I have covered the soil in my flower pots with rocks trying to keep the chipmunks from digging my plants out. But my flower destroying chipmunks are rather determined and speedy. If they were slower like a Stegosaurus, I might have a chance to catch them when I hear the rocks hitting the porch when the chipmunks are tossing the rocks and flowers out. I wonder if this stone creature would scare the the chipmunks away.
Rock Dinosaur
One patch of my wild roses did not come back this year so maybe the increased number of rabbits running around my lawn is the cause like the declining roses folklore implied.
Bad Bunny
The wild roses have started to bloom this year. And like many wildflowers, there are various legends and folklore stories for the flowers.
One story for the wild rose tells how abundant they once were and no noticed their decline until one summer there was no roses. Everyone was alarmed and at a meeting, the world was searched and a hummingbird found a solitary rose in a far off land. It was brought back and the medicine men and women tended the rose until it was healthy enough to give an account of the rose decline. The rose said the rabbits ate all the roses. The assembly was angry and the bears and wolves seized the rabbits by the ears and cuffed them, causing the rabbits ears to stretch and split their mouths open. The rose intervened so the animals didn’t kill all the rabbits as the rose stated the rest hadn’t watched out for the declining roses either. The rabbits retained their scars and roses received thorns to protect them but the rose never attain their former abundance.
The Disappearing Rose
The full moon today is called the Full Strawberry Moon, which came from the Algonquin tribes in eastern North America who knew it as a signal to gather the ripening fruit of wild strawberries. And the Strawberry Moon has the bright planet Jupiter next to it this year.
This barn doesn’t have a full moon and has stars instead of a planet but it is an interesting nighttime sky theme.
Moon Barn
Many are celebrating Father’s Day, with gifts to dad or activities like fishing with the family as tribute to fathers. The birds might not observe holiday events, but the father of these red-winged blackbirds was doing his best to protect his children by making noise and swooping to drive me away from the nest. His song was not the nice melody when they return in spring, but the scolding chak chak chak noise that red-winged blackbirds make when you’re in their territory.
Baby Red-winged Blackbirds
The pink lady slipper flower, also known as the moccasin flower, is a wild native orchid. Pink lady’s slipper takes many years to go from seed to mature plants and can live to be twenty years old or more.
Among several Native American tribes, there are tales revolving around the pink lady slipper. One story is of a young Indian girl who embarks on a snow winter journey for desperately needed medicine for her family and tribe. On the journey she loses her moccasins, but continues on bloodying her feet, leaving a trail behind her. In the spring the bloody footprints are replaced by bright pink lady slipper orchid and all return to health. In other tales, the maiden does not survive after getting the medicine to her tribe and the beautiful flowers grow as a reminder of her bravery.
Pink Lady’s Slipper
Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 to commemorate the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777. Today were was another type of ‘flag’ waving in the wind. A native iris, the Northern Blue Flag is often found at the margins of water. The blossom has large lobes that bees use as landing platforms to attract insects to the nectar glands. This wild iris is also a deer-resistant perennial.
Blue Flag on Flag Day
Today I drove around a turtle (after I took its picture) and discovered it was a turtle which isn’t as common as the painted or snapping turtle. The Blanding’s turtle was removed from Wisconsin’s Threatened list on January 1, 2014 but are still listed as a Species of Special Concern. The destruction of Blanding’s turtle habitat is causing increased turtle mortality in all life stages and roads are also a hazard for them.
The females may travel a mile to their nesting site from about mid-May through early July depending on spring temperatures. Nests are not safe from hungry birds, crows, skunks, foxes, and raccoons. Each clutch, or nest of eggs, contains from 3 to 17 eggs and takes 65 to 90 days to hatch. The Blanding’s turtle takes 17 to 20 years or more to reach maturity and may live over 70 years.
Blanding’s Turtle
The road crossing turtles sometimes get some help from people to get them safely to the other side. but helping little painted turtles are easier to help than snapping turtles with their claws and strong jaws.
Road Crossing Snapper
On the news today, there was a warning about turtles crossing the road to get to their nesting sites because roadway mortality is a major factor in their decline. Their “hide in their shell and wait it out” strategy which has helped them since before the time of dinosaurs doesn’t work so well with fast moving cars and trucks so keep an eye out for the the turtles sharing the road.
Troubled Turtle Times
