Merry Christmas From Your Friendly Neighborhood Trailblazer!

Hello Y'all....

Not much new to post.  After the craziness of the end of the semester, finals, etc....we almost immediately left and drove over five hours to visit the in-laws for a few days.  After that, we went to visit my side of the family (but they live close by, so it was just for the day). 

Thus, there's been little time to think about blogging.

However, one good thing happened....we finally got some snow.

This made my daughter (and me) happy.  It was nice to have some of the white stuff around for Christmas. 

My daughter and I took some time to play outside quite a bit recently.

Then, on Christmas Eve, I built a little fire.....lit up the grill....and enjoyed the cool whether with a few dark, malty libations while cooking some grass-fed Porterhouse steaks for the wife and kid.

Very enjoyable.

No real wildlife-related pics or videos from this year....and even looked back through my files from last year and really could find only this little clip of a very nice buck taken on Christmas of 2011. 

Not one of Ol' St. Nick's....but with a rack like that, it looks "Reindeer-ish" at first glance.  :)

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to everyone!!

See you on the other end of the trail!

Of Newts, Turtles and Timber Wolves...

....alright....I suppose there is debate about whether or not the Timber Wolf (Canis lupus lycaon) is a valid subspecies....and regardless, the US Fish & Wildlife Service has deemed that we can only have the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) in our part of the U.S.......but "Timber Wolf" fit into the title so well!


Anyways, with the nice weather (unseasonably warm...in the 80s in March, which here doesn't happen until May) hiking is a viable daytime activity.

So, the kid and I went to a nearby state forest for a little hike.  She's sort of a paradox, this daughter of mine.  A nearly perfect mix of myself and her mother, as evidenced by the outfit she selected for a day of getting dirty (which she has no problem doing...nor picking up anything that she finds interesting, including a nugget of Canada Goose turd, which she threw into the water, before I could stop her...).

So...the chosen get-up included a shirt with colorful print, the skirt from her Snow White dress-up outfit, a pair of leggings with whales on it, and her La Crosse brand rubber boots.  This was drawn together with a plush purse, in which she carried countless treasures...including an orange (which I had not seen her grab) that she proudly produced later after exclaiming she was hungry.

One of the first things we found along the trail was a pond with a boardwalk that allowed us to walk out over the water.

The Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) were screaming around the pond peripheries....which possessed a nice buffer of flooded woodlands.  These were the first Peepers I've heard this spring, although I've recieved reports of them calling for the past several weeks by colleagues (which is very early, by the way). 

There were also Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) to burn in this little pothole scoured out by the glaciers.  It seemed that every available space above the water line, be it log, stick or clump of mud, had a turtle basking on top of it.  Some were even close enough to snap a picture of with a camera that has little zooming ability.

The best part, however, was peering down into the clear wetland water.  It teemed with activity, and we were obliged to get down and take a closer look.

 Water striders and other aquatic invertebrates were plentiful.  I even watched a leech swimming sinuously through the substrate.  But what drew our attention most were the amphibians.  It seemed that every square foot of real-estate was occuppied by large a tadpole.  Based on the fact that they were already sizeable this early in the spring, it's a no-brainer to assume they were a member of the Family Ranidae, and almost certainly Green Frogs (Rana=Lithobates clamitans).  Green frogs lay their eggs late in the summer and the tadpoles remain as tadpoles through winter, only to metamorphose in the following summer.  With the exception of the Bullfrog (Rana=Lithobates catesbeiana), all other frogs in our region have tadpoles that hatch and develop into froglets during the same season.  It's possible these were Bullfrog tadpoles, but they just didn't seem big enough to me.

Anyways, the tadpoles were neat...but they dont' really move much.  They basically sat in one place, soaking up some of the rays penetrating through the water's surface.  Much more interesting to watch were the Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridiscens).  These little guys were fairly numerous as well, we could see them pushing through the leaf litter at the bottom of the pond, and occassionally swimming up to the surface.  As I've mentioned before, the newt is a most amazing amphibian.  It has several possible "phases" in which it can exist: an aquatic adult, a terrestrial adult, an aquatic juvenile and a terrestrial juvenile.  Basically, these phases are adopted depending on environmental conditions.  If the newt grows up in a wetland that doesn't dry out, they will go from an aquatic juvenile to an aquatic adult.  But, should the water levels receed, they are capable of transforming into a terrestrial adult, or a terrestrial juvenile.  The terrestrial juvenile is beautiful, and is often referred to as a Red Eft.

The individuals my daughter and I saw were adults, and clearly in the aquatic phase.

All of this information: the basking turtles, the tadpoles that need to over-winter, and the newts in their aquatic phase tells us something important (albeit not unusual) about this wetland: it rarely goes dry....or is not ephemeral.  If it went dry by the end of the summer, there would be nowhere for the turtles and tadpoles to overwinter....and the adult newts would have transformed from their aquatic phase to their terrestrial phase.
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We passed the State Park's headquarters during our adventure.  They had a neat little museum, which we made use of, seeing that the kid loves to look at stuffed dead things (the reason she likes museums so much, I suppose).

A number of cool dioramas, including this rather comical scene of a pair of River Otters cleaning up the leavings of an ice fisherman (as a Mink watches from the cattails).

There was also a nice mount of a Gray Wolf (Canis lupus), which made for a perfect photo-op.

We walked on, and continued to follow the trail until we found a scenic overlook.  A decent-enough spot to stop for some juice and crackers.

...and of course...the rocky path provided many opportunities to lob some geologic protectiles down the hillside.

I guess it's hard to turn down an opportunity to throw a good rock.....

Playing Hooky Again: a visit to a different museum!

For several weeks my daughter has been asking to go to the museum (or "the 'seum", as she refers to it).  Seriously.  What 3 yr old girl wants to go to a museum and see dinosaurs?  My daughter!!  I can't pretend that it doesn't make me alittle happy inside that she asks to go to the museum.  I loved the museum as a kid too.

But taking a 3 yr old kid to a museum takes a bit of work (and alot of energy).  Plus, it's not like the attending parent gets to really enjoy the museum much.  Basically, they get to just follow the kid, as they run from one cool exhibit to the next, to insure they don't get lost.  Then, you have to carry around a bag with snacks, extra clothes, wipes, juice boxes, a camera to snap pictures for mommy and grandparents...and perhaps a toy or two.

But who cares?!  When your daughter asks to go to the museum, you figure out a way to make it happen soon.

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Because we had moved recently, we didn't have the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences nearby...a place we used to attend frequently in the past (see here).  Instead we got to visit a museum that was new for my daughter: the Milwaukee Public Museum.  This institution has special significance for me.  I had been there before, and it was actually the first museum I had ever visited.  My parents had taken me there when I was a young kid, and I remember being fascinated....intrigued....enamored...etc. with the exhibits.  They bought me a little book when we visited the first time with pictures of the exhibits inside, and I paged through that book over and over again....staring at the critters.  As a kid, looking at these animals in their museum displays struck me differently than seeing them on TV (such as on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, or National Geographic specials).  Now...don't get me wrong....I loved those TV shows.  Yet, even as a kid, I got the sense that the actions of the critters being filmed were influenced by the presence of camera-men, hosts, etc..  Although the animals at the museum were not living, for some reason seeing them depicted in the dioramas was almost like viewing a snapshot of what went on when humans weren't right there rolling film or snapping pictures.

This is partially because the dioramas/exhibits were so beautifully and vividly displayed.

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Carl Akeley

We can probably thank the late Carl Akeley's (1864-1926) influence for all life-like museum exhibits focused on natural history everywhere.  For folks who know museum lore (a select group, to be sure :)  ), Carl Akeley is a name you surely have heard.  He is most famous for his work at the Field Museum in Chicago, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, at which an entire section is named for him (the Akeley Hall of African Mammals).  He is revered among museum taxidermists for the revolutionary way that he mounted animals at that time.  In the early history of museums, it was common to simply mount animals in very static stances and set many of them side-by-side in display cases or next to eachother on the floor.  Usually, the animal was standing and staring straight ahead.  Often the body form used to mount the skin to was not particularly flattering. So basically, early museum specimens looked less-than lifelike.

Carl Akeley changed all of this in several ways: he created a type of cement gun that made it possible to mount animals in more realistic and natural poses.  He also was the first to create very realistic forms for the skins to be mounted on.  These forms were often sculpted into dynamic poses, and even considered how the muscles would appear below the skin were the animal alive.  Akeley was also the first to display animals in diorammas that depicted realistic replicas of their native habitats.  In addition, they were often displayed interacting with other individuals in the diorama.  We can also thank Akeley for creating the first large multi-species dioramas that took up entire rooms (such as African Savannah Watering Holes, etc.).

Akeley personally collected many of the specimens that he later mounted.  It could be argued that he was in the category of a "great white hunter" at some point in his career.  He, for example, accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on an African expedition at the beginning of the 1900s.  Although I have not read that he ever collected animals as personal trophies.....but only for scientific and educational purposes.  Furthermore, his particular affinity for Gorillas lead him to mount and expedition in the 1920s to learn more about their natural history....and determine if killing them was justified for any purpose.  As a result, Akeley became a staunch opponent of hunting Gorillas for trophies, and supported their collection by hunting only for scientific endeavors.  He was instrumental in the creation of Africa's first National Park, now named Virunga National Park, to protect Gorillas.  He died of fever in the Congo during an expedition to Africa and is buried there.

What many may not know is that Carl Akeley was employed at the Milwaukee Public Museum before the other institutions mentioned above.  During his 8 year stint there he began perfecting the techniques that would make him famous.  He created the first complete habitat with animals in-situ diorama ever while at the Milwaukee Public Museum in the late 1800s.  Some of Akeley's exhibits are still on display at this institution today.  None of those pictured below are Akeley's, but you can be sure that his presence was felt by those who constructed these later dioramas at the museum that I remembered from my childhood.

Carl Akeley was a fascinating man....stories about his expeditions to Africa are very interesting to read.  There are several books written about his life.  These run from his own autobiography, entitled In Brightest Africa, to more recent accounts such as the 1991 book African Obsession: the life and legacy of Carl Akeley.
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So, needless to say, I remembered many of the dioramas at the Milwaukee Public Museum from my childhood.  Yet, I hadn't viewed any of the exhibits in that museum in about 20 years....and hadn't really wandered the entire building since I was a kid.

There were a few of these exhibits that were particular favorites from my youth, and I hoped they would still be as I remembered them.

I was not disappointed!

The museum has been updated in several areas since I was a kid.  More dinos....a beautiful rain forest exhibit, etc.. Alot of the exhibits that were new to me exist right on the first floor, as one comes up the stairs from the parking garage.

This includes the dinos...which my daughter kept asking for.  We took some time to check these out, including the Triceratops fossils below.

And everything was going swimmingly, until she rounded the corner where the life-sized diorama of a T-rex on a Triceratops carcass was housed (complete with roaring sounds and thunder).  She did a 180 turn and ran back to me saying "I don't wanna look at these".  

Below is a picture from the balcony looking down at this incredible display.

We'll get to these when she's older.

The other newer and large exhibit was a South American Rainforest.  Designed so that visitors actually feel like their walking through a rainforest while checking things out. 

A very nice set-up!

Then...on to the classics!

First we visited a wing of diorammas based on native upper-Midwestern flora and fauna.

Such as the North American Beaver (Castor canadensis)...

...and a nice exhibit depicting some Black Bears (Ursus americanus) stealing a bit of honey....complete with bees.

Also included are wings devoted to other regions of North America.

Such as Florida....

I always loved the water exhibits as a kid...mostly becuase there were usually alot of species in them.  Aside from the focal species...there were lots of little critters going about their business in the background and foreground.

I vividly remember this American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) set-up from my youth.  Not a particularly action-packed exhibit, but is a great example of a diorama depicting (what I always felt were) snap-shots of the the natural world, as they would be with no humans present to interfere.

There are also many exhibits with fauna from the western U.S.

A pair of competing bull Elk (Cervus canadensis) in a vivid display.....

This exhibit below was always one of my top two favorites as a kid.  I can't pretend it still isn't!  So dynamic.  You can tell a museum exhibit is superior when its almost explosive, despite the fact that the critters don't move.  Here we have the Cougar....stalking...crouching and ready to spring.  Mounted in a beautiful pose that depicts them well.  The Mule Deer are also beautifully portrayed, appearing majestic but wary and alert (and with apparently no idea of how close the danger is).

And it's not just the "New World" that's represented. 

The African Continent has some great exhibits.  For some reason, I didn't snap photos of my favorite one from that continent.  Don't know why.  Next time.

But, there are other nice dioramas that I got photos of.

An African Elephant (Loxodonta africana)...part of a giant walk-through room-sized exhibit with many species on both sides.

....a nice single-species exhibit of an Okapi (Okapia johnstoni), which is a stunning relative of the Giraffe that is native to the wet jungles of the Congo.  Interestingly, in 2006 this species was re-confirmed as present in the Virunga National Park (which Carl Akeley had helped institute).  Wild Okapi's had not been seen in the park since 1959.  They were again photographed in the park by a camera trap (woo-hoo!) in 2008.

The India Continent section of the museum also has one of my all-time favorite dioramas. Another that I remember from childhood and was thrilled to see it exactly as I remembered it.  Again...so dynamic....you can almost feel the tension between these Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) and the Gaur, or Indian Bison (Bos gaurus).  Much like the tiger, the Gaur is a species of serious international conservation concern according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).  The tiger was one of my favorite species as a kid, which is probably another reason why I like this one so much. 

The picture just doesn't do it justice.

I'm sure we'll take more trips to the museum in the future.  Maybe I'll be able to get some shots of other exhibits to share with you all.

Note: thanks to B. Henderson (Milwaukee Public Museum) for information regarding Carl Akeley.

Return of the Backyard Denizens

It had been very dry out there for a few weeks.

Then, a huge thunderstorm came through the area yesterday afternoon.  This morning the ground was wet and the air was thick with humidity.

This was apparently what the local Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina) were waiting for.

My daughter and I were about to head out back and enjoy the morning cool, when I happened to glance out the window and see this fella wandering across the lawn.

We ran out and, much to my daughter's delight, got to hold the little urban box turtle (a male, as you can see by the concave plastron in the second picture below).

I then took him across the road in the direction he was heading.  There is a somewhat mature wooded buffer between the houses across the street.  I watched him from our side while pushing my daughter in her swing to see which direction he would head.  I figured I'd stop him if he started making his way back to road.  But, as I suspected, within a few minutes he quickly scooted into the woods beyond and out of sight.

For more information on box turtles in suburbia, I've summarized some pertinent information in a previous post.

Happy Friday everyone!

Playing Hooky

Above: a full Blue Whale skeleton (Balaenoptera musculus)

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Last night, a pretty bad thunderstorm blew through the area.  Thunder, lightning....the works.  Our dog, despite his large stature and intimidating appearance, is a real wuss when it comes to storms.  He freaks out and barks at the thunder and lightning.  This is particularly annoying if the storm comes through when my wife and I are trying to sleep.

Usually...the only way either of us can get any sleep is for one of us to go outside with the dog...sit on the porch with him on a leash, and let him see there isn't someone trying to break into the house.  Meanwhile, the person sitting with the dog can try and sleep in a chair, but it usually doesn't amount to much rest.

So, last night I drew the shortest straw.  At 11:30 pm, only seconds after laying my head on the pillow, lightning flashed outside.  The dog started barking....and panting...and whining....so I got up, put my clothes on and drug him outside on the leash so my wife could sleep.

I sat in that chair rocking until about 1:30 am....until the lightning and thunder abated.  Then staggered inside and climbed into bed. 

If only we had a hammock out there.
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Originally, I had planned to go out for field work this morning.  But, the late night meant a very late start in the a.m..  At about 8:30 am (after some coffee and cereal) I heard my 2 year old daughter stir.  I walked to her room to help her get ready for the day.  She stood there, hugging her favorite blankets....wearing a cowboy hat that she had apparently drug into her room the previous evening without my notice.  I started getting her dressed...putting on a new shirt, then pants....when suddenly (and without prompting) she said:

"Can we go ta tha 'seum?"

"Where?" I asked.

"The 'seum, and see tha dina-sars?"

"You want to go to the museum?" I asked.

"Ya, and see tha dina-sars."

What father could resist?  Especially a father who also loves dinosaurs. 

She happened to ask on the right day.  No teaching obligations, and the field work....well, I was already dragging alittle from the long night.  I'd just have to put in that much more time tommorrow, and long days in the field are fun, so long as the temperature stays below 85 degrees F.  Not to mention that it was going to be wet and cold out there this morning (the temp dropped down to the upper 40s during the night).

So, I marched into the kitchen and said to my wife:

"The kid wants to go to the museum.  What do you think?  I could probably skip what I need to do this once...."

And so we all went to the 'seum.
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The state natural sciences museum is great.  Its free.  Beautifully laid out.  The exhibits are easily accessible and visible to both children and adults.

The Paleontological exhibits are favorites of my daughter.  Here are a few examples:

Above: a Maiasaur with eggs and hatchlings.

Above: Acrocanthosaurus (background) and Camarasaurus (leg in the foreground)

Above: an awesome Megatherium reconstruction.  The little kid in me can't help but wish these still roamed the landscape.  Wouldn't that make field work more interesting?

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But...it doesn't just have dinosaurs....aside from the paleontological exhibits...the museum also covers the natural history of our state.  These exhibits are broken down by the eco-regions in the state (the coast, the Piedmont, and the mountains).

Above: The entrance to the Coastal exhibit.  Note the Cetacean skeletons lining the ceiling.

Above: hagfish feeding on a shark carcass in the coastal exhibit.

Above: a little saltwater aquarium in the Coastal exhibit.

Above: a beaver dam on a stream in the Piedmont exhibit.

Above: a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the Mountains exhibit.

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 The natural history exhibits are also full of nice terrariums with live amphibians and reptiles (all upkept very well).

Above: a common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) in the Piedmont exhibit.

Above: a live butterfly observatory.

Above: a nice little pair of live Pygmy Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius).

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So I'll have to spend that much more time working tommorrow because I played hooky today.  So what?!  I got to spend some time with my family.  Plus, what could make a father happier than to have his daughter actually request to go to the museum to see dinosaurs?

In the future, she may not want to hang out with daddy all day.

I better get while the getting's good.

My Uncle Bob

When I started this blog in January, I had never intended for it to become an outlet for personal information.  It was meant to be a means by which I could post stories and pictures of stuff I happened across when out in the woods for research and fun. 

Those silly stories and pictures seem alittle trivial now. 
Last week, I recieved a call from my dad, Michael (Max to anyone who knows him well).  My Uncle Bob (Bobby Lee Kapfer) had passed away the night before due to a blood clot in his lung.  He was 77 years old and living in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.  He had fought with one or two blood clots in recent weeks, but had managed to get through them.  In fact, it's my understanding that everyone thought he was more or less in the clear until the last clot showed itself.  It was this latest one...the one that formed in his lung..... that doctors could not seem to get rid of.

The picture at the top of this entry shows my dad's three brothers.  It was taken in 1940 on the family farm outside of Neillsville, Wisconsin.  My dad hadn't been born at the time this picture was taken, so he's not present. From left to right they are, my Uncle Bill (11 years old in the pic), my Unlce Dick (5 years old) and my Uncle Bob (7 years old and eating an apple).  Also pictured are their dogs at the time: Tarzan (the big one) and Prince (the little one). 

I love this picture.  I remember it from my parent's house and asked them to send me a copy recently.


My uncle joined the Airforce at the start of the Korean War (around 1950).  He was 17 at the time, and my grandma (Elsie) and grandpa (Happy Lee) had to sign consent papers to allow him to enter.  My grandma later said it was one of the hardest things she had ever done.  I still can't imagine the nerve it must have taken a teenage boy to enlist in the armed forces with a war going on.  I know I don't have that kind of gumption...neither do most of the teenagers I've met in recent memory. 

Uncle Bob went through basic training in San Antonio, and was a radio operator on a B29-Bomber.  He never went to the war in Korea, however.  Due to an ear infection, the Airforce "grounded" him (much to the relief of my grandparents, I'm sure).

He ended up being stationed in Topeka, Kansas, where he met and married my aunt (Mary Ellen) in 1953.  My Uncle Dick was the only member of the family who could make the wedding (grandparents had a working farm, Uncle Bill was working and my dad was a kid) and drove from Wisconsin to be the best man.  Eventually, after living in a few various places (I believe Albuquerque, NM at one time, and Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin) my Aunt and Uncle settled in Black River Fall, WI and had three kids (my cousins): Lynda, Ken and Chris.

Uncle Bob was an avid hunter and fisherman for most of his life.  He enjoyed the outdoors.  Although I never went hunting with he and my cousins....I think enjoying outdoor recreatiton must be in my family DNA.

Above is a picture from last year (2010).  I believe it was taken at my Uncle Bob's birthday.  This picture shows the adult versions of those little tow-headed kids in the shot at the top of this entry, with the addition of my dad.  Left to right, they are: Uncle Bill, Uncle Bob, Uncle Dick, and Dad.

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I hadn't talked to my Uncle in too many years.  My aunt Mary Ellen passed away a few years ago.  Several months after her passing, my dad and I went to visit Uncle Bob (I still lived in Wisconsin at that time).  We got to spend the day with him, my cousins and their families, and had a great time.  I'm so very glad we did that.  I only wish we had did it more.  He came to visit my parents for alittle while not long after that, and also stopped by to visit my wife and I.   I'm also glad for that time. 

Although I saw them all frequently when I was a kid, I saw them less-often as I grew older.  Mostly this is because my time became consumed with the dumb crap that I thought was so important when I was in high school/college.  After college, my time became consumed with the responsibilities that come from adulthood........I wish that wasn't the case.

I could write about what a great guy he was.  But everyone who's reading this knows I wouldn't be posting about him if he wasn't.  I don't need to write out the full story about how (approximately 10 years ago), my cousin Chris and I took a top-heavy canoe out on a cool mid-October afternoon, with Uncle Bob fishing from the shore.  About how I dug in too deep with an oar in one stroke, snapped the oar and we flipped the canoe.  I don't need to tell you about how damn cold the water was, and how bogged down we were in our soaking wet sweatshirts and shoes while trying to swim the canoe to the other side of the lake....or about how Uncle Bob (who had been watching us from shore), drove his car around the lake, knocked on someone's door (I think he knew them, but not that well), asked if they would mind taking their pontoon boat out on the lake...and showed up just as we hauled our shivering, soaking butts out of the water onto a doc to pick us up.

If I started telling stories like that, you'd be reading all day.

It was after his passing that I, randomly, did an internet search...using his full name... and found very little.  In our overly digitized, computerized, and technical world....my Uncle barely existed.  His life is barely known about, outside of those who were related to him, his friends, or in the words of an obituary that will likely only be read by relatives and friends.  I found that particularly disturbing.  There are entire generations of individuals that may....some day...cease to be part of our cultural record because we have not kept track of them digitally.

Now, this wont happen to my Uncle Bob.  At least for as long as my blog lasts.  If someone searches for Bobby Lee Kapfer on Google, I hope something will show up and the people that read the entry will know about my uncle.