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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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Traffic and industrial park noises are louder in winter, because the colder, denser air carries sound better and there are no deciduous leaves to help block it. I must wait two months until the forest grows its full complement of sound-, sight-, odor-, and dust-buffering vegetation. How I wish eastern red cedars and Ashe junipers (cedars) were saved more often, since these evergreens are good winter screeners. But people dislike them. Aside from allergic reactions to cedar pollen, caused only by male trees with yellow, pollen-producing cones, I don't understand. Despite my own sneezing, juniper's many positives, such as wildlife food, water recycling, gas exchange, erosion control, and screening, far outweigh its negatives. |
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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