Today's entry: February 13 << previous       next >>

The ravine in winter

Come back to this page each day to read another entry from Frederick R. Gehlbach's almanac of suburban natural and unnatural history, "Messages from the Wild," which chronicles the world of a forested ravine in central Texas.

This afternoon a neighbor who enjoys the ravine's wild offerings uncoiled her garden hose to wash winter debris off her deck and found the hose plugged up. Despite turning the water on full force, she only got a dribble. So she unscrewed the nozzle and out gushed a green anole (chameleon), frothing at the mouth and nostrils but otherwise none the worse for the attempted drowning. Since it was cold and limp, she held it several minutes and called me over to look. Soon, like any hand-heated anole, it warmed up, turned from brown to green, bit its benefactor, and jumped into the bushes. My puzzlement is how and when it got into the hose, because it obviously couldn't escape with the nozzle in place.

<< previous    All Entries    next >> Find a date, enter month and date: Month: JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember and Day:

Frederick R. Gehlbach is Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at Baylor University. His ecological studies have taken him from New Zealand to Slovakia and, in the Americas, from Alaska and Newfoundland to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. His research interests include the life-history strategies of small owls, small burrowing snakes and urban wildlife ecology.

From MESSAGES FROM THE WILD: AN ALMANAC OF SUBURBAN NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY by Frederick R. Gehlbach, Copyright © 2002. Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.