tales from the wild metropolis
I've been called a treehugger more than once in my life, and while I know the comments weren't intended as such, I always take them as compliments. As a sobriquet it's both true and false: true, because I do spontaneously hug exceptionally handsome or venerable trees; and false, because compared to the practiced professionals who... Continue Reading →
Is there any non-human skill people covet more passionately than the ability to fly? Understandably, early aviation experiments centered around mimicry of birds, complete with flapping arms that were usually covered in feathers. The Greek legend of Daedalus and Icarus is a familiar example, but plumage continued to be part of the trial-and-error approach through... Continue Reading →
Daddy longlegs are the jazz cats of the arachnid world! This realization came to me as I watched a single backlit note, poised on a broken music staff, bebop across the asphalt path in front of me. A soundtrack of jazz piano greats immediately began to play in my head — Willie "The Lion" Smith,... Continue Reading →
It isn't easy being green. Kermit the Frog said it, so you know it has to be true. He's always seemed a reluctant celebrity, so my guess is that being the most famous Muppet-amphibian on the planet isn't always a picnic. I wonder whether life would be a little less stressful if, like some of... Continue Reading →
Terrier-boy transformed into a velociraptor before my very eyes! We were walking along, minding our own business, when a momentary ruffling of leaves on the side of the pavement captured Dash's attention and instinct took over... head periscopes right... ears swivel forward, nostrils flare... field of vision narrows, eyes become lasers... muscles tense into compressed... Continue Reading →
But never met this Fellow, Attended or alone, Without a tighter Breathing, and Zero at the Bone. Unlike Emily Dickinson, ophiophobia isn't an issue for me. I like snakes and know them to be upstanding ecosystem citizens... umm, ok, upstanding probably isn't the best descriptor for creatures without legs but you get my drift. Of... Continue Reading →
Identifying songbirds by their calls is not my forte. Sure, I can distinguish most common backyard residents with distinctive voices, including mourning doves (Coo.... coo, coo), Carolina chickadees (Fee-bee-fee-bay or chickadee-dee-dee), American robins (Cheerily, cheer-up, cheer-up! Cheerily, cheer-up!!), red-winged blackbirds (Conk-la-ree!), and the northern cardinal (Birdie, birdie, birdie! Cheer, cheer, cheer! — no wonder the... Continue Reading →
African elephants (Loxodonta africana) aren't usually considered an urban wildlife species but I'd come a long way and wanted to see them while I was in South Africa. The built environment just doesn't have the amenities Earth's largest living terrestrial mammal needs to feel at home. Africa's elephants prefer dense forests, woodlands, deserts, and even... Continue Reading →
