Joyfully Green: Nature & Wildlife

Nature & Wildlife

06/12/2013

Our Love/Hate Relationship with Deer

Yesterday, while I was reading Anna's blog post at Green-Talk about how she protects the vegetables in her garden from deer and other critters by covering them with old pantyhose (ingenious and comical at the same time), I got to thinking about our collective love/hate relationship with deer. The White-Tailed Deer in northern New Jersey are virtually everywhere--moseying through the rural sections as well as the suburbs, and too often, not making it across the busy highways. Anything we're growing that we want to eat, we keep on our deck or in our greenhouse because we've been burned one too many times by deer making a quick smorgasbord of our new plantings.

Sometimes I resent the deer for their insatiable appetites (realizing, of course, that they're just trying to survive in a world where the borders between "us" and "them" are shrinking), but I have to admit, they are really beautiful animals. Funnily enough, they've always reminded me of ballet dancers with their elongated-but-muscular, delicate-but-capable bodies. And their ability to blend in with the forest is nothing short of amazing. Sometimes, we can be out on our deck, having a meal and looking out into the woods, thinking we're just seeing the trees, and then a deer rises to its feet--and then another--and then another--and we realize it wasn't just the trees after all.

Just last week, my nine-year-old son walked to the edge of the woods in our backyard and came face-to-face with a deer about 10 feet away. He kept edging closer and closer, and finally stopped, standing there in a sort of wordless conversation with the animal. There was something magical about the two of them standing there in silence and stillness, regarding each other with curiosity. Both of them young and beautiful in their own way, but together, an exquisite pairing. I asked him later what he felt in that moment. "So peaceful," he replied.

As a society, we've definitely got polarized feelings about deer. I know a few people who hate deer because of Lyme Disease, and I hail from East Lyme, Connecticut, the epicenter of the disease, so I'm no stranger to it (having gotten the tell-tale bull's-eye rash over three decades ago, before most people even knew what it was), but to me, it's just blaming the messenger: The ticks are the ones who have latched on for the ride. I know a lot of people who endorse "thinning the herd" through hunting, and others who still feel heavy guilt and sadness because their car hit a deer. I just saw an article yesterday about a family fighting to keep a pet deer they've raised since it was born.

Well, I'm not taking in any deer as houseguests, but I'm not in favor of hunting them either. I guess I've grown to be at peace with them, and I like them more than I don't. It just takes some adjustments. Regularly, I'm out spraying our bushes with an earth-friendly (but nose-unfriendly) concoction that smells like rotten eggs. Maybe even worse. (I've tried a bunch of deer repellants--my favorite name was Not Tonight Deer!, but I currently use Liquid Fence. Tip: Do NOT spray deer repellant on a windy day; you will be sorry--and stinky.)

We often have various friends visiting from the city (New York) who can't believe their luck when a large herd of deer meanders across our yard. Our guests scramble for their camera-phones and start snapping away. But for us, it's just another day and another deer herd, making its way across our shared terrain. Now and then, we stop to take a picture of them, too.

How do you feel about deer? Love 'em, hate 'em, or somewhere in between? Why? How do you keep them from eating your plants? Please share in the Comments section below (now powered by CommentLuv for ease of use). If you are reading this post via email subscription, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com and you can leave a comment at the original post.

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Posted at 02:49 PM in Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: deer, deer repellant, Lyme Disease, northern New Jersey

05/14/2013

Portraits of Antarctica: An Exclusive Interview with Photographer Tatiana Botton

Most of us will never have the opportunity to travel to Antarctica, although we are seeing more and more images of it with the urgent message of climate change. I was happy to make the acquaintance--across the blogosphere--of photographer Tatiana Botton (raised in Barcelona, now based in Los Angeles and Maui, with work that has appeared in Vogue and GQ, among other international publications), who traveled to Antarctica on a photographic expedition. Tatiana was kind enough to grant me an exclusive interview about her amazing experience there and to share some images with us here at Joyfully Green.

Tatiana, what was your personal inspiration for making the trip to Antarctica?

A few years back, my partner and I were watching the news and saw a boat with passengers being rescued off the coast of Antarctica by the National Geographic Expedition boat. Instead of being freaked out by what we saw, we were actually inspired to go there! Once we had decided to organize the trip, it is quite a long process, as you are planning a year in advance. This gave us plenty of time to plan, and for me to make this a photo expedition.

Can you tell me about the logisitcs of getting to and staying in Antarctica?

So we planned about a year in advance and decided to use the National Geographic Expedition boat. That selection was based on what the boat had to offer--not in amenities but in scientists on board. We departed out of Santiago de Chile and took a chartered flight to Ushuaia, Argentina. We were able to spend the day visiting Ushuaia prior to boarding. Once we boarded, the journey began. We had to cross the Drake Passage. This is the roughest sea in the world! It is a body of water located between the Southern tip of South America at Cape Horn and the South Shetland Island of Antarctica. The passage can take anywhere from 48 hours to over 72 hours, depending on if you get the "Drake Lake" or the "Drake Quake." Well, they said we got the "Drake Lake" on our way down there, but I can assure you that the next morning, the dining room was pretty empty! Everyone stayed inside and hoped for the best, with the help of Dramamine, ginger, or any other natural remedy you could find. Once we got to the Antarctic Peninsula, things were a lot calmer. We spent about 12 days total on the boat, including the passage there and back.

What was the temperature range while you were there, and what were you told to bring to be ready for it?

The temperatures were very frigid. National Geographic provides a list of required items to wear and bring for the trip, like special arctic boots, waterproof pants, under layers, and so on. My partner and I were some of the few to bring ski goggles--they came very much in handy for hanging out on the deck of the boat while moving and being hit by a full snow blizzard!

How close could you get to the penguins to photograph them?

We were able to get respectfully close to them. You do not want to disturb their habits and routine, but you can place yourself close enough to photograph them and allow them to come to you if they are interested. We were able to see a variety of different penguins in their natural habitat. Our trip was in the beginning of the season, so the snow around the penguins was still very white. We have been told that a later trip would not be as pleasant--there would be a lot of very fishy, smelly, red snow around them--as the penguins eat krill and they are not very clean! But our experience was fantastic. I have included here some of the penguins shots I took where I try to give the penguins some human personality.

You have an interesting photograph called "Taking Control" in which the penguins are marching up the hill where humans have set up some sort of operation. What business is happening at this location?

This is an old Argentinian abandoned base in Antarctica. As you can see in the image, the Argentinian Flag is on the left side of the image. This was very interesting to me, as we are talking about the Antarctic Peninsula, so there is actually soil under the ice! The coloring for this image is completely different than the usual Antarctica or blue iceberg images. I was very pleased to see Nature taking things back. It is a very warm image and the penguins feel right at home.

What sort of sounds do you hear in Antarctica? The way you have photographed the icebergs, it seems like it would be either eerily silent or a mysterious, chilling wind would be howling.

Yes, there is a sound while traveling through Antarctica. First when you are on the boat, there is for sure the sound of the wind and the large snowflakes falling. Then there is the sound of the ice when travelling through passages where the ice is still thick and not melted. Then, when you do go on land, usually there are penguins, so it can be quite noisy!

I noticed that for one of your gallery showings, you donated the proceeds to "non-profit nature organizations." Which nature organizations do you personally support and why?

I think it is important to get involved. Locally, I like to donate proceeds from sales to Heal the Bay. Cleaning our local ocean is very necessary and Heal the Bay also provides a good deal of ocean education to local schools. I am also active in the The Nature Conservancy in trying to protect our parks. Lastly, the World Wildlife Fund--I have been a supporter since childhood and I continue to donate to their efforts to protect endangered animals around the world.

Your icebergs reminded me of rare jewels. But sometimes they seemed like portraits of lonely, regal, elderly people with many wrinkles. I can see how you have a history with portrait photography! What is your own artistic impression of the icebergs?

This is an interesting commentary people have been doing with the icebergs. It has come to my attention and I now call them the "Portraits of Icebergs." Each one seems to have an identity and people are attracted to them depending on what they represent: contentment, danger, sexiness, old age. I was just trying to show what was in front of me and while processing the work--it took me more than 6 months--they just appeared in front of me. There is very little retouching in my work and there is absolutely no cropping. This is how I shot them. I was given the opportunity to show the work for the first time at a solo show in Santa Monica, California, and since then, there has been a lot of interest in them.

I loved what you said in your biography of unstable ice sculptures and moving sand dunes: "They are here now, always changing, like the continuous passage of time and our human influence on nature." Do you think you'll ever go back to these places (desert or polar regions) in the future to see how they have changed with time since you last saw them?
For me, they are magical. This is what attracted me the most to the trip to Antarctica. I would go again and will never be able to shoot the same iceberg ever. This is a direct representation of the passage of time. Same thing with the sand dunes I shot in the Namibian Desert. These are two places in the world I need to go back to. Though the Drake Passage to get to Antarctica really makes be doubt I will do it again!

What's next for you to photograph? Any travel planned?

Well, I have a few "secret" projects planned! They are secret because I am not sure when I will be able to do them, but I can assure you there will be a bit more ice involved in them. I am looking for representation in New York, and in the meantime, I am busy promoting other artists as I have created an event: WOMEN MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND, where we showcase women artists based in Los Angeles with a fun, multi-art event twice a year. I am also about to open a small gallery in Paia, Maui, where I spend part of the year.

Tatiana, I just want to say that I've really enjoyed studying your mesmerizing photographs--they are so beautiful and evocative. Thank you for the privilege of interviewing you and sharing your work with the readers of Joyfully Green!

Please show your appreciation to Tatiana for giving her time so thoughtfully to this exclusive interview--kindly leave a comment for her below, and also share her interview on Facebook and beyond. Also, I'd love to hear from readers with recommendations for other nature photographers and artists to interview for Joyfully Green.

To see more of Tatiana Botton's extraordinary work (available for purchase), please visit www.tatianabotton.com

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(c) 2013 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com. All rights reserved. Text digitally fingerprinted and protected by MyFreeCopyright.com. Photographs within this post are exclusively the property of Tatiana Botton; please contact the photographer at her website above for permission to use or reproduce her work in any way. This site licensed by Creative Commons.

Posted at 04:36 PM in Green Business, Green Places, Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: Barcelona, climate change, GQ, Heal the Bay, icebergs, Los Angeles, Maui, nature photography, penguins, the Nature Conservancy, traveling to Antarctica, Vogue, World Wildlife Fund

05/01/2013

Nature and the Beauty of Imperfection

In our front yard, there's a pear tree that has battled through harsh Northeastern winters, a hurricane that uprooted mighty oaks like a giant pulling up dandelions, an October snowstorm that felled its leaf-laden branches, and even the freakish loss of one of its longest limbs on a perfectly windless summer day. From time to time, landscapers or a tree removal company will see us out in the yard and stop their truck to ask if we'd like them to take down the tree. We always answer, "No, thanks." This beleaguered tree is positively inspiring. Fragile and vulnerable, yet strong and resilient. Right now, it looks like a big, lopsided Valentine.

Because I lived for many years in Manhattan, from time to time, my path would cross with a movie star or world-famous model. I still remember briefly meeting Paulina Porizkova at a department store appearance when she was the spokesmodel for Estee Lauder, at the height of her career, and thinking she was like an alien from a distant planet--stunningly beautiful beyond description, in a way not quite real. As she was representing a major cosmetics company, of course she was in full make-up, but I'm sure she would have been just as beautiful, if not more so, without the "mask." I see photos of her now, at age 48, and find her beautiful in an entirely different way. Not alien, but of this earth.

It's funny how we say we like things to be "100% natural", but then we bristle if they're not "perfect." People often like their trees shaped like gigantic lollipops, their lawns a uniform green, and their gardens meticulously manicured. My dentist was complaining to me recently that too many of his patients want their teeth to look like perfect picket fences, and how he has to convince them to go for a more natural look. "Natural" comes from "nature", of course, and nature is not perfect--yet it's beautiful nonetheless.

At this very moment, I can hear the loud buzzing of industrial-strength saws mowing down other trees in the neighborhood--still cleaning up from a hurricane seven months ago--and I'm gazing out the window at our pear tree. It's standing tall in the sunlight, in full, glorious bloom.

Do you find yourself striving for perfection or are you able to embrace how things really are? Do you routinely look for beauty in the everyday world? What's the last beautiful, 100-percent natural thing you remember seeing? Please share!

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Posted at 10:28 AM in Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: 100% natural, Hurricane Sandy, natural imperfections, nature, Paulina Porizkova, perfection

04/15/2013

Pictures & Ponderings: Daffodils and Writer's Block

Phew! I'm finally back.

I've been juggling a number of projects lately (some of which I'll write about here in the near future), and perhaps because I've been preoccupied, I've also been suffering from an unrelenting bout of writer's block--or more precisely, "blogger's block." And then just look at what I found outside today! Sometimes, when you can't find inspiration to write (or draw, or paint...), all you need to do is step outdoors. Springtime, especially, has a way of striking a creative match inside of us, don't you think? Photographing these silky, cheerful daffodils brought me back to a classic poem that really is the essence of springtime:

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth

What's been springing up in your neck of the woods lately? How do you break through creative blocks?

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Posted at 10:37 PM in Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: creative inspiration, daffodils, springtime, William Wordsworth, writer's block

03/24/2013

Pictures & Ponderings: From Thought to Action

"Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become your character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."

The Internet is rife with different answers on who originally penned the wise words above--Mahatma Gandhi and Ralph Waldo Emerson are two of the most common guesses. I don't have the definitive answer either, but I love the sentiment about acting with purpose each day and living mindfully as you move through the world, and I'm grateful to my new nature-loving friend across the blogosphere, Fred First (Fragments from Floyd) for passing it along to me. I'm also grateful to the Pileated Woodpecker who posed for me above, as I admired his own steadfast purposefulness!

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Posted at 09:51 PM in Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: living mindfully, Mahatma Gandhi, mindfulness, Pileated Woodpecker, Ralph Waldo Emerson

03/17/2013

Pictures & Ponderings: The Unpredictable Months

And just when we think "spring has finally sprung"

We wake up to flurries.

Powdered sugar sprinkles down on us all day and into evening

Covering the crocuses which have just started to peek out and say hello

Because winter isn't ready yet to say goodbye.

Mid-March and Mid-October are distant cousins:

They wink at us and whisper, "You don't know us at all."

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Posted at 08:23 PM in Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: crocuses, March snow flurries, springtime

03/07/2013

The Coyote That Wanted to Eat My Dog for Breakfast

It's been almost a year and a half since it happened, yet just last month, I had another nightmare about it. In the dream, I was walking our dog on a pitch-black night and without hearing a thing--just sensing something--I whirled around to see two glowing, green eyes. I bolted awake, shaking the bed. It was the coyote. Again.

In real life, it didn't happen that way. It was a sunny day in September, right after breakfast, and I was taking Delilah (still a pup) for a walk around our neighborhood. When we got to the cul-de-sac where the houses meet the forest, seemingly out of nowhere, it charged. For a split-second, I thought it was somebody's dog, loose from its leash. But this was nobody's pet. This was a wild animal, easily double the size of my 25-pound dog, foaming at the mouth and growling, out for one purpose alone: to eat my dog.

I have a rather odd but convenient habit of morphing into another person when I'm in high-panic situations. That other person has her act seriously together. So, no, I didn't scream or run. I got between my dog and the coyote (with about two feet between us), and I bellowed, with alpha-dog superiority, "NO!!!" I just knew, without even thinking about it, that there was NO WAY I was going to let this creature get to my dog. From a stroke of crazy luck, I had a little spray bottle with me filled with vinegar and water (thanks to a tip from our dog trainer), and I instinctively sprayed the coyote several times in the face.* Finally, it turned tail and ran back into the woods. I went home and in a steady, businesslike manner, I wrote an email to all of our neighbors, warning them that an aggressive coyote was out and about. I also called the township to report the incident. Then it hit me, really hard, as I morphed back into "regular" me: I had just fought off a COYOTE. A wild-eyed, raging, hungry, possibly rabid coyote. [Feel free to insert your favorite expletive here.]

Recently, I read an essay by the environmentalist David W. Orr called "Recollections."** In it, he recounts the night he came face-to-face with a coyote. His experience was just a wee bit different than mine and ended up with the two of them sitting down on the ground at a short distance apart, each cocking their heads to the side in mirror-language, and having a sort of telepathic chat with each other. When his coyote pal finally decided to head off into the woods, Orr says, "I stood and watched him fade into the trees along the creek and then walked home, blessed in some way that I could not describe." Suffice it to say, the only blessed feeling I experienced after my own coyote meeting was enormous gratitude that my little dog and I had walked home unscathed.

For the most part, we choose to live where we live--if not in a city, we might live near the woods, near the ocean, near a swamp, or near vast grasslands where we can't tell what's living within reach of us. A friend down south told me about a 10-foot alligator that made an appearance in her backyard. I saw a news story today about a 2000-pound great white shark that was tagged and released not far off-shore in Florida. My eco-blogging colleague Tricia in Australia recently wrote about spotting a funnel web spider about to crawl under their outhouse. ("Funnel web spider" seems to be another name for "tarantula." Take a look at that thing and be prepared to freak out.)

During the decade or so when I lived in Manhattan, there would be the occasional report on the evening news of a wild animal on the loose (never mind the all-too-frequent rat stories): a rabid raccoon, a very lost mountain lion, a coyote making its way down from the woodlands of Westchester County. I was never particularly pleased at the outcomes of these stories, which usually involved a policeman or an animal control officer killing the "trespassing" animal.

But the world has gotten a lot smaller, and sometimes the boundaries between "us" and "them" are blurred. This is the price we pay to live in a world graced with wild animals. Sometimes, we get too close for comfort, and one side loses the fight. In an article from The Wall Street Journal (which I found fascinating, despite the apparent pro-hunting bias), author Jim Streba writes: "It is very likely that in the eastern United States today more people live in closer proximity to more wildlife than anywhere on Earth at any time in history." I can't argue with him on that point--we have a veritable zoo in our own backyard.

A few years ago, when I was complaining to my husband that some kind of burrowing rodent was digging holes all over our garden, he said one of the wisest things that anybody has ever said to me: "It's just a little creature, trying to make its way in the world." I've thought of those words many times over the years (even when the creatures weren't so little): the time when my children wondered why a fox had eaten a pretty bird and left behind only a mess of bloody feathers near our doorstep; the time a black bear cub ambled across our backyard in broad daylight; every time I see the carcass of a deer who tried and failed to cross the highway. Like us, these animals are (or were) simply going about their daily lives, trying their best to provide for their families, or even just trying to make it through the week in the best ways they know how. Are they encroaching upon our territory, or vice-versa?

On any given day, you never really know what will greet you when you head out of your front door. The coyote experience shook me to the core, that's for sure. I carry pepper spray now and I'm only semi-afraid to use it. I walk outdoors with more awareness and a touch of paranoia mixed with bravado, much like I did during my time in Manhattan. And speaking of those days gone by in the Big Apple, the motto is the same here and now as it was there and then: "It's a jungle out there." Don't I know it!

Your turn: What wildlife have you spotted in your neck of the woods? I'm all ears!

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* Don't spray your dog in the face, especially the eyes. They don't like the scent of vinegar, so our trainer's point was to spray near them when they're doing something undesirable.

** The essay "Recollections" appears in the book entitled Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (The Bioneers Series). Publisher: Sierra Club Books; (October 1, 2005)

Posted at 08:54 PM in Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: author of Nature Wars, black bears, coyote attack, coyotes, David W. Orr, foxes, Jim Streba, suburban sprawl, wild animals in the suburbs, wildlife

03/03/2013

Mourning Doves: True "Love Birds"

I have a warm spot in my heart reserved for any creatures that mate for life and share childcare duties. So, it stands to reason that my absolute favorite bird is the Mourning Dove. Imagine my happiness, then, at heading out the door this cold, gray morning and hearing their familiar call (click here to listen), gazing upwards and finding that Mr. and Mrs. Mourning Dove were having a little rendez-vous right on my roof.

The more I learn about Mourning Doves, the more I adore them. The male is particularly gallant, looking out for his mate and paying her such extraordinary respect. For example, I just learned (from the link in the second sentence) that the male shows the female a few nest options and lets her make the choice on where they will live. How sweet is that?

They are such a pleasure to observe together--they preen each other's feathers, they have little chats, and they keep a close eye on each other. They are true love birds, and I love them.

Thank you, Mourning Doves, for starting off my morning on a good note.

Food for thought: Are there any animals for which you have a particular fondness? Why? Can you google them right now and learn something new about them?

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Posted at 08:40 PM in Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: bird-watching, birdcalls, Mourning Dove, preening

02/10/2013

Pictures & Ponderings: Silence and the Snow

"We awaken on a winter morning to the stillness of a world lying hushed beneath a blanket of overnight snow. Walking through the powerful silence of a forest, we are embraced by its stillness and learn to listen, see, and feel more deeply. The moments of silence we encounter are benedictions, blessings that echo in our hearts. They invite us to be still...to be present in the world."

-- Christina Feldman, Silence: How to Find Inner Peace in a Busy World (2001, Axis Publishing)

Food for thought: The next time you take a walk outside, try to silence the chatter of your own thoughts and really listen to the world around you; really see what is in front of you; inhale the fresh air. Why is it often so difficult to embrace silence and stillness? How much undivided attention do you routinely give to nature? To technology? If nature is far outweighed by technology, what can you do today to shift the balance?

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Posted at 08:20 PM in Nature & Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: appreciating silence, nature, snow, stillness

02/04/2013

Pictures & Ponderings: Winter and Frost

I feel like I've known the following poem for as long as I can remember, and yet I never tire of it. Robert Frost was one of my father's favorite poets, and this poem always brings back memories of the woods behind my childhood home in Connecticut. If we ventured out far enough into the woods, we would come to a long-forgotten carriage path. I love how a poem has the power to transport us back in time to a place we hold dear and the people who brought us there.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.