Willamette and the Fly

This is an interesting blog post for me. I almost always add a title after I have done my writing, but in this instance Willamette’s relationship with the fly was on my mind. “The Fly” to me primarily represents the type of offense our football team runs here. Right now, I am very frustrated with it. Now this may seem like a football mumbo-jumbo-Josh-rant, but my observation of how much I dislike the “buzz motions” and the “tac belly 96” play-action passes has led me to rethink how that my current outlook on “The Fly” in football relates with how I view the fly in nature.

Commonly associated with being purely a household pest, the fly as I know it holds more meaning. I have no knowledge on species of different flies and what their ecological niche means to our environment and well-being, but by simply taking a fly-fishing trip to Jackson, Wyoming this past summer I have acquired a little bit of appreciation for these so-often-swatted creatures. A good fly-fisherman knows where fish will be in the river but more importantly, they know what the fish are hungry for. It can be a good investment of time for a fisherman to just observe the body of water that they are planning on fishing and find out what type of flies and little critters are hovering in the air. Again, I am no expert on this subject, but from the little knowledge I have on the importance of the fly that the fisherman is using, it seems that the fisherman is a breed of naturalist that particularly appeals to me, a practical naturalist.

My definition of the practical naturalist is centered on the principle that observing nature helps accomplish a tangible goal such as catching a fish, building a good shelter, or making a good piece of furniture. The classic example of a practical naturist is Sam Gribley, survivor man extraordinaire and protagonist of the book My Side of the Mountain. The plot summary is that Sam runs away from home and eventually takes shelter in a hollowed out tree in the forests of upstate New York. He learns new things daily about his environment and eventually creates a very comfortable existence for himself. I am truly inspired by the thought of just making it on my own in the wild, even if it was just a month or so. As for now though, I will glean information from this class and maybe just try to become a better fly-fisherman.

Excerpts from the University of Oregon

Sunday, 2:00ish AM

Walking back to the Carson dormitory with my friend Sam, we encountered two raccoons stealing away into a tree. When I got a little closer to get a better look, the two black and white inquisitively stared me down. If it wasn’t for the nut shells that I tossed their way, I might have been able to lock eyes with the pair for the rest of the night. This is my first raccoon sighting in Oregon, and definitely a memorable one. They proved that they have the capability to be the thieves that peruse our garbage in the middle of the night. I just happened to be as nocturnal as they were on that night, but it looked like we had the same idea of going back to our homes for the night and get some sleep. I had a train to catch back to Salem early in the morning; I wonder what their morning schedule holds. It also makes me question if I wandered Willamette’s campus at that hour if I would find any raccoons roaming around.

Sunday, 7:45ish AM

On my way through the campus on my lonely, quiet saunter to the train station I viewed the Sunday morning churchgoers. They weren’t the student that’s for sure, most of them probably had wicked hangovers, it was the variety of squirrels that I have failed to correctly recall their names. As dirty as they probably are, they seemed clean enough to enter a little squirrel chapel. One of them was presumably digging for his Sunday offering, likely a tasty nut of some sort. The squirrels were out in full force in the mornings but I do not remember seeing any at night. How many hours of sleep do squirrels need? And when all the students are out at night are they sleeping with their bushy tails keeping them warm or are they kept awake by the constant clamor and possible tear gas that police dispersed when there was a riot on Saturday night. With the addition of many crow sighting and the observation of many different trees around campus whose names are beyond me, it definitely constituted a wild weekend in both regards.

Reflection on Mascots

I see ducks in the Mill Race almost daily. I did not see one actual, avian duck at the University of Oregon. I have yet to see a living, breathing, furry bearcat on the Willamette campus. I could’ve sworn that I saw at least two or three bearcat looking creatures around Eugene. My better judgment tells me those were probable the homeless people around the train depot and McDonalds however. To conclude the observation I just think it would make sense if we became the Willamette Ducks and they got stuck with the Southeast Asian beast. GO DUCKS!!!!!

Educational Litter

Early last week, on the way to swimming at Sparks, I saw a green lollipop sitting on its wrapper by the stairs. Little black ants were crawling all over it. I thought that was odd. Normally when I see a group of ants they swarm a bread crust and carry away crumbs. These ants were coming and going from the candy without carrying anything away (or so I thought at the time). I passed the same candy again on Saturday morning and noticed that it was considerably smaller. I thought it highly unlikely that the ants were just eating the candy so i checked online and found I was right. Ants can store food in the crop in their abdomen while bringing it back to the nest.

Poof!

Lately I've been walking to Goudy by going on the sorority side of the building and there have been a lot of squirrels out there. So, today on my way back my friends and I stopped to see close to one we could get. By walking up to one you couldn't get near one at all. The best method I could find I came upon by accident. I leaned up against the tree on the opposite side of the squirrel so that he or she couldn't see me. The squirrel was smarter than that however and just pranced over to the other side of the tree and just looked at me like I was an idiot. It got up right next to my foot and only left when I started laughing.
My conclusion is that if you lean up against the side of a tree and don't move squirrels will be OK with coming close to you, more or less. This has only been tested one time so don't be too harsh on my method.

Unnoticeable

I was walking with my friend in downtown Portland when I noticed a pigeon in our path. It didn't seem like anyone even acknowledged the pigeon as they walked by. The small animal seemed as though he had to get out of the way for everyone. As we approached the bird my friend was talking to me and completely wasn't paying attention to the pigeon. She came within an inch of stepping on the poor creature and the pigeon didn't move and she didn't even notice. As soon as we passed the animal I told her that she almost stepped on it and she looked back and started laughing and told me that they aren't noticeable at all in big city. This instantly reminded me of Crow Planet and how animals such as crows or pigeons have adapted to be more comfortable with humans. I don't think that the pigeons are noticeable in a big city because they are one of the very few creatures to be spotted in a city. However, if it was an animal that stood out more, such as a bear, then people would probably all notice it. People and "city" animals have both adapted to seeing each other and are both very comfortable with each other; thus, humans rarely notice such small creatures.

Wide Variety

My eyes have really opened since I took this naturalism class. One of the most meaningful things I have picked up from this class has been my ability to recognize and observe what other people may not. This first couple of weeks I walked through campus I really didn't notice the wide variety of landscape. As I strolled through campus looking for some naturalistic observation I realized that there was an enormous amount of different plants throughout campus. There is such a wide variety here compared to other campuses. I have visited many other universities and no other university seems to have as wide of variety as Willamette has to offer. The majority of the students here do not appreciate this. We as naturalists are slowly learning more and more about organisms and have built a curiosity among us that lets us truly acknowledge the wide variety of specimens around campus. Now every time I walk by a certain plant I start wondering if there is a plant near it that is the same or have I seen that particular plant somewhere else on campus. Ever since the class trip we took to the wintergreen berry bush has made me want to know more about the variety of plants on campus.

The Leaf Hunt Is On

Today was my first official leaf hunting day. Although fall is my least favorite season I do love to collect leaves. These leaves came from around campus, between campus and Safeway, and between campus and the waterfront. I usually try to only take one leaf from each tree
I pass so I don't look like a walking shrubbery. I pressed these leaves under my numerous text books (I knew all those books were good for something!) I used the Internet to identify each leaf. The far right yellow leaf came from a Birch. The second to the right came from a Sweetgum. The third from the right came from a Maple. The middle (and top left leaf) in the picture on the left came from a Sycamore tree. All the rest are Maple.
Trees lose their leaved depending on the amount of sunlight they get. I do not recall if the Birch tree was shaded but I found it downtown so it is highly probable. A shaded Birch would lose its leaves sooner than a Birch in the sunlight which explains why I only have one leaf.