10 Random Things

[Dee & Frank Hughes]

According to todays paper the most popular, viral thing on Facebook is a chain letter game called "25 Random Things about Me". Anybody up for a literary effort of this kind on habitat and wildlife? I'll take the plunge:


1.The first work of literature in the Italian language is by my patron saint, Francis of Assisi. The “Canticle of Brother Sun” praises god in nature; brother sun, sister moon and mother earth. Written in 1224-wow.

2.The rarest bird I’ve ever seen is the California Condor. It’s big baby.

3.The neatest birds I’ve ever seen are the nuthatches, sparrows, etc (and even the 3200 cardinals) who come to my backyard feeder each day.

4.Humpback whales rest by floating on the ocean surface, usually in family groups. It’s called logging.

5.Rocky Mountain National Park is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. So is the Grand Canyon, Taos, New Mexico, the Pacific Coast Highway and a few other places.

6.I have a secret affection for English Ivy.

7.I read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson when I was in high school. It effected me.

8.My favorite ecology song is Tom Paxton’s “Whose garden was this?” It’s only .99 on Amazon.

9.Is Matthews not the greenest town in NC?

10.Everybody should be in therapy. Yes you. Especially you. (OK- I stole that one from the article)

Tag- you're it.

[Ernie McLaney]

1. I grew up on a street that dead-ended into a very large multi acre track of woods in Charlotte. Now, long gone, it was there that I spent my youth and fell in love with the natural world.

2. I learned how to swim when my grandfather threw me into Lake Wylie when I was six.

3. In those woods of my youth, I often came face to face with deer, opossum, skunk, great horned owl, box turtles, fence lizards, and quail, oh yea, and poison ivy and chiggers.

4. Even now, I feel great sadness when I see what used to be a patch of woods clear cut to squeeze in multiple homes. This cries out of madness and greed.

5. "Green" is now in the hands of corporate marketing. Watch out for major spinning and "green washing".

6. To me, if you want to know environmental truth, check out the Union of Concerned Scientists.

7. I've always been interested in birds. My all time favorite is the Wood Thrush.

8. I have a solid new appreciation for Native plants after reading "Bringing Nature Home" by Douglas Tallamy (thank you, Carol). What struck me so, is understanding that when anyone plants non-natives, our local insects, who are not familiar with that plant, or only eat or lay eggs on our natives, move on to another location in search for that plant that their species has been associated with for thousands of years. When the insects leave, the birds, lizards, frogs and other things that eat that insect can no long find food and they too move on. So you see, spreading non-natives starts the process of destroying biodiversity, ends the natural habitat, and pushes wildlife ever closer to extinction.

9. Put me on a deserted island with a solar powered laptop that mysteriously picks up the internet, my guitar with spare strings, abundant fresh water and fruit, a kayak, binoculars and a life time supply of sweet iced tea, and I'm set until the glaciers melt and flood me out. (but then, I have my kayak)

10. I really prefer to be doing what I'm doing now - trying to make a difference by advocating for environmental education, conservation, wildlife habitats and sustainability. And my hope is that the kids of today will get back outside and experience the wonders of nature, as I have, and continue after I am gone, to be the stewards of this earth. If you have young children or grand childern, please read "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv.

[Carol Buie-Jackson]

1. We’ve lived in our house for almost 12 years and have documented over 70 species of birds in our backyard. (We stopped counting at 70). My favorite was probably the pair of Bob White Quail who stayed with us for a day and serenaded us with their classic call.

2. A giraffe’s tongue is 18 inches long

3. A great book called From the Ground Up was what inspired me to start composting with worms.

4. We had a pet alligator named Albert when I was growing up. He was 18” when we got him (I was in 5th grade) and about 12’ the last time I fed him hamburger (about 5 years ago). We trained him to come when we called. We were stupid!

5. The Wood Thrush call is my favorite of all bird calls. The Barred Owl is second.

6. The mullet in the rivers in Fla jump incessantly during a full moon. Day and night. Not sure why, but I’m sure there’s a good reason.

7. Alligators build what amounts to a compost pile to lay their eggs in and the temperature of the pile surrounding the egg determines what sex that alligator will be.

8. I think every kid should have a dog and every girl should have a horse, too.

9. Armadillos can hold their breath for six minutes under water and are one of a few non-human species that can contract leprosy.

10. If you see a baby alligator, the first thing you should do is ask yourself “Where’s mama?” because Mama Gators are fiercely protective of their babies.

[Debbie Foster]

1. After reading this, it occurs to me that I have a lot of crazy friends. Is that an example of birds of a feather or opposites attracting, I wonder?
2. I knew how to disassemble and reassemble an electric milker when I was about 7.
3. I slit my right knee open on an exposed screw on a jungle gym. Bet that doesn't happen any more in THIS litigious age!
4. I'm working on becoming proficient in sign language - notice the key words "working on" and "becoming"
5. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and speech.
6. I have an umbrella cockatoo - who opened up a whole new world of parrot rescue for me.
7. You can't touch your elbow with your tongue - but I'll bet you just tried, didn't you????
8. I was wondering why Ernie wanted a laptop on his island, but I'll give him a pass because it just dawned on me that I would HAVE to have lots of books and I guess I'd have to use the web to get 'em.
9. The sense that is most closely connected to memory is - smell!
10. I got to see a yellow-bellied sapsucker AND a pileated woodpecker at McAlpine. How cool was that? Even better, I had somebody (thank you, Jill) who could tell me what the first one was!

[Heather Merewood]

What a great idea!

1. Adding on to Carol's #2: a giraffe's tongue is black so it doesn't get sunburned while the giraffe is eating from the tree-tops.

2. Adding on to Dee and Frank's #2: California condors have a wingspan of around 9.5 feet and weigh around 20 pounds!

3. I thank my parents for my love and appreciation of nature. While my friends were on vacation at resorts in Florida and going to Disneyworld, my parents were taking us camping in the woods.

4. I've been told I do a good great-horned owl impression.

5. Hares practice coprophagy. Their food is incompletely digested after it passes through their system, so they eat the soft green pellets. After the second pass through the digestive system, their pellets are dry, brown and stripped of all nutrients.

6. I am in the process of converting all the grass in my front yard to a native plant and butterfly garden.

7. Barn owls rely on their hearing so much for hunting that they even have a built-in "comb" on one of their talons so they can keep their facial disc in good condition.

8. My favorite sounds include the common loon call and wolves howling in the distance.

9. Beavers float when they are babies so they won't be able to drown.

10. I am continually amazed by the delicate intricacies of nature. I could never get bored exploring outside and learning about the world around us, and I am encouraged by the curiosity of our children.