Day by Day in the Wild
Posted Thursday, April 17, 2008 @ 06:38 pm

Did you know that largemouth bass begin spawning today here in our wonderful Show-Me State? Don’t feel bad if you were unaware of this interesting fact – I had no idea that today was the big day until mid-morning, when I got to work and checked the wall calendar here in my office.

Back in December, I heard that the Missouri Department of Conservation puts out a yearly wall calendar.  For just a few dollars, far less than most wall calendars (except the freebies given away by funeral homes and banks), you get a large calendar with nice pictures and interesting facts about events that are taking place in the wildlife world here in Missouri. Never one to pass up a bargain, I stopped by the Conservation office outside Cape and purchased one. It’s proven to be as interesting as promised. Sure, there are a few days throughout the year, like January 11 and April 30, when nothing at all appears to be happening in the plant and animal world, but those days are few and far between.

Many days, the nugget of information provided has given me something to think about all day long. Take February 5, for example. According to my calendar, great horned owls begin nesting the week of February 5. Reading that fact made me wonder how in the world someone putting together a calendar far enough in advance to have it ready for purchase in the fall or winter of 2008 could have known enough about animals and the weather (which I assume greatly affects the behavior of animals and plants) to make such a claim.

That question has nagged at me for years, particularly when I see the Farmers’ Almanac on sale every fall. Most people I know can barely plan their own activities a week in advance, so the concept of looking over a year into the future to predict animal and plant behavior seems incredible to me. I know, though, that there are far more tasks possible than I can imagine with my limited intelligence, so I’ve decided to not worry about the how and why and concentrate on the what.

So back to my calendar I go. Sometimes my calendar gives me some simple task to do, something that can help out the animals in my corner of the world. In January, I was reminded to put my Christmas tree (assuming it isn’t artificial) on ice for fish cover or beside bird feeders for wildlife cover. That helpful act takes hardly any time at all.

Other times, I’m faced with an assignment that keeps me occupied much longer. On February 25, I was instructed to listen for western chorus frogs. Until that day, I didn’t even know that the western frogs joined the chorus, and I certainly didn’t know what to listen for. But the makers of my calendar anticipated my ignorance by adding: "sound is like a thumbnail run along a comb." I didn’t actually run my thumbnail along a comb to get the idea, but it’s nice to know that if I’d wanted to, I could have. Several days that week I found myself listening for the western chorus frogs. While I’m not sure whether or not I heard them, I did enjoy standing on my porch, enjoying the stillness of a winter evening in the country.

I’ve noticed that so far this year, quite a few of the entries deal with one of two things that must take place in order for spring to be . . . well, spring. Lots of things are "returning" – birds returning from the south, animals coming out of hibernation, trees are beginning to bud and even bloom, and even insects such as ticks are reappearing.

The other activity that has garnered lots of attention on the calendar in the past few months has been the dating and mating habits of various creatures. Beavers truly are eager; the announcement that they are beginning to breed garners the January 1 spot. Foxes and raccoon aren’t far behind, and by mid-April, almost all the animals are paired up and working on having little ones of their own.

My calendar sometimes even gives tips on where voyeurs should look and what they should watch for. People wanting to see opossum couples breeding should have kept an eye on wooded areas along streams in mid-February. I realize that catching opossums "in the act" might prove a little difficult, but rabbits provide less of a challenge. Male rabbits are quite open about their intentions, at least on days when the temperature rises above 60 degrees, when "they can be seen fighting and chasing".

I make a point of not reading ahead; I enjoy watching nature unfold on my calendar, if not in person. Tuesday is always a treat – I don’t work Fridays-Mondays, so when I come in every Tuesday I have five days worth of activities to catch up on.

I’m learning all sorts of interesting information, but it’s not the type of stuff you can casually drop into a conversation to demonstrate your intelligence. When your coworkers are talking about the cute girl who sold her horse to go to Hollywood getting voted off "American Idol", it’s nearly impossible to smoothly join in with, "Yeah, I hated to see that, especially after she did such a great job singing ‘God Bless the USA’. By the way, did you know that beaver bear their young from now through late June?"

That’s okay, though. I got to share it here instead!