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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.
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Hoping no one will see, I walk from my front door through a hundred feet of woods to the preserve's main path and blindfold myself. My hearing, smell, and touch are out of shape and need exercise. Downhill I go, across a rocky slope and creekbed, ambling by touch of trailside vegetation and spider web, crunch of creekbed rock and leaf-litter, pungent odor of juniper. I navigate by lizard scramble, sparrow rustle, kinglet chirp, and the softness of butterfly wings and falling leaves. Astonishing what I've tended to lose in our so-called age of information -- so strictly visual and electronic. |
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.
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