A Worthy Resolution To LOOK Where You are Walking

 

Perhaps you think this is an admonition to take your eyes off your cellphone and look both ways before you cross the street.  Good advice surely, but my intention here, with what might become a series of blogs, is to encourage you, for your mental and physical sake, to take a walk in the woods, or the field, or your neighborhood park. Not a power walk but a walk where you stop and LOOK at what lies around you.  This kind of walking may not lower your weight, but I can guarantee, it will lower your stress.

When I worked at a nature center on the Cape, I started a weekly walking club with that exact intention.  I think my promo might have said something like, “This is not walking to raise your heart rate, but to lower your blood pressure”.  And it did.  We met weekly for 3 years and became the Wild Women of Wednesday, walking through the many fabulous conservation areas on the Cape.  And lower our blood pressure it did, plus it created bonds of friendship that continue to this day even though I have been in Texas these past four years.  But the whole point of our walk was to LOOK!

 As a naturalist, I am always looking for signs of animals, for to me there is something thrilling knowing, for example, that an otter was here and recently, as evidenced by the still steaming otter scat, even if I didn’t get a chance to see the otter itself.  

Now, admittedly, telling you what to look for when I don’t know your location or what flora and fauna is common to your area is a bit tricky. I have lived most of my life in a temperate zone so if you share that habitat there is a good chance that you can see what I see.  For instance, if you have oak trees in your neck of the woods, and acorns are still visible on the ground, not all sequestered away by squirrels or covered in snow, then here is an assignment for you. Pick several acorns up and look for a small but perfect hole somewhere on them.

 If you find one, you are seeing the sign of a curculio beetle, an insect that is as prevalent here in Texas as it was on the Cape.  It is in the weevil family and I love that it reminds me of Gonzo on the Muppets.  I have NEVER seen an adult curculio but their progeny in their larval state are often present in that acorn with the perfect hole. 

Remember learning the complete insect life cycle in 4^th grade -egg/larva/pupa/adult?  In this case, the egg is laid by the female curculio in summer when the acorns are developing. She uses that Gonzo-like beak to drill a perfect hole through the acorn shell and deposits one egg per hole.  Often you will find acorns with several holes and whether they are laid by the same female or multiple females, I honestly don’t know.

When the egg hatches, the larva will feed on the nutmeat until the acorn drops in the fall.  Then it may take 3-5 days to exit the acorn and burrow into the ground where it will spend the winter.  Some articles say they can remain underground for as long as 5 years before pupating and emerging as an adult to start the cycle all over again. 

Whether you are walking alone, or with a child, finding these hidden insects right at your feet can be pretty exciting.  This is not an endangered animal; feel free to crack the acorn open and look inside.  If it is fall, you may meet the larvae itself, all white and wiggly with a distinct head, just place him on the ground and no harm is done, he will continue on his way underground. 

If it has exited, stage left, you can see the tunnels where it ate the nutmeat as it grew.  If you find an acorn that has been only partially eaten, say just the top, than more than likely this was a squirrel going for the protein of a tasty grub.  I love that there is a study out there that says squirrels prefer acorns with curculio grubs in it 3-1 to plain acorns!  What Federal Grant funded that research! Birds too, love to eat the larvae, a hammered on acorn is sign of a jay or other bird getting a bit of protein.  So, how cool is that!  Honestly, there is so much to see in the world at your feet if you just LOOK, and so much to discover if you have a curious mind to boot. 

Perhaps if I can share some of these most common “finds” with you, we could all start off the New Year with a desire to look less at our cell phones or at headlines that warn of disaster at every turn, and more at beauty, wonder and the intricacies of life that are present all around you. Sound like a plan?  I think so.  Next time, “Looking for Latrines”.  Who would want to miss that?

Happy New Year everyone, may it be a year of improved “Sight”!