RIVER WATCHER
MORE OUTDOOR HAZARDS
Rex Burress
As the heated summer of 2015 winds down, less of the outdoor hazards of that season will be as evident, although it pays to be alert to environmental dangers whenever in the field.
The best way to avoid outdoor hazards at any time is to be a watcher and an informed observer! “You can observe a lot by just watching,” as was so nonchalantly spoken by Yogi Berra, is good advice, and having some information about what you're watching helps, too!
While the potential dangers of wildlife shouldn't keep you from enjoying the out-of-doors, it's important to be knowledgeable of the hazards and proceed with awareness.
The little brown scorpions found hiding under bark and leaves around the Feather River Nature Center--and inside the Center!-- are from a genus named Vejovid, not dangerous, although they can sting like a bee. With a field guide, you need to examine the breast plate shape for complete identification [Turn it upside down!] . All species have the tail-tip stinger, eight legs, and a pair of pinchers--and several tiny eyes. Some scorpion species in Africa and Australia, and one in Arizona, can be deadly.
There are a bunch of 'creepy crawlers' around the ground, and most are not dangerous, but it's best not to bother them, as various spiders, bees, centipedes, and hornets can sting if threatened, and some, like stink bugs, can emit vile odor. You can study their activity, though. Most insects slink into deactivation in winter.
More noticeable are the larger animals such as reptiles and mammals, and invariably, they are prone to go about their business with no desire to attack a human, although a mother with babies can be extra defensive. When in bear country, avoid bears, or wear bells as they do in Glacier National Park, to warn them of your presence. It's the surprise encounter that can be troublesome.
In spite of what John Muir said about going to the forest and letting the chipmunk sit upon your knee, if you go around trying to pet a cute little chipmunk, beware--all of those squirrelly things have formidable front incisors and can sink them in if so inclined. If they can crack a nut, they can crack a finger! The worse animal bite I ever received was from a gray squirrel in a cage. Perhaps it was expressing its displeasure at being caged.
A popular trend in 2015 is to be a forager [that's not a forger] and take to the fields in search of edible plants, preferably with a conducted nature walk. It's good to know that many plants are useful, and the art of preparation has evolved to even skirt the defensive and toxic traits of certain species. But make no mistake, even though some poisons can be modified by cooking or processing, there are some formidable hazards involved. Oleander, poison hemlock, deadly nightshade, and baneberry are among the rogues that can put you down in the ground.
Just as it's not wise to nibble on mushrooms without research, since some like Amanita phalloides [death-cap] are deadly, stick to potatoes and tomatoes--and even those common table foods come from the treacherous Solanaceae or Nightshade Family. The green skin and raw shoots of potatoes are poisonous if ingested. That family includes the highly toxic Datura group--Jimsonweed, tobacco, Angel's Trumpet, and bluewitch nightshade.
The list is long. Even grapes are very toxic to dogs. What is good for one species is not always good for another. On the list of potentially dangerous plants is monkshood, water hemlock, larkspur, hyacinth, most lilies, bracken fern, and the deadly castor bean, Ricinus, that also makes castor oil when processed. “The beginning of wisdom is to know them by name.”
“What is food to one man is bitter poison to another.”
--Lucretius
“For most of the history of our species we were helpless to understand how nature works. We took every storm, drought, illness, poisonous plant, and comet personally and we created myths and spirits in an attempt to explain the patterns of nature.”
--Ann Druyan