Recently, I read a book entitled “Gone for Another Day“, published by the Ned Smith Center. This book is from the original journals of Naturalist and Artist Ned Smith. On June 25, 1978, Ned wrote in his journal that he had found a number of cattail flowers ready to burst through their papery sheathes, with the male spikes swollen and shedding pollen. When Ned found the male sections that still had their papery sheathes, he cut the sheathed spikes off the plant and took them home to cook and eat. After the spikes were boiled for three minutes, they were removed from the water, generously buttered and ready for Ned to eat. Ned wrote that they were quite good but the male flowers had a hard core that resembled a knitting needle. The part about the papery sheathes was unclear to me; however, several weeks later I was walking through a stand of cattails, while trying to find and take a picture of a red-winged blackbird’s nest, I noticed that although some of the male sections still had their papery sheathes, most had been discharged and laden with pollen. | The two species of cattails common in North America are Typha latifolia and Typha angustifolia. Typhia is a Greek word meaning marsh; latifolia, meaning wide leaf and anugustifolia, meaning skinny leaf. T. latifolia prefers shallow water and is found in the north, while T. anugustifolia prefers deeper water and is found more abundantly in the south. If lost in an area where cattails are found, a person will have four of the five things needed to survive: water, food, shelter and a source of fuel for heat (previous year’s stalks). Only companionship will be missing. Cattails, which are also known as a bulrushes and cat-o-nine-tails, are among the first wetland plants to colonize a newly exposed wet area due to their abundance of seeds dispersed by the wind. The seeds buried in the mud are able to survive for long periods of time. Seeds germinate best with sunlight and fluctuating temperatures, which is typical of many wetland plants growing on mud flats. Cattails also spread by their rhizomes, which create interconnected stands of cattails that often exclude other plants from growing. |
By William Bower By William Bower
By William Bower
By William Bower Several days after Scott Crandell, of Mifflinburg, sent me a picture of a crow carrying a young bird in its beak, I saw a crow come out of a dumpster, with a morsel of food in its beak, and fly away. Later, in the week, I watched as crows chased a red-tail hawk, and on another day, crows being chased by songbirds.
Henry Ward Beecher wrote, "If men wore feathers, very few of them would be clever enough to be crows." The crow is a remarkable bird, and some even say that it is our smartest bird. Although man has always considered the crow as its enemy and killed them indiscriminately, the crow has thrived on man's activities. Today, we have more crows than when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. By William Bower When taking a walk on a sunny morning, with a gentle breeze blowing, one can not help but think that everything in nature is serene. However, a recent picture sent to me, by Scott Crandell, of Mifflinburg, shows that everything is not as it appears. Scott had been taking pictures of a cuckoo bird sitting on a limb near its nest, and as he was walking home he noticed a crow flying overhead. He was able to snap a picture of the crow, and was surprised to find the crow had a young bird in its beak. Scott e-mailed the picture to me with the caption, “The crow flew over the cuckoo’s nest.” Now, Scott was not sure if the crow took the young bird out of the cuckoo’s nest or from another bird’s nest. By William Bower
By William Bower We humans have to put a name to everything. We can't simply say, "You know the bush I mean, the one with the red berries.” because there are many bushes with red berries. It all depends on which area of the country you reside in as to what this bush with red berries is called. For instance, trees and bushes have many local names that have passed down through generations. Lumbermen, foresters and nurserymen will have different names for the same bush or tree. The most conspicuous feature of a tree is its shape. There is no doubt that primitive man observed the differences in the trees and decided they needed to be classified. Probably, the first big difference noticed by early man was that some trees lost their leaves before winter and some did not. The evergreen trees must have been one of the first classifications. Since most evergreen trees bear their seeds in cones, these trees later became known as conifers, a Latin word meaning cone bearing; from the Greek word kenos, meaning cone. Those trees losing leaves were called deciduous, which is Latin and means falling off or fall down. By William Bower In Shamokin, PA, on November 16, 1922, Joseph and Susan (Raker) Eadie became the parents of a baby girl, who was named Louise. Six years later another baby girl, Marian was born. By William Bower At the beginning of May, I received a call from Jim Spenser, who lives on Horse Thief Run Road, in Tioga County. I’ve often wondered how a road or area received its name but with Horse Thief Run Road, I don’t have to think too hard. I do know that the road was not named after Jim. Jim called to tell me that he had removed the top of a blue bird house and found it full of nesting materials. He began cleaning out the box when an animal popped up from amongst the nesting materials; quickly jumped out and ran up the evergreen tree on which the box was posted. The animal, which startled Jim, was a flying squirrel. Jim then noticed a young squirrel poke its head out of the nest. The young squirrel let out a squeak when Jim picked it up, and the mom came a running down the tree. Jim put everything back the way he found it, and since then, he has not gone near the nest. However, from a distance, he has watched the box and was able to take a picture of mom looking out. By William Bower Several weeks ago Mary Alice and I were driving through State Game lands # 220 when we noticed a vehicle, with no one inside, parked along the roadway. I guess old habits are hard to break because I immediately began to wonder why the vehicle was there. So, I stopped to find out.
Turns out it was our friend, Ron Young, of Troy, who was to take a girl scout troop on a wildflower walk the next day, and he was out scouting for wild flowers. By Bill Bower Since spring came late to the mountains of Pennsylvania, Mary Alice and I decided to head south to Rehoboth Beach, with the hope of finding signs of spring. In the morning as we were leaving Troy, the sun was shining; the sky was blue and cloudless. However, by the time we crossed the Delaware State line, it was raining and the temperature was dropping.
By William Bower Along RT#14 (just outside of Troy) a new wetland has been developed to replace a wetland destroyed on Armenia Mountain. The state requires that a new wetland be developed when a wetland is destroyed.
By William Bower As a young boy, I remember our uncle telling us kids the legend about the wendigo (aka windago), a story that made quite an impression on me. For many years, if I was alone in the woods and the wind began blowing, I would cautiously look about to make sure that it was not the wendigo.
Many of these legends live on when told to young and old gathered around camp fires. Although these legends are told to temporarily scare those gathered, there are people that actually believe some stories, such as those about Big Foot and the wendigo. Everyone Has a Story to Tell and This One is About Luther Fleming (1895-1988) By William Bower4/23/2015
Do you remember the television show “Happy Days”, with the Fonz, Richie, Ralph, Potsy and friends hanging out at Arnolds? It seems that teenagers always had a favorite place to hangout back in the 50’s. When Mary Alice and I were dating, our favorite place was Barbecue Cottage. It was a drive-in restaurant where we ordered from a speaker at our parking spot. A young girl brought the food to us on a tray that hooked onto the car’s window. Of course, some of the guys had hotrods, with loud mufflers, and loud music not only blared from car radios but also from the restaurant’s speaker. We went there on our second date, and Mary Alice insisted on giving me a quarter for her barbecue. (Contrary to what some might believe it wasn’t my idea for going “Dutch”.) I still have the quarter. Recently, I received a call from a local farmer, saying that I should write an article about Luther Fleming and his little store in Windfall. He went on to say that, during the early 50’s, Luther’s store was the popular hangout for young people in the Windfall area. By Bill Bower One March evening we were getting ready to go to bed when Mary Alice yelled, “Come quick.” Since I always listen, I went to find her. There she was looking out the back door window at three deer. Since she was quite excited, it was quite evident that she did not remember what the deer had done two years ago to her spring flower garden.
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