what the professor said would be considered at grade time. I don’ t mean to indicate I was abused. No, we did it because we wanted to witness firsthand what was happening. Looking back, I can’ t think of a better way to learn. And I loved it!
An investigating academic project involves a proposal, budget, site, boundaries, time to observe, what to watch for and record, and a report back with accurate details. Local information is also gathered: like weather, air and soil temperatures, wind speed, time since last rain, etc. Comfort and nourishment were important necessities, at least to me. Since all projects took place outdoors in all seasons, I needed to be warm and dry, have plenty of food and liquids, good binoculars, notepads, and a comfortable place to sit. A pleasant research partner can also help. Who you worked with seemed as vital as how long you were out. Periodic reporting of findings was important to the team leader, and to us. We wanted to know how our contribution helped. Unfortunately, we saw a lot of student work that never reached a final report stage. What did we learn? Nothing earth-shattering or drastic. I recall a mast survey and research project to watch what animals besides squirrels were consuming the fall crop of acorns. The“ star of the show,” as a professor called it, was the blue jay. Jays, those raucous and loud members of the crow family, we learned, were just as busy as squirrels in finding and transporting acorns. Photos revealed jays with packed throats, the crop, and cheeks full of acorns as they flew away. Where they headed was important. They stashed several nuts into holes in trees, fallen logs, and— like squirrels— buried them in the ground. Multiple cache sites were visited— a process called“ scatter-hoarding”— usually in forest edges and small clearings. And yes, they did come back for them later. But as we suspected some of the nuts weren’ t completely recovered. As we value the squirrel for starting trees to grow where they had not before, we must include the blue jay.
Another study by other students indicated that jays can determine how long each specie of acorn can be cached without germinating, since nuts become rancid with age. The white oak family which produce acorns that often germinate early in the fall and early winter are consumed earlier and stored less time than acorns from red oak family. They germinate in late winter and early spring.
Good to know. Mysteries solved, and now I could appreciate the jay for more important jobs than just raiding nests, eating baby birds, scaring away other birds at feeders, and generally being a loud and noisy pest.
Like a voter, the more we know, the better. Like a conscientious land steward, the more we learn, the better we can coexist on this blue marble, floating through space harmoniously with nature. •
S
ince everything is going green we thought we’ d start a new cuisine. Now holidays provide a feast where we will dine on different beasts raised on farms in barns and stable that end up cooked upon the table and garnished in some special way because of some such holiday!
But in Brown County we’ ve got meats called roadkill lying in our streets that’ s usually fresh as it could be and best of all the price is free and baked and seasoned over fire with just a touch of tar and tire. Why it’ s as green as we could get that city folks ain’ t tried as yet!
Now in Brown County we all feel we have that holiday appeal all around us all the time enhanced by nature so sublime that we thought it would be a treat to make a holiday spot to eat!
And so we went around Brown County and gathered up our daily bounty for we had found the motherloads of fresh green products from our roads and from our woods with fruit and nuts we flavored roadkill squashed in ruts.
And after found if we don’ t swerve there’ s other things that we might serve like turkey vultures baked or fried with parts of critters still inside which dressed and garnished cannot fail with salad made of raccoon tail.
And we hope folks will like to try our possum pizzas, puddings, pies … once they’ re calm and not as scared at how their meal got prepared!?
For there’ s a problem that we’ ve got that bothers folks round here a lot in spite of different roadkill spoil and all the scooping, skinning toil and all the country roads kept clean to keep our standards ever green yet since we use up every part we had this problem from the start!?
For at our diner as they shop when city folks pass by they stop they see our menu on the wall their face takes on this ghostly pall they stare and stammer through the door“ Wha … What holiday are you cooking for?”
Holiday Cuisine
— Gunther Flumm Nov./ Dec. 2018 • Our Brown County 45