicity.
With modern antivenoms, very few people die of snakebite. Most bites occur when people handle or molest a snake. Our advice: Watch where you step or put your hands (i.e. if rock climbing in snake country). If you spot a snake, stay away from it. Never attempt to irritate it or pick one up.
Bear Stories
Close up with bears
Now, Bears are a different story. They range through most of the country but usually stay out of sight and away from people. And there are exceptions. Rich’s cousins tell a hilarious story of a bear climbing into the New Jersey suburban home, helping itself to kitchen goodies, and leaving its paw print on the wall as it left, all while the cousin and aunt huddled in the bedroom. Where was their cell phone? In the kitchen!
Friends of Marion’s in New Hampshire have bear adventures we’ve blogged about on Winding Pathways. And, in suburban New Jersey bears are routinely sighted at Cedar Lake. Marion has not been fortunate to see one, because she always smokes a stinky cigar from Denville Smoke Shop – obviously, this tactic works as bear repellent.
But, bears ARE around in suburban areas.
-
-
Suburban NJ has some prolific and big bears.
-
-
Picket fence torn apart by a hungry spring-time bear.
-
-
Bears make themselves at home anywhere.
Bear Facts
According to the National Park Service, the odds of a park visitor being attacked by a bear are one in 2.7 million. They are spreading and can cause mischief. Our advice: Keep a clean camp. Never leave food or other alluring objects with aromas (toothpaste, deodorant, perfumes in a tent. {why would one use any of these on a camp trip, anyway?} If a bear is spotted, stay a long way away, make noise, and slowly walk away from the animal.
What Animals Are Dangerous?
The best way to avoid trouble with any wild animal is to keep your eyes open and avoid conflict by staying a long way away.
Lions, snakes, and bears aren’t terribly dangerous but some animals are. Worldwide the most dangerous wild animal by far is the mosquito! According to the Advocates Injury Attorneys, the animals most likely to kill someone in the United States in order are:
- People. Homicides.
- Dogs.
- Deer. They don’t attack people. Deaths result from collisions with cars.
- Horses and Cows
- Bees, hornets, and wasps
At Winding Pathways, we encourage people to camp, hike, and enjoy the outdoors in their yards. Dangerous animals are not so abundant.
Threats posed by mountain lions, bears, and snakes are tiny and many can be prevented by using caution and common sense. Be cautious but go outside and PLAY!
by Winding Pathways | May 30, 2024 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Mammals, Pests
Raccoons are strong and hungry.
A raccoon kerfluffle with loud growling and snarling startled us to nearly jump from our chairs one May evening. It came from an oak tree 20 feet away from the house and close to our bird feeder. A flashlight beam on that pitch-black night revealed the culprits – three young raccoons high in the tree.
They quickly scurried down the tree and scampered out of flashlight range, letting us return to reading. Why was there a young raccoon kerfluffle? We can only guess but we’re certain they were there because of our nearby bird feeder.
What Raccoons Eat
At first glance, raccoons seem to be carnivores. They have sharp meat-eating teeth and look somewhat like a cross between a dog and a cat. Looks are deceiving. Raccoons are amazingly abundant across much of North America, in large part because they are opportunistic omnivores that seem eager to eat almost anything. They love frogs, crayfish, mussels, earthworms, fish, and any unfortunate mouse or vole they can catch. To a raccoon, a garbage can or dumpster is an invitation to dinner where they might discover delicious pizza crusts and an array of other discarded goodies.
Not Just Birds at the Feeder
Raccoons love fruit and grains. We have them in abundance. That is what lured them to our yard. To these cute but powerful animals, a feeder is an after-dark cafe. Most everyone is familiar with the determination squirrels show when attempting to reach even the most inaccessible feeder. Squirrels work feeders on the day shift while raccoons, deer, mice, voles,
skunks, opossums, bears, and flying squirrels often visit after dark when few people are watching.
Raccoons are skillful climbers.
At Winding Pathways, we put expensive sunflower seeds in a feeder suspended by a metal hook on a slippery metal pole. It is so high even deer can’t reach it. But since many birds prefer feeding on the ground, we sprinkle cracked corn, millet, and a few sunflower seeds on the ground beneath the high feeder.
Usually, birds clean up all the seeds by sunset, but frequently some remain as darkness approaches. It’s always gone the next morning. Nocturnal mammals did the clean-up work.
After Dark Feeder Watching
Once in a while, we focus a flashlight beam on the feeder after dark. Often the eyes of deer glow back at us, and occasionally we spot other animals enjoying a seed dinner. Usually visiting raccoons eat quietly, but the startling noise we heard that night came from squabbling youngsters.
Adaptable Raccoons
Raccoons are amazingly adaptable. Our son lives in one of the most densely populated cities in the world – Brooklyn, NY. He occasionally sees a raccoon sticking its head up from a dumpster.
They are not just in North America. Raccoons were introduced to Russia to create a fur resource. They also were released in 1934 in Germany and have since spread far and wide and are increasingly common in Ukraine. Many Japanese people imported baby raccoons as pets and released some as they grew large and unruly. Today wild raccoons range through much of that Asian country.
Whether in Russia, Ukraine, or Japan they are exotic, invasive animals causing mischief. Although common in the United States they are native here and sometimes create a mess as they paw through a trash can or raid a chicken coop. However, they’re fascinating and beautiful animals that can often be spotted beneath a feeder in a flashlight beam.
The Nature Conservancy posts an excellent blog called “Seven US Species Invading Other Countries.” Raccoons top the list.
Nightly Adventure Continues
Since that evening, the trio of masked bandits that caused a raccoon kerfuffle have returned. Sometimes, like any siblings, they get along. Other times they disturb the night as they screech, snarl, and growl at each other until we shine a light on them or shoo them off. We can always count on some nocturnal adventure at Winding Pathways.
by Winding Pathways | May 23, 2024 | Nature, Reflections/Profiles
Salmon is delicious and healthy.
On an April morning, we discovered three fish that had spent their lives circling the North Pacific Ocean on our porch in Iowa. Three delicious sockeye salmon landed on our porch. We quickly converted them to delicious meals.
How’s that possible?
Back In Time
The story goes back to 1971 when Rich was a biologist working for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “For days the Ugashik River seemed empty of salmon. Then I glanced downstream to see an immense swarm of bright red fish heading my way.” It was the first wave of hundreds of sockeyes that passed by that summer to ascend tributaries to spawn and die.
What Sockeye Salmon Eat
Unlike other salmon species that mostly eat small fish, crabs, and squid, small sockeyes, called smolts, leave freshwater and spend a year, sometimes two years, circling the ocean with their mouths open. They strain zooplankton from the water. Many of these tiny animals are reddish and the color permeates the flesh of Sockeyes, sometimes called Red Salmon.
During his years in Alaska Rich had the chance to eat many fish species, but the Sockeye was his favorite. “They’re delicious, perhaps because they eat low on the food chain. This also keeps them relatively free of contaminants common in other species. I can eat Sockeye without guilt. Thanks to excellent management millions of them swim in the ocean. Biologists make sure that plenty survive fishing nets to ascend rivers to spawn. In recent years Sockeyes have increased,” he said.
Where Get Sockeye Salmon?
Although Sockeye’s are delicious and abundant it’s hard to buy frozen fillets in Iowa.
The Popsie Fish Company solved the problem. The box we found on our porch contained six frozen fillets of Sockeyes caught near Egegik, Alaska.
“We’re beach netters. We stretch gill nets from the beach out into Bristol Bay. Sockeye get tangled in the nets. When the tide goes down, we take the fish from the nets, and fillet and freeze them. Then we ship them everywhere to customers like Rich and Marion Patterson, “said Tony Neal, owner.
These fish are caught and processed right here in the United States.
-
-
Gill netting
-
-
A freshly caught sockeye salmon.
Expensive. It costs about $250 to have ten pounds of fillets sent to our home, but prime beef cuts purchased locally cost about the same, and finding quality fish locally is not easy. All Sockeye salmon sold are wild fish that spent their lives freely swimming in the ocean. That contrasts with today’s beef, pork, chicken, and Atlantic salmon which are crammed together and totally confined.
What is “Atlantic Salmon?”
Any fish marked “Atlantic Salmon” came from a fish factory farm with thousands of fish confined in a huge tank or pen in the ocean. They’re fed a concentrated human-created diet and never have the chance to swim freely in the ocean. They may contain antibiotics.
When in the grocery store look closely at a package of frozen fish that says, “Wild Alaskan” on the label. In fine print it probably says a product of China. Yup, many fish are caught in Alaska, frozen, shipped to China for processing, and refrozen. They are then sent across the ocean and land to the grocery store. Quality suffers.
We love fish and whenever we’re down to the last frozen fillet of Popsie Fish Company’s Sockeye we’ll put in an order for another box to appear on our porch.
A Quick Guide to Salmon
Found in Groceries
Pink Salmon. The most abundant and smallest species of Pacific salmon. Usually the least expensive. Caught in nets.
Coho or Silver Salmon. Normally the latest run of all salmon and available fresh in late summer. Caught in nets and by hook and line. Some are farmed.
King or Chinook Salmon. The largest salmon species and hard to find in the store. Mostly wild caught but some are farmed in New Zealand.
Chum or Dog Salmon. A medium-sized fish usually fairly low-priced and wild-caught.
Sockeye Salmon. The tastiest salmon according to Rich. Always wild and net-capted.
Atlantic Salmon. Not a salmon at all but in a different genus. All Atlantic Salmon on the market are farmed, mostly in Canada, Norway, or Chile.
-
-
Good Catch
-
-
Filleting salmon.
-
-
Processing salmon
by Winding Pathways | May 16, 2024 | Reflections/Profiles
Fishing with Grandpa’s Reel.
Legacy Fishing Reel
Our son-in-law, Brian Ohlen, shared a photo of a delightful legacy. He is grinning as he works his reel hauling in a fish from Alaskan waters. It wasn’t just an ordinary reel. He is using a legacy fishing reel.
Rich’s father, Henry Patterson, was a dedicated angler. He loved fishing the ocean off New Jersey. Normally, Dad used inexpensive rods and reels but years ago he bought a top-quality Penn Senator reel. Over the years it helped him catch cod, pollock, flounders, sea bass, and bluefish.
Grandpa gifting legacy reel to Brian.
In October 1919 our daughter Nancy and her husband Brian trekked from their Alaska home to visit Dad in New Jersey. Knowing that age would keep him from again fishing the ocean, Dad handed his trusty Penn to Brian and said, “Catch me a fish on my reel.”
It took a while, but in 2024 Brian bought a rod suitable to mate with the Penn, spooled on a new line, and went a fishin’. Sure enough, he caught a codfish…….Henry’s cod.
Legacies
When Henry handed that reel to Brian it came with a lifelong memory of fun fishing times and delicious meals of fresh fish. Brian continues the tradition attached to that reel.
A couple of factors helped create a fishing legacy. Certainly, important is the reel itself.
Extremely well-designed and crafted, the reel was made to handle big fish for years and years. A cheapo counterpart almost certainly would have been in Dad’s trash bin years ago.
Memories are Legacies
Another legacy factor was Dad’s gifting his reel to Brian. Dad knew he’d not be able to use it again, but Brian, a fishing enthusiast, might get years of pleasure from it. So, the transfer was made.
As we all get older, we have similar prized possessions. Tools, camping gear, sewing machines, sports equipment, household items, books, cutlery, and myriad other fun, functional, and beloved items that have stood the test of time and have more years left in them. Turning these legacies over to a younger person lets these objects span generations.
Carrying on the Tradition
Dad died a few years after giving his reel to Brian but in his later years, I’m sure he sometimes formed a mental image of Brian in a boat bouncing in Alaskan waves with a codfish or halibut coming up from the bottom with the help of HIS legacy fishing reel.
by Winding Pathways | May 9, 2024 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Foraging, Nature
Serendipity
Morels appear like magic.
A surprise morel mushroom sighting was a serendipitous find for Marion. It happened on May Day 2024, in an area of Winding Pathways we’re rewilding. While seeking blooming bluebells and emerging May Apples she spotted the delicious fungus poking through last year’s oak leaves. We’ve since found more. With Cedar Rapids Houby Days just around the corner it looks like a good season for morels.
We own about two acres. Our house, garden, and lawn occupy about half our land. The rest we’re gradually rewilding to its native vegetation. Although we sometimes discover vegetative surprises in our unsprayed lawn, the most delightful new plants appear in our property’s “back 40”.
Nature’s Resiliency
Newly emerging species remind us of nature’s resiliency. A few years ago, a derecho’s 140-mile-an-hour wind knocked down many of our mature trees. Much of our land was shady, but the 40-minute storm transformed it into a sunny landscape. We’ve since noticed a dramatic decline in shade-loving ferns and an increase in sun-loving Wing stem. Other plants are fading and rising as the years go by.
We recently read that archeologists had found 4,000-year-old mullein seeds in an Egyptian tomb. When planted, they sprouted! Lots of native plants may not have the ability to stay viable that long, but they remain down in the soil, perhaps for decades, waiting for the right ecological conditions. Then they rise as if by magic. Other plants can spread their seed widely. Ones that end up in just the right place also sprout seemingly magically.
Pause for Thought
Ecological mysteries give us pause for thought and reasons to marvel at nature’s resiliency. We don’t know if our morels had been in the soil for years or if a spore had landed there more recently. Either way, this spring brought perfect conditions for their growth, and they appeared.
Enjoying Nature’s Abundance
We carefully picked our mushrooms, consulted with an experienced neighbor, and enjoyed them after preparing them and simmering in butter.
We’ll keep watching for others to appear.
Where Do Morels Grow?
Morels live across the country and usually appear in April or May. Hunting them is a popular activity. For information check these websites
Rewilding Winding Pathways
We’re gradually rewilding about an acre of Winding Pathways. Although many believe this simply means “letting nature take its course” we know that’s not feasible today because so many invasive species stress native plants. We manage nature lightly as we rewild our land. Here’s what we do.
- Remove the worst invasive species including Japanese Barberry, Asian Honeysuckle, Multiflora Rose, and Asian Bittersweet. As soon as we spot one, we unleash the lopping shears and chop it off as close to the ground as possible.
- Replaced three areas of lawn with native prairie.
- Carefully use prescribed burns to encourage natives and discourage invasives.
Natural or Native is Not Always Desirable
Two native species belong in our rewilding areas, but we discourage them because of the misery they can cause. We just keep them away from pathways. Here are the culprits:
Poison Ivy: It’s an important and valuable native plant for wildlife. Poison Ivy’s early spring leaves are an almost iridescent red, and they glow bright red in autumn’s fading days. Birds and deer devour the berries. Cottontails love eating the foliage and stems. All good except the itching. Both Marion and Rich are allergic to it and don’t enjoy the awful rashes that result from close encounters. We stay away from poison ivy and don’t cut it but spot-spray those plants growing close to pathways.
Virginia Tickseed: This interesting native doesn’t seem to be used much by wildlife, and it’s rather attractive. Come fall it produces zillions of small burs that are nearly impossible to remove from our clothes. We chop off any we find growing close to paths.
-
-
Morels’ distinctive shape. Credit Fitzgibbons
-
-
Carefully cut or break off a morel. Credit Fitzgibbons
Finding morels was exciting. We’ll likely find plants new to us springing up in our wilder areas. Most won’t be edible like morels, but they are fascinating and are living examples of nature’s resiliency.
