|
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.
|
 |
With few exceptions plantings around my house are local natives, including the coralberries along the front walk sporting tiny new leaves today. Their magenta berries remain from last year, so this small shrub is decorative for several months. Most everything else is bare and brown, although trout lilies bloom, little brown skinks wriggle, and green anoles clamber into the bushes. Turning leaves under the coralberries, I may find torpid DeKay's (brown) and rough earth snakes. Leaf litter blankets these small creatures, protecting them against cold in winter, dryness in summer, and aerial predators all the time. |
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.
|
