<div class="ck-content"><h3>Humans just can't help themselves</h3><p>In an August 2024 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/06/a-naked-mole-rat-the-worlds-only-eusocial-mammal-has-an-endlessly-pregnant-queen">Guardian article</a>, Helen Sullivan shared some wondrous details of the naked mole rat, but overall offers this tone:</p><blockquote><p><span style="background-color:rgb(254,249,245);color:rgb(18,18,18);">That is the thing about NMRs: each piece of information is worse than the last, but you cannot stop reading.</span></p></blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1ktFOOKhLACVPsC0DEIcqcjp-bHTsS4C-&sz=w400-h200" alt="naked mole-rats"></div><p>Here's a section from her article:</p><blockquote><p>The queen’s pups – she’ll give birth to more than 1,000 over her lifetime – will beg other NMRs for their faeces. The females she bullied are waiting: they’re likeliest to try to kill and replace her while she is giving birth. NMRs eat their young dead and alive – leaving only the heads and teeth. The teeth, of which there are four, can move individually, “like a pair of chopsticks”, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. When they eat, they hold a piece of food in their front paws and bite into it. They chew with their mouths open.</p></blockquote><p>This sort of thing drives me nuts. Or as my favorite bumper sticker put it: <strong>My species disappoints me.</strong></p><p>Every single individual of every single species is here because it has successfully survived for millions of years. Every species is precisely as “intelligent” as it needs to be. And - BREAKING NEWS for humans - they are not here to entertain us or be beautiful for us or smell nice for us. And they have just as much right to be here as humans. </p><p>So, Helen, please give it a rest.</p><h3>The Great Stilt Grass Pull of 2024</h3><p>Last year, we held our first ever stilt grass pull at Brumley South on September 9th. Over a dozen kids joined us for a really exuberant invasive removal event!</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1ouQx8OnXVrTp5ZyP3nzBeXCUro31YUPy&sz=w600-h400" alt="kids pull stilt grass"></div><p>It's now time to once again pull stilt grass before it goes to seed. I had originally planned to remove the grass from the same area again and see (next year) what two consecutive years of pulling will do.</p><p>I've changed my mind. The area we cleared doesn't look much different from the areas right around it. And that's part of the problem with stilt grass: so many seeds, so easily spread to nearby areas. </p><p>So rather than double down in that area, I've decided to take a different approach this year. And, actually, I wouldn't be surprised if next year, I take another, different approach. Stilt grass is a big challenge in a place like Brumley. It is spreading like wildfire through the understory, in part because of our incredibly successful, volunteer-powered removal of privet and olive from the understory.</p><p>I look ahead to a time when all the “discrete” invasives, like privet, olive, multiflora rose, ailanthus, etc. are no longer a threat, and we move to a “maintenance” schedule of removing new growth every couple of years. Because then, <i>then, </i>we can really focus on stilt grass. And to do that, we need to figure what works, how our volunteer efforts can have the most impact. </p><p>OK, so back to September 14th. Last year, we pulled up a small mountain of this awful invasive, near the cul de sac on the left as you enter the Schoolhouse of Wonder entrance. Looking at that area now, I realize that it will be very difficult to see progress when the cleared section if surrounded by un-pulled stilt grass that produces 100s of 1000s of seeds. </p><p>This year, I want to do something different. The plan: clear out the stilt grass from the area immediately past the <i>other</i> cul de sac: the wedge between the Grand Oak Loop and the connector to the Walnut Grove Loop, as well as the area on the other side of the connector, and probably the area directly left of the cul de sac as well. in other words, here:</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1MUIXI9Je4sV5rAmsZ3Ne9d84E_-lzCpJ&sz=w400-h300" alt="map"></div><p>Then I want to put up fencing around as much of it as we can, and later in the fall plant a whole bunch of bare root white oak and post oak saplings (did this last year in another nearby fenced area, and it looks like we got a lot of survivors).</p><p>Then I plan to work with Schoolhouse of Wonder staff to have the kids take responsibility for ongoing removal of stilt grass in those areas (they've already expressed interest.</p><p>This area will be constantly seen by SoW folks, by me and my volunteers. It will be easier to be reminded of the need to keep it clear.</p><p>I hope you can join us on September 14th. We have a <i>lot </i>of stilt grass to pull and it should be a lot of fun! Sign up <a href="https://triangleland.volunteerhub.com/vv2/">here</a>.</p></div> |