Why To Save a Species

A couple weeks ago I attended a workshop at the San Diego Zoo. To say that I was (and still am) excited about the opportunity is an understatement. I have dreamed of working at a zoo since I was a little kid. While some of that glamour wore off after working as an intern in college, I still get excited at any zoo related things. The San Diego Zoo is no ordinary zoo. The park itself is more of a hotel for animals but behind the scenes is where all the activity happens. SD zoo’s primary role is to breed and research endangered species and keep them alive for future generations. Think about that for a second. The whole idea of a zoo started as rich people’s private collections. A way to flex on the other millionaires at the time. However, as the world has changed around us so have zoos. They now exist as little research hubs, educating and holding ground as species die all around us.

The workshop was at the SD safari park, about an hour outside of San Diego. The area is surrounded by scrubby hills that glow red in the sunrise. The air is light and cool, like a desert, but can turn humid when the wind blows in from the ocean. The safari park is not like any park I have ever been to. Its sprawling, guests can expect to walk at least a mile from one end to another. However, most of the park is behind the scenes. There are vast open spaces of land that house animals in mixed groups.

The species that we spent the most time talking about was the California Condor. You could say that this is the flagship species of the safari park. They spend a lot of time and energy breeding, rehabilitating and releasing condors to the wild. This is because the California Condor is hell bent on becoming extinct.

The condor is a giant vulture like species that has a wingspan of 9.5 feet. They are intimidating birds that hop around with a clumsy, half awake demeanor. They don’t talk much to each other but they prefer to live in groups. There are lots of things that make a species predisposed to extinction. Being big is one of them. You can also be slow, tasty, slow at reproducing, and clumsy. Most species with just one of these qualities are doomed to be on an ICUN red list. The California Condor has inherited all of them. In addition to the above redeeming qualities they also posses a unique sensitivity to lead which causes rapid poisoning and death at low concentrations.

Condors at one time ranged from Canada all the way to Texas west of the Mississippi River. There are fossil records to indicate that indigenous peoples hunted and collected parts of condors. They could have been prized for their gigantic feathers. There are also folk tales and songs about them. However, by the time white settlers and miners had taken up residence in California, the condor was already becoming scarce. When US fish and Wildlife started taking population numbers in the 1980’s it was very obvious that extinction was on the horizon. The cause of such a die off has been attributed to lack of food, disturbances from settlements, and lead. Lots of lead.

Yet, the more I learn about the condor the more I cant help but think that everything is stacked against them. They refuse to build nests and instead lay eggs on rocky crops where they are likely to fall and break. They must be six years old before they can mate, and they only have one egg every two years. Their diet seems easy enough to find. They eat dead anything and much like vultures will travel long distances for food. This puts them in direct contact with hunters. Condors will often eat the remaining parts of a kill, exposing themselves to lead bullets. Lead shot is now outlawed in California but its still used in hunting.

The SD zoo has worked with scientists to bring this species back from extinction. The population has grown to a somewhat sustainable level. There is still lots of active breeding going on in captivity and the zoo releases Condors back into the wild. However, their comeback has been slow going.

This brings up the question, why are we doing this? There are a lot of species that went extinct when humans expanded into cities and took over rural areas for agriculture. Many of them we never really got to know before they disappeared. Yes that’s incredibly sad. However, if it takes an army of scientists working year round to ensure that the population stays stable, what’s the point? Why the Condor? Why even try?

The first time I asked this question I was looking at a Panda for the first time. They are slow, clumsy, refuse to have babies, and eat bamboo. A diet so low in nutrients that they have to spend all day eating to get enough calories to survive. The Panda as an animal makes no sense. Its a branch of evolution that just kept going on to oblivion. Scientists have brought the Panda back from extinction by sheer will. Again, the question remains the same, why bother?

This is a question many people have been trying to answer. The science-y answer, the one they will give you at the customer service desk is this: In order to protect our planet and biodiversity we must save endangered species. That’s great of course but what if there is more. What if we do it just because we can? Of all the things to spend our money and time doing can you think of a better more gratifying project than bringing a species back from extinction? Isn’t that enough?

Late Blooms

This post was primarily written and photographed in October but I didn’t get around to posting it until this weekend. Like many things, Late.

Botanical gardens in Albuquerque NM

I have become obsessed with the words Late Bloomers as if anything that blooms could ever be late. The flowers that bloom in late summer and early fall are some of the most interesting. They lack the intensity and impatience of spring. Fall blooms take their time. In addition to blooming at their own speed they stick around for a long time. Spring blooms are often battered by storms, quickly replaced when they break. Fall blooms have cooler weather, the only threat on the horizon would be an early freeze.

In northern climates the spring blooms can usher in a sigh of relief. The coldest months have past and we are now on the road to warmer weather. Further south we look to the fall blooms to let us know that the burden of summer has lifted. The rains bring rain lilies, a second round of Turks Caps, Fall Aster and Frostweed.

Fall foliage and a UFO sighting in NM

If you have ever been to a candle store its likely you have smelled sage. However, if you have ever been to the desert in the fall, its likely you have smelled sagebrush blossoms blooming. This fall flower is one of the most rugged plants in America. It grows in the harshest of climates we have to offer. Yet every fall as the weather turns cool and the small rains come in from the east, the New Mexican desert blooms yellow. This plant is a late bloomer. It waits until the shadows get long and the nights get cold. The flowers protected from the heat by the seasons change, the fragrance filling the streets and neighborhoods.

Sagebrush blossoms New Mexico

The sagebrush plant is an icon of the west. Native Americans have used it for medicinal purposes as long as time can remember. If you had to describe the smell, it would be complex. Fresh out of the ground and in your hand it is a powerful piney fragrance. As it dries the smell changes and becomes sweeter more subtle. Its a memorable scent.

Sandia Peak New Mexico

Like all fall flowers the sagebrush moves slowly. It grows incrementally in parts of an inch each year. The lack of water and oppressive heat dictate the speed. Yet, patience is a trait the sagebrush knows well. The lifespan of the plant can be up to 100 years or more. Waiting has become an art form. Leave the spring blossoms to the dogwoods and the dandelions, the fall belongs to the late bloomers.

Bien Olas

One of the greatest tragedies of getting to live on the coast for 3 years, is experiencing the pleasure of learning how to surf and then moving away. To begin to finally understand what poets, writers, and beach bums have been prophesizing about. There are very few activities outside of illegal substances that will cause members of society to simply leave it all for a sand crusted existence. Its not easy to give it all up just for the surf. The cost of living in the best surf towns is unattainable for even the most wealthy. The surfers are left to living the “van life” or bumming on peoples couches. Stacked four to a room in a shared house, splitting a 5k monthly rent between the 7 of them. Rotating between temporary jobs that leave enough time for surfing and are not draining enough to leave you exhausted. If you cant make it in the US there are plenty of cheap beach towns across the world that surfers flock to. Living in an affordable home with no wifi and little contact with the world but all the waves you could ever want.

There is very little I enjoyed while living in Corpus Christi Texas. A town built in-between the fermenting shores of a salt marsh and a barrier island. Its a perfect place for industry and shipping, yet not so perfect to live. The entire city was constructed along a highway without a single tree in sight. A familiar Friday night activity is rotating between the Applebees or Chilis and maybe seeing a movie. If you can manage to make it to the beach, you might find it a rather harsh experience. The summers are brutally hot with a near constant onshore wind of 10mph. Not a single thing you set down will stay there as the water, sand or wind will take it away. People are allowed to park on the beach, turning the only positive attribute of the city into a parking lot. However, once the busy season cools and the tourists all head home, something very interesting happens. The Texas surfers emerge. With their shorty wetsuits and longboards they brave the whitewash and head to the sandbars to surf. The tiny Texas surfing community is as old as Corpus itself but almost completely unknown to the other coasts of the USA. When I tell people I learned to surf in Texas, many people respond with “they have beaches in Texas?”

The surf is mushy, the waves are weak and the weather is temperamental. It took me almost a year to stand up on the board successfully but once I did I was hooked. I got a surfoboard for chirstmas and later on a wetsuit to extend my season. My husband and I would go out in February when the air was almost 50 degrees and not another person was on the beach. We would spend most of the time paddling and eventually catch some good waves. By the time we made it home our lips were blue and we could hardly unzip our wetsuits. Its all we could think about. I started smelling like surf wax, and would begin every morning by checking the webcams and surf reports. You start to learn the rhythm of the ocean and be able to read the swells. Surfing gets easier because your timing gets better. You can predict when the wave will break and how much you need to paddle. You also start to notice the seasonal changes in the ocean. When are the mullet jumping, when are the turtles popping up. When are the dolphins close to shore. The locals start to look familiar and so do their boards. You can spot a few people from far away on your paddle out and can tell what kind of day its going to be. Afterwards when you are cleaning out surfwax from under your fingernails, sometimes they come by to chat or just say hi.

When my husband and I moved back to Austin for work, and friends, we kept our surfboards for almost a year. We hung them on the wall of our tiny west campus apartment. We kept saying we would go back regularly, maybe once a month and surf. But we couldn’t. We started to realize that if you were going to travel to go surfing, you might as well travel somewhere nicer than Corpus. We went to Costa Rica, California, and Florida. However, we never really got over the pain of missing the beach and the surf.

in 2017 Nland surf park opened in Austin as a waterpark esque adventure. Boasting some of the best manmade waves in the US, we had to go check it out. Could this be the thing we were looking for? The place to cure the hole in our hearts where surfing once was? The now bankrupt surf park was a magnet for all the landlocked surfers that moved to Austin for work. It felt like the park was made for people like us. Our first indication that things wouldn’t live up to our expectations happened right when we set foot in the water. The bottom of the man made lagoon was white plastic with razor sharp seams where the pieces were melted together. The water was brown, a result of using recycled rainwater for their park. We paddled out in groups of 5 with a “coach” who yelled instructions at us as we lined up along the wave. A loud mechanical sound initiated the beginning of our surf session as the mechanism zoomed past to push the water into the perfect wave. I caught the first wave and sat down on my board at the end of the lake, my coach yelling at me to hustle back to the beginning. It felt sterile, rushed, and absent of any feelings I experienced on the ocean.

Part of surfing is slowing down. Its not a sport for people in a hurry, people who need to be somewhere at 9am. I rented a board from a surfer in Costa Rica and he said I could have it for a couple hours. I asked him “when would you like me to bring it back” he responded “Qualquiera”, or whatever whenever you want. That’s the essence of surfing. You cant predict what the ocean will do or how you will feel. You paddle out with no expectations and see where the experience takes you. You cant manufacture that in a lagoon in the middle of Texas.

Share the beach

It’s seal pup season on the west coast and a number of beaches in Southern California are closed. These small stretches of coastline are seasonal habitats for sea lions to raise their young. Groups of females lay in the sand while anxious 2500lb males patrol the water for any threats to their delicate social status. As a constant reminder of who belongs to whom the males bark constantly into the sea like an audible zip code.

Female sea lions relax on the beach with their young, La Jolla California. Photo credit, Author

The other dominant mammal present, humans, walk shoulder to shoulder on the boardwalk observing the spectacle play out. With a nearly 50 ft cliff in between the two species, possible interactions are kept to a minimum. However, not every beach belongs to the sea lions. Up and down the coast signs like the one below remind people that these beaches don’t belong to just us. The idea of sharing the beach is about as foreign to humans as it is to sea lions. The beach belongs to us, is what many people think and will say. As early as 7 am tourists flock to the ocean to lay down their towels and post up their umbrellas to Claim their spot for the day. Their territory that belongs to them. Hey that’s my spot I got here first it belongs to me. As if any part of the planet could actually belong to one person. Yet in Southern California it’s the locals that many people have to contend with and they don’t take kindly to their nap location being occupied.

The day after we visited La Jolla cove a male sea lion cleared off the shared beach so that his gang of females could bask in the sand undisturbed. As children and parents ran for the hills leaving towels and buckets behind I couldn’t help but feel like I’d never witnessed an animal run off a group of people. When humans come up against an animal that won’t be moved from its habitat, we often kill it to get our space. But in the case of a near 2 ton protected species we are left with no option but to give up. I have been thinking a lot since then about ways humans share our space with animals. Humans often share space with animals that we find “inoffensive”. Birds are cute and don’t bother anyone, squirrels can be annoying but they get to stay, snakes are a no. How did we decide that some animals can stay and others aren’t welcome? More people get hurt from domestic dogs than bats, yet ask anyone if they want bats near their house and they will probably say no.

A tourist walks over rocks to inch closer to take a photo of a sea lion. Anyone heard of the zoom feature my dude?

Part of creating a healthier and more sustainable planet is deciding how we are going to share the beach for generations to come. What will that look like? Projects like, homegrown national park have taken the lead by registering places where people have intentionally dedicated their yard or courtyard to nature. A commitment to plant native plants for animals, even providing water or shade. Recently states have realized that animal crossings are necessary to connect pieces of habitat safely over roads. California broke ground on the largest wildlife crossing over the 101 in April. Beyond infrastructure and yards, sharing the beach is also a mindset. We live here with the animals and plants on this planet and we need them.

Tourists snorkel just out of sight from a resting female sea lion

Ozarks St Francis National forest

When was the last time you heard real silence? I mean the real kind, the deafening, space between your ears kind? The check to see if you have tinnitus kind? The kind of silence that makes you realize how loud cars, AC, your cat, the fridge and everything else in your life is? If you are looking for a little silence in your life look no further than a national forest.

School house falls

On a momentary break from the rain we drove the extra 90 minutes from where we were staying to the eastern most tip of Ozarks St. Francis National forest. A sprawling forest located in northwest Arkansas this land is peaceful, full of country roads, and abundant hiking trails. Our goal was to see waterfalls but what we ended up getting was some solitude.

I frequent hiking trails around Austin, I drive out of the city to see nature, and I see nature everywhere around me. However, it is a rare occasion that I don’t see or hear a single person on my adventures. There is plenty of evidence that people are around in the national forest, you can even own land nearby but they just weren’t there on our visit.

Trailhead

In a rather bizarre coincidence the trail was called “Austin trail” which may have been one reason why we chose to go there. Unfortunately, the maps available on the Arkansas website were rather limited and without a subscription to alltrails I decided to wing it with google maps and some poking around. There was a small parking area and the trail itself was very easy to walk on.

Schoolhouse falls is located downhill in a gulley and the water is frigid. This gives the area around the creek a eerie cold feeling that would be pretty spooky in the early morning or evening. The most interesting thing about the pond was that it was completely full of crayfish. I am always reminded that our most favorite fantasy novels are written with the influence of our natural world. This space felt like a sacred site where many magical creatures came to practice or rest.

Can turtle tourism keep a species afloat?

With my Cancun vacation over I find myself sun soaked and delightfully exhausted. However, there is one thing that I seem to be completely unable to stop thinking about. How is it possible for there to be hundreds of sea turtle nests on one of the most populated tourist hot spots in Mexico? As I boarded the plane ready to leave, I couldn’t help think about all the turtle nests that were mere inches away from me on my beach chair. Is this ok? Are these nests actually going to hatch into successful turtles that will enter the ocean? Is turtle tourism a thing that can help keep this species afloat?

On the left several sea turtle nests and tracks can be seen on a stretch of protected beach in Playita Tortuga in Tulum. This beach is closed during nesting season. On the right, a marked sea turtle nest on a stretch of private beach club land. This beach is open year round and the turtle nests are marked with a stick and the date of nesting. I am assuming the nests are registered somewhere but I was not able to find information on the numbers of nests in this particular area. This particular nest was almost under the lounge chair I was sitting on. The beach club was not crowded and everyone seemed to give the nests space and try not to walk on them. Several parents were keeping their kids off the nests and no one seemed to disturb them while I was there. I am really curious as to the success of these nests in a populated area so I decided to dive into some of the data available on the mexico.

I am particularly interested in this topic because I want to believe that humans and sea turtles can coexist. I desperatley want to believe that people want sea turtles to survive so they will do their best not to disturb nests in a public beach. But there is one huge problem (or not??) Mexico has a lot of coastline. Not only do they have a lot, its a commodity, they sell coastline like its a cash crop. They sell it to hotels to build huge resorts, they sell it to tourists to come and stay, and they sell it to wealthy landowners to build beach villas and air bnb’s. Managing that coastline for something like a turtle nesting season is an enormous task that is nearly impossible without the help of private citizens and hotel owners. Luckily “saving the turtles” is trending. I cant go a week in Austin without seeing someone with a t-shirt that says “save the turtles.” Its difficult to find a restaurant (aside from some fast food places, looking at you Chick Fil A) that still have plastic straws. In Cancun I never got a single straw with any drink I ordered, even in an off resort local restaurant. I had trouble locating a plastic bag for my wet clothes, and had to BUY one at a store because there were so few in the city. Efforts to curb common sea turtle maladies are well underway, but what about one of the most critical ways to save the species, protecting the next generation?

Get to know your Carribean and Gulf Sea turtles

Image credit NOAA fisheries.

The most endangered of all the sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico are the Kemp’s Ridley. They were once hunted or rather “gathered” (because turtles don’t really run away) to near extinction for their colorful shell. Their eggs are also supposedly really tasty but pretty much no one alive today could tell you what they taste like. Efforts to rebound the species have been very unsuccessful and this year Florida only saw a handful of Kemps Ridley nests in the whole state.

The most common turtle we saw in Mexico was the green sea turtle. I was not able to snap a photo of one so here is a really realistic photo of me with a green sea turtle.

Did I mention I went scuba diving? It was awesome

Sea turtles are wildly popular in Mexico with tourists. If anyone spots a turtle people huddle around them to hear the whole recounting of the event. It goes something like this “yea I was snorkeling and it just swam by, it was amazing.” Hotels know this is popular and have been doing anything and everything to promote turtle tourism, but what about eggs? I squealed like a little kid when I saw a turtle nest but they are rather….meh to look at. Can nest sites bring in tourists or are they just another piece of wildlife for drunk Americans to trip over in the night?

I am going to compile some of the internet data I can find of the Hotel zone in Cancun. This area is a densely populated stretch of beach with hotels managing waterfront zones. It reminds me of the beach version of the Las Vegas strip. The turtle monitoring and tagging process began in this area sometime around 1999 (??) though I have been unable to find an exact date of when it began. Hotels in this zone will move nests from one area of the beach to another protected beach area with a “corral or fence” around it.

corral photo credit: Rivera maya news

The movement and protection of nests in Mexico seem to be plagued with funding issues across the country. However, in places where tourism thrives there seems to be a drive and funds to continue projects. A similar program like the one at the hotel zone was underway in 2003 (source) in Jalisco, and was very successful. These efforts can be low cost and involve the community in a way that more intensive programs do not. I struggled to find scientific articles with data showing sea turtle nests, but I collected some information from various news sources. All of the sources I looked at described a notable increase in nests over the past 5 years, as protection for the turtles has increased. The Pronatura Península de Yucatán environmental organization manages 210 km of coastline and noted 31,218 turtle nests this year. Those numbers seem amazing but in reality we don’t have a lot of data of what turtle numbers were before human impact. Florida has a robust data collection program that began in 1979 and has seen a huge increase in turtle nests since then. Hopefully Mexico will follow suit and begin to show and report more data.

I think people are hesitant to report too much good news when it comes to conservation. Especially with turtles facing so many threats on the ocean, nesting, plastic, and habitat loss. People in general tend to stop caring about a cause the moment success has been reported. I think its important to remember that the species almost went extinct, so its easy to have a positive growth when the number was almost zero.

graph here—- feel free to stop reading if you aren’t a graph person

A 2010 research study by Centro para la Protección y Conservación de Tortugas El Cuyo, source, seems to show an increase since 1990, looking good for now. lets hope this trend continues.

The Rural vs City Quarantine Experience, Using Nature to Escape

Pre-quarantine we had a lot of plans for spring. We had plane tickets to Florida for a very exciting spring break adventure and our summer was wide open. As the beginning of March heated up we realized that things were about to get really really weird.

A rainy afternoon at Sugarloaf Mtn.

The Friday school got out for spring break the president declared a national emergency. Everyone knows what happened next because you were all there witnessing it just like I was. The grocery store turned into the scene from the 1995 Jumanji, people were lining their carts with anything they could get their hands on. Most of the pasta and canned food aisle was completely empty and all the staples like bread, milk and eggs were also gone. This was the beginning of the great toilet paper shortage of 2020 and the TP aisle would be bare for weeks afterwards. We went to the grocery store like everyone else because it was a friday afternoon and we didnt have groceries for the weekend. Like the rest of the universe we do our shopping on the weekend and were down to our last pack of crackers and the one wrinkly orange in the bottom of the fridge drawer. Things were grim in our house. The grocery store was the most stressful event of the week and preempted much of our decision making for that weekend.

Our plane tickets to Florida were for Sunday afternoon, and lucky they were too. If we had reserved them just 24 hours earlier we might have flown into a disaster zone of crazytown. Cruise ship after cruise ship cancelled their voyages leaving travelers stranded in Florida trying to get flights home. The airports swelled with guests as the spring breakers arrived for the week. What would have been hour layovers turned into 2 day sleepovers as people were desperate to get home. We were stuck with the difficult decision to cancel a trip we had already paid for with little to no possibility of a refund. Traveling during a national emergency is never a good idea but this is different right? There is no hurricane headed our way, earthquake rubble to sift through, or bullets flying through the air so it felt overall pretty safe. We finally made the call last minute, a couple of hours before we were due to leave. After finally deciding to cancel I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, this horrible decision had been made and we had taken the safer route.

In the week of spring break things got progressively worse. Its hard to think about it now, 8 weeks later, what it was like that first week of quarantine. Every morning I would wake up and check the news, listen to the radio and asses the threats. We were in full on lock down so no contact with anyone, no face to face conversations and always a mask. Sitting around at home in our apartment we made a quick decision to get out of town. Like many people that were later chastised for spreading the virus to small town america, we were desperate to leave the confines of our apartment for some elbow room. We also had a darker more fearful thought, if one of us got sick, it could be the last time we see our family.

By Tracey Tully and Stacey Stowe https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/nyregion/coronavirus-leaving-nyc-vacation-homes.html

We wanted to do this right, and with the least amount of risk as possible so we packed up the dog, two cats and ourselves and hit the road towards Arkansas. We were traveling to my grandparents home in rural area to try to relax, keep away from people, and hopefully stay safe from whatever else came our way. This decision was definitely made in fear of the unknown developments each day, but it was also made with the idea that it would be easier to stay isolated in a place with fewer people, who are more spread out, and travel less. With 5 days of self quarantining under our belt we only needed about 9 more to make it to an even 14. We made the drive with minimal stops and no contact with anyone along the way.

We arrived at our family home unscathed and my husband and I stayed there alone for several days before my family arrived. Instantly we felt more at ease and relaxed about the pandemic living in rural Arkansas. It felt as though they were separated from it in some regard. The grocery stores were well stocked, there were no lines at the door, but there was still no toilet paper. A few days into our retreat we realized that the people in Arkansas weren’t isolated from the virus, they believed it wouldn’t hit them because they weren’t New York or California. The safety we felt was more of a lack of awareness of the people in town rather than a true safety. Either way, it was far easier to stay away from people in a place with a population of 3000 rather than the bustling city of Austin. We had no contact with anyone outside of our family during that time.

“Secret pond” during a spring shower.

While tensions were mounting in vacation towns across America, the rural experience was much different. The Washington Post reported on the Great Migration of 2020 in which those who could afford to leave the city fled for many of the same reasons we left. More space, more quiet, less contact with neighbors, and more nature. In the absence of any “fun” things to do in a city, going out to eat, shopping, or music venues, cities become less desirable places to live. That coupled with the sheer abundance of neighbors, it makes sense people want to flee the virus. We found a lot of peace and quiet in nature which is the most abundant resource in Arkansas. Just a short drive away there are endless empty hiking trails which one can explore for hours on end without another person in sight. We spent the days hiking and the afternoons preparing home made meals with our family. It felt as if we had been transported to a different time, one in which days were spend doing manual work and afternoons were spent with family.

Sugarloaf mountain

After spending 1/3 of my quarantine time so far in rural Arkansas I can say it has its benefits. The lack of hustle and bustle makes life seem more normal. Staying away from people is easier and more relaxing when there are less people to avoid. In our apartment complex in Austin we regularly have to shuffle around the stairs to avoid other neighbors going up or down. In Arkansas you can wave to your neighbor from far away or pass by them in a car. The biggest challenge we faced was internet speed. With both my husband and I working from home we were struck with how behind the times Arkansas is when it comes to WiFi. We both were not able to video conference at the same time despite having nearly the maximum bandwidth available in our neighborhood. In the end it was our need for technology that drove us back to the city.

Sights and Sounds From Arapahoe National Forest

Situated just to the west of Rocky Mountain National Park and extending much further south is a huge chunk of National Forest land. Its hard to tell where Arapahoe national forest begins and Roosevelt national forest ends but they are intertwined together. If you have ever skied in Colorado there is a good chance you have set foot in ANF because numerous ski resorts operate lifts within the national forest boundary. We were both incredibly sore after multiple days of hiking so we decided to drive a bit on forestry roads and see how far we could get.

View looking back into the ski resorts of Vail Colorado.

We did not make it very far on the forestry roads. A rainy spring season had washed out quite a few of the dirt roads and we were met with closed signs at every corner we turned. We decided to park at the base of a ridge and hike up to get a better view. The hike proved to be very tiring but incredibly worth it. We started at about 8500 ft elevation and ended above 9000 ft elevation. The air was quite thin.

Our trail headed up to the top of the ridge.

The landscape lower to the basin is mostly shrub and grasslands. Most of the shrubs in the photo are about my height or slightly taller (5’7”) and the grasses were around knee height. The larger shrubs were each home to a nest of humming birds. They made their presence immediately known by alerting us loudly that we were in their territory. When it was clear that we weren’t leaving, they began a series of kamakaze esque dive bombs in our direction. We would look up to try to get a glimpse at the noise rushing towards us, only to see a flaming red dot with a beak attached zooming at top speed towards our eyeballs. At the very last moment the hummingbird would swerve around, zoom back to the nest, and perch on a branch. It would then huff and puff at our general direction letting us know that he meant business and that was a freebie.

At some point along the trail, the landscape changes you become immersed in a forest of young Trembling Aspen trees. It feels like entering a fantasy world. The grass, a rich green color plump from the spring snow melt and long summer days, grows up touching the grey bark of the Aspen trees. The landscape doesn’t seem real.

At the top of the ridge, we stopped at a hunting camp and took in the sights. The wind was fresh and crisp blowing in from the Rocky Mountains. Though we saw very few birds aside from hummingbirds, the air was full of songs.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed the hikes I did in Rocky Mountain National Park this short hike somehow felt different. We were completely alone on the top of a ridge looking down on the resorts. The sounds were new and interesting. The air smelled sweet and fresh, a scent I have never experienced before. The wind was fresh on my face as if someone had opened a massive refrigerator somewhere behind a mountain. The landscape was unique but harsh. The ground seemed to be exploding with life, just released from a winter prison and allowed to breathe for the first time. This place was different than any other, and I felt that there simply wasn’t enough time to even begin to absorb all of it. Many people say that they go to the mountains and become mesmerized by them. I can understand the allure. They are massive and daunting, just walking is exhausting and slow. You begin to feel small, and realize your place in the world as just one tiny organism in the giant universe. At the same time you feel important, as if it is somehow your duty to make sure places like this are here forever.

Bizarre finds in Jardines de Mexico

Located south of Mexico City in a rather nondescript highway exit, is the massive Jardines de Mexico botanical garden. We found the location while looking for a place to pit stop for gas and decided to check it out. The property has all the touches of international investors, solar panel lined driveways, electric charging stations for cars, and an ultra modern storefront greets you as you enter.

The botanical garden hosts several themed gardens that are meant to represent different parts of the world. The most striking thing about the garden was the bizarre collection of plants and the huge population of lizards that called the park home. No doubt the presence of huge amounts of flowering plants has created a gigantic food source for small predators. Following the old saying “if you build it they will come” the gardens are teeming with birds, insects, lizards and everything in between. The nearby somewhat desolate farmland is rather drab in comparison. The garden is undoubtedly privately owned and appears to be someone’s private collection of plants. There does not seem to be any emphasis whatsoever on making the garden educational as none (I mean none) of the plants are labeled with any information whatsoever. So for each of the plants and animals following I did my own research.

The award for most bizarre goes to the one in the cover photo and shown above. This bizarre tree is called a Winged Calabash (Crescentia alata) and is an extremely rare tree to locate. They have a small green fruit which has evolved every mechanism known to making to PREVENT animals from eating them. Unlike most other fruits which actually developed flavors and textures that were desirable, this one is quite the opposite. The fruit is rock hard and described as a cannonball, when you do finally break it open it smells like rotting fruit. The flowers are pollinated by big black flies so native populations used to call these trees guardians of the dead. They live exclusively in Mexico and some Central American countries. This tree is a product of a very bizarre evolutionary history. They seemed to have developed a seriously hard outer covering on their fruit (located on the stem of the tree not the leaves) to prevent animals from breaking into them. However, now humans and horses are said to be the only creatures that can break into the fruits. As a result their seeds do not disperse and the trees have become more and more rare over time. It is thought that at one point there was a small elephant species that lived in North America and these were the primary consumers of their fruit. The owner of the botanical garden is obviously very proud of their calabash collection, they are displayed prominently around the park. Also keep in mind that these trees pictured are incredibly old, this species grows slow and tops out at a very modest height. It is likely that the first tree pictured might be well into the hundreds of years, meaning it must have been moved to its current location.

From L to R, Mexican Giant Cactus Pachycereus pringlei, Mottled Spurge Euphorbia lactea, Kapok tree Cebia Pentandra

As you move around the park the plants become more and more strange. There are trees that appear to be pines at first sight but on after a second glance you realize they really are cactuses. There are cactuses that tower above the tallest oak tree and are wider at the base that any other tree in the park. And finally there is a plant so alien it looks like it must have come from another planet. The bark is as green as any leaf but covered with perfectly round spines that end in a cone. The base of the tree is shaped like a vase and is wider in the middle than at the bottom or top. The Kapok tree (far right photo) is this bizarre creature. As it grows older it will form buttress roots to keep it stable in the wet rainforest soil.

A young green Iguana, striking a pose

The botanical garden was pretty empty while we were there. It was a pretty hot day and it was a Monday so the four of us were alone in most of the exhibits. As we walked around the corner we disturbed numerous basking lizards. The bravest by far were the various types of Iguanas. These seemed to be more annoyed by our presence than afraid, and often would open one eye slightly to watch us but refrain from moving too much. Mexico hosts several species of Iguana most of which are a brighter color when younger and then become darker as they age.

This is a species of Iguana, he/she did not want their photo taken. somehow yellow and black is a far more frightening color.

Can you spot both lizards in this photo?

Finally, last but not least, there were quite a few interesting flowers in bloom. Some of my favorites are listed below.

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All photos taken by me. Location: Jardines de Mexico Mexico-Acapulco km 129, 62900 Tehuixtla, Mor., Mexico

Herping in Arkansas

We loaded up early on a Saturday morning and drove 9+ hours north to Heber Springs Arkansas. At some point near Texarkana the dominant form of roadside foliage changes from wildflowers to hundred foot tall pine trees. The goal of the whole trip was a weekend celebration of the end of the school year. I managed to fit in some late night hikes by the water, and some creekside wading.

Late in the evening we followed the sounds of toads and tree frogs to the edge of a cove near the lake. We set out with a small catch net, camera and an iphone flashlight. My grandparents had at least half a dozen mag lites in the house but not enough batteries to fill a single one. As soon as we walked into the trees we spotted two toads near the sidewalk.

As we hiked deeper into the woods and made it to the water line we ran into some trouble. The lake is flooded and the natural shoreline is covered by around 6 feet of water. We had to navigate through tree trunks, piles of brush, and many many spiders. As we made it to some rock outcrops we found a crayfish hanging out with its head out of the water. We sprung for the catch but it appears the crawdad was too fast for us.

We poked around in the rocks some more looking for frogs and toads. We came up on a very pretty looking slug that was on the hunt for its next meal. It gave us a wave and we made our way to the boat dock.

If you are interested in scaring yourself half to death, take a flash light and shine it under a boat at night. There seriously is nothing more scary than staring into the abyss looking for the next river monster to make an appearance. Turtles like to frequent the undersides of boat docks but we didn’t see any visitors that night. Nearly every post on the dock had a spider web on it, so we took a moment to snap a photo of those 8 legged residents.

The following day we headed out of town to a nearby creek to do a little fishing and hiking. The weather was mild but the ticks were out in full force. We had to stop nearly every 10 minutes and pick red deer ticks off our pants before they made it to our waistline. Our first Herp of the day was a large box turtle moving through the pasture.

This box turtle didn’t seem to mind getting picked up and overall had a really relaxed attitude. With all the rain Arkansas has been getting I saw quite a few turtles on the side of the road driving into town. Looks like the prospect of something good to eat and water flooding your house has the turtles on the move. Not long after we saw this one we ran into another much smaller and cuter box turtle.

We made it all the way to the pine tree grove and didn’t see much else. However, as we turned around, all of our commotion scared a rat snake out of the leaves. It made for high ground straightaway and climbed a tree with frightening ease.

Our last few sightings were not in fact herps but they deserve to be mentioned. On this particular day the forest was anything but quiet. Numerous birds were singing, the cicadas were out in full force and every few minutes the tree frogs would start singing. We heard a kingfisher sing but didn’t get to see it in person. We caught one cicada just as it had emerged from its molt. Back near the water we saw a large group of dragonflies that were hovering in and around a particular bush. They were very delicate and quiet, they looked and flew similar to butterflies.

I spend a lot of time hiking, and for the most part I hike in places where there are a lot of people. However, one unfortunate side effect of people using trails is that our presence tends to run off some of the more quiet and peaceful wildlife. There aren’t a lot of species that really can inhabit well in the world that we have created. We are noisy, destructive and we tend to ruin a lot of things we touch. However, we can do better and be better. There are still places that are relatively untouched by human hands and we need to make sure there is a space for those places in our future.

All photos taken by me.

What lies out of sight of Val'Qurico, Mexico.

We headed out one morning on a road trip through the mountains and into the state of Puebla. We had quite a lot on our list to visit, one place being the hacienda-turned-tourist hotspot Val’Qurico. The former hacienda is now under construction for an expansion and includes a beautiful public square with restaurants and all manner of tourist attractions. As we were driving into Val’Qurico we approached a bridge and were hit with an incredible smell. It felt as though the inside of my nose was sunburned and my mouth immediately tasted metallic. I could think of nothing else to do but blow air furiously out of my nose and take a sip of water to rinse out my mouth. We all looked around in the car and my husband yelled out “look, look at the river, the smell is from the river.” We peeked out of the car window and saw a sight I have never seen before. A fast flowing river under the bridge turned a milky grey color from pollution. The smell only intensified as we got closer and I found myself holding my breath as to not breathe the toxic air. The metal and feces infused smell faded as we departed the bridge and rounded the corner. We arrived shortly after at Val’Qurico and needless to say I was completely incapable of enjoying myself at the hacienda.  During my entire visit my mind was on that river, how it got to be that way, how it can be fixed.

Atoyac river, the milky grey color is from pollution. I wish smell-o-vision existed. 

After spending nearly my entire collegiate life studying biology and then later dedicating to environmental science I had only read about the level of pollution experienced here. We studied numerous case studies of extremely polluted rivers and lakes that caused protests and uprisings across the globe. They were almost always success stories, resulting in lawsuits, government oversight, and later cleanup of the water resources. Years down the line you can study progress pictures as the landscape is restored to its pre-pollution levels and nature comes back to stay. We had to study these cases because, in my naivete, I assumed that those levels of pollution did not exist anymore in the world. We had moved past that. Companies simply don’t release raw industrial waste into rivers anymore. We have proven time and time again that not only is it morally wrong and unethical, it is dangerous to human health. There is a reason this river causes you to gag burning your nose and throat, it is full of volatile organic compounds that have been known cause cancer and damage your mucous membranes. This information is not new.

Yet, here we are, 2018 and there is a river full of raw industrial effluent flowing through farmlands, towns, and a city of 2.5 million people, Puebla Mexico. I do not need to go into a diatribe about the level of government corruption that must exist in all branches for this to have continued for so long.  You probably figured that out on your own. Corruption, lack of education and silencing anyone who speaks out is a recipe for complete disaster. The very worst part about all of this is that the water from the Atoyac river is used for farming and drinking. A public resource that people rely on for their livelihood is polluted beyond use, yet people have no other option.

Nearby town and farmland. 

I wish I could do something about this. I wish I could do anything at all. Scientists have been studying the Atoyac, calling on their government to do something, and yet we are still here.  If anything, I hope that it allows all of us to reflect on what we currently have. How lucky we are. People have been working in the United States for decades to protect our natural resources from blatant misuse like this. It took a river to catch on fire in Chicago before something happened but it was the catalyst that we needed to get going. This is a excellent opportunity to look around at the nearest creek, river or forest in your neighborhood and be thankful for how much work it took to protect it.  

The United States is at a point in our environmental protection that we are moving past pollution that we can see and smell, and entering into a world of trying to regulate unseen contamination. We can begin to question pollutants that seem severely less harmful than those in the Atoyac river. Looking at the Atoyac it is hard to understand why people are making such a fuss over carbon dioxide and fertilizer runoff. However, we are privileged that these are the problems we face and not the alternative.

Just because we have come this far and achieved so much does not mean we are finished.

Interested in the Atoyac river? More information below
Castresana et al: www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/3/267/pdf
http://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/waterandwaste/80-of-atoyac-river-pollution-comes-from-urban-areas-study
 

The reservoir circled on the map was listed as "devoid of wildlife". The only animal sightings in the area were rats.  

The Cost of Clean

I have been interested in our microbiome for a long time. It fascinates me that we have microorganisms living inside of us that we would soon die without. My interest is somewhat motivated by frequent upset stomach and a desire to learn more about it. Last year I took a microbiome test (from Ubiome) to determine what exactly was living inside my gut and how I rank compared to what is "healthy". My results were dismal. I scored in the lower 20% when it comes to biodiversity and I am lacking some specific organisms that are needed for a healthy digestive system.  I have since been on a journey researching ways to foster a healthy microbiome. What I have discovered is that as an American, it is incredibly hard to ingest living organisms. In fact, we are actively aiming to do just the opposite.

Open containers, un-refrigerated, food market Mexico City

My research into my diet started with the foods most associated with gut bacteria, fruits and veggies. The Ubiome website suggested that I start to take stock in how much fruits and vegetables I am eating and what sources they come from. It was suggested that I try to opt for unfrozen fruits or vegetables and eat varieties that are as fresh as possible. I get almost all of my fruit in the form of smoothies that I make at home, and a few seasonal varieties. I also get about 50% of my vegetables from frozen bagged veggies and 50% from leafy fresh greens. I track what food I eat with app about 3-4 times a week to make sure that I am eating a balanced diet. When it comes to diversity of foods, I fail that metric miserably. Aside from variety of foods, I set out to figure out ways to increase your gut bacteria diversity and possibly save my digestive system. 

Your gut microbiome develops between ages 0-2.5 and is determined by mode of birth, diet, sanitation, and exposure to antibiotics. After age 2.5 your gut microbiome changes only marginally.  The paper continues to describe that diet throughout your life will help create an environment to foster growth of beneficial bacteria. However, there is no mention of diet being a source of additional bacteria after age 2.5 when your microbiome is already established. In fact there is a lot of debate as to whether or not ingesting gut bacteria in the form of probiotics or probiotic foods has any affect at all. Unless you are on long term antibiotics or immunocompromised the jury is still out on probiotics. The largest changes you can make to your microbiome are by altering your diet to include foods that create a favorable environment in your gut. (For a full list see the source section.)

Cured Ham, Madrid, Spain

Since the environment of an infant plays such and important role in their gut microbiome, what bacteria we are exposed to as a baby is critical.  One of the biggest sources of bacteria to a child's diet is in food preparation. We are told by advertisements to sanitize our kitchen with antibacterial soaps, lysol, or bleach. More than 70% of American households have a dishwasher, which has shown to be more sanitizing than hand washing dishes.  This is in stark contrast to kitchens all over the world, especially in developing countries. This internet research led me to the "hygiene hypothesis" which states that children in developing countries are growing up way too clean. This cleanliness could be leading to an increase in allergies as the immune system is not able to correctly determine friend from foe. 

This year in the U.S., there was an E.coli outbreak on Romaine lettuce. The outbreak was traced back to Yuma Arizona, and entered the lettuce from the water in a nearby canal. All across the United States 210 people total were infected with the bacteria and 5 people died. This is the worst case scenario that we face when it comes to living bacteria in our food. The hygiene hypothesis has a lot of scientific research backing it, and is gaining momentum. However, when it comes to bacteria, we need to be able to find a happy balance between keeping enough of the good and avoiding the bad. Our gut depends on it. 

Sources for this post

Quigley, Eamonn M.M., Gut Bacteria in Health and Disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3983973/
List of beneficial foods: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/microbiome/
Yatsunenko, Tanya, Human gut microbiome viewed across age and geography :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3376388/
The Hygiene Hypothesis: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/02/23/387553285/kids-allergies-and-a-possible-downside-to-squeaky-clean-dishes