The Hooverville Hexagon: Appreciating Nature

 

Plant life, animal life, our lives.

Floral Beauty of the Week

by Tavaron da Quirm

Amaranthus was Tavaron's guess. This is in Austria, by the way.

 

 

Guest Artist

by Tavaron da Quirm

An animal sculptor was at work here: a beaver, he felled a huge tree in the floodplain forest next to the playground and several smaller ones. The kids went through the high reeds to follow its path and found a 'slide' down to the river. Tavaron

 

Editor's prediction: A new 'water feature' will soon appear.

 

Horticultural Mystery

by FWR

Does anybody know anything about this tree? Is that some kind of fruit/nut or a pine cone? It was growing in Bulgaria, near the Black Sea.

 

Avocet Chicks

 (Video)

by SashaQ

From RSPB Burton Mere, a year ago.

Today's Feature: That Seasonal Favourite…

The Red Squirrel

by Bluebottle

 

Has there ever been an animal more beloved? Red squirrels appear on the Charles III 2p coin. Unfortunately they have been driven out from much of Mainland Britain, but still thrive on the Isle of Wight. A protected species, they are shyer than their grey cousins. These squirrels were photographed outside Quarr Abbey. Bluebottle

 

Obligatory Editorial Explainer: US readers (which are more than half of you), do not panic. You have not suddenly landed on another planet. These adorable red squirrels are Sciurus vulgaris, or Eurasian Red Squirrels. They inhabit the UK, continental Europe, and Asia. English children's books tend to draw them in cute costumes and call them Squirrel Nutkin.

 

This is an American red squirrel, aka Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, accurately described by Wikipedia as 'a small, highly territorial tree squirrel found across the coniferous and mixed forests of North America.' Emphasis on territorial. Chatterer the Red Squirrel may be (almost) as cute as its precious European (distant) cousin, but it is much, much meaner. 

The grey squirrels around here take one look at the little red menaces and run for the border - although

Thornton W Burgess apparently knew one who fought back. (Illustration by Burgess collaborator Harrison Cady, courtesy of Project Gutenberg. What? You thought Beatrix Potter was the only cute-animal storyteller? Burgess was my second-grade book addiction.)

 

What is the problem with the UK red squirrel population? It's not really the grey squirrels' fault. Nor did North American humans do anything wrong, for once. It's our old enemy: Victorians. They loved to travel, didn't they? And they loved to bring home souvenirs. Henry Hall of Cheshire, shame on you. And we're appalled at the 11^th Duke of Bedford, who should have known better. 'Ornamental animals,' indeed.

 

The problem with so-called 'invasive species': even if they, like grey squirrels, aren't aggressive at all – and if you don't try to steal their acorns or babies, they are completely friendly – they tend to bring their own biomes with them. The local fauna may not be immune. You know, the way whole North American villages were wiped out because some Portuguese trader had the sniffles, long before the Plymouth Brethren found that rock. And if there aren't enough predators, the new arrivals may reproduce too quickly…

 

It's the same old story: zebra mussels in alien waters; silver carp (duck!) that fly and hit people in the head in rivers; asparagus ferns all over the place; those horrible walking catfish in the southern US; raccoons (Waschbären) in Germany; catfish in Bavaria; mink in Scotland…the list goes on. Stop moving the plants and animals around, people, unless you have a PhD, a licensed facility, and a really good containment protocol.

 

This has been a public service announcement. Now, go back and admire the red squirrels some more.

 

cucu,

 Dmitri Gheorgheni, Editor