to know the land

Ok, so this is weird, but I love death.

Dying, decay, decomposition, breakdown.. synonyms that sort of warm my heart in a strange kinda way. When I think of death I think of nutrients breaking down into small parts, making it easier for other things to consume and to continue to grow and live. I think of how death makes all life possible. How without consuming things like veggies, grains, fruits, mushrooms, and maybe even meats, all things which were once alive, we could never live. I am grateful to death so that I may live. I too am grateful to those things which help break things down. The decomposers which turn trees into soil and enable all the plants to grow, soil bacteria to thrive and create suitable substrates to all the fungal bodies in the dirt.

Today’s show is all about those fungal forms which help breakdown trees into consumable soil nutrients; white rot and brown rot. I have talked about them before on the show, but I wanted to dig in a little bit more. I hope you enjoy it!

To Learn More :
Field Guide to Tree Diseases of Ontario (pdf)
Polypores and Similar Fungi of Eastern and Central North America by Alan E. Bessette, Dianna G. Smith, and Arleen R Bessette. University of Texas Press, 2021.
Plant Pathology by George N. Agrios. Harcourt Academic Press, 1997.
Disgustipated by Tool

This passed weekend I was able to go out tracking with folks at Wiijindamaan where I once again notice the Poplar Vagabond Aphid Gall. And last week, I was having another conversation with folks about the Spruce Pineapple Adelgid Gall. Galls persist through the Winter and into Spring when many of the insects which have created them will begin to emerge.

Since now is the time to be keeping an eye out for the insect emergences, I figured I would share my excitement for these two galls. Not only are they beautiful and unusual, but they also highlight my growing feelings on what I call “biology 202”, a deep appreciation for the complexity of life beyond our cultural assumptions. It’ll make more sense when you hear it.

To Learn More :
Petiolegall Aphids : Swollen or disfigured leaves of poplars (pdf)
First record of antipredator behavior in the gall-forming aphid Mordwilkoja vagabundaPoplar Vagabond Gall Aphid (Aphididae: Mordwilkoja) video on youtube.com by Carl Barrentine
InfluentialPoints.com entry on Mordwilkoja vagabunda
Life History and Gall Development of Mordwilkoja vagabunda (Homoptera: Aphidae) on Populus deltoides
Life History and Gall Development of Mordwilkoja vagabunda (Homoptera: Aphidae) on Populus deltoides. Part II—Gall Development
The Insects and Arachnids of Canada part 22 : The Genera of the Aphids of Canada - Homoptera : Aphidoidea and Phylloxeroidea : pg 472 (pdf)Influential Points entry on Adelges abietisINTRA- AND INTER-CROWN DISTRIBUTION OF THE EASTERN SPRUCE GALL ADELGID, ADELGES ABIETIS (L.), ON YOUNG WHITE SPRUCE

Did you know that birds are more closely related to turtles, than turtles are to snakes? I just learned that. Did you know that the scutes on a turtle’s back are made from keratin, the same stuff as our fingernails and Rhinoceros horns? Just learned that one too. Even better, do you know what cloacal breathing is? I bet you do… but how does it work? That’s some of the interesting stuff I got to ask naturalist, author and educator Kyle Horner recently when we spoke about his new book Turtles of North America out now on Firefly Books.

It’s a pretty good book, with range maps and conservation status’ which are more relevant and up to date than many of the older field guides to turtles, and covers more species. It is a book full of photographs which help detail the information written in the species accounts and natural history sections.

And this week’s show isn’t just about turtles! It is a bit of reptilian and amphibian mashup, because for the second part I give a short report back from a recent field trip down to Sudden Tract to check on Spring salamander migration. Tis the season!

To Learn More :
Turtles of North America at Firefly BooksSeagull Is Not a Dirty Word - Kyle Horner’s Blog
Kyle Horner’s Instagram

I just got home from Algonquin Park. I got the privilege to spend the past week tracking Wolves, Moose, Martens, Grouse, Flying Squirrels, and so many other creatures throughout the length of the park. We woke up at 6am every morning and were out by 7, scouting for new trails. When were were through with our day we came back to hit the books and share stories of all that we’d seen. It was magical, inspiring and motivating. Restful as much as exhausting.

One animal I spent some time learning about over the week was the Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus), a small brown finch like bird edged in yellow who flew down on to the new snow, skipped, hopped and flew off again. The Pine Siskin was my focal species for the week. Sadly on our last day, two dead Pine Siskins were found on highway 60, hit by vehicles as they were on the road, consuming the de-icing salts.

I got to hold the birds and take a closer look at their small amazing bodies in the sunlight pouring through the window at the wildlife research station. I measured their feet, admired their plumage, and wondered at how they could survive so long out there in the cold and snow. What were they eating to warm their fragile little bodies through the Winter nights? If they hadn’t died on the road, where would they go to in the Spring? I decided on the way home I would do a little research and make the next show all about them.

Here’s to the Siskins and all they’ve taught and inspired in me.

Sources used in this episode:
Birds of Ontario by Andy Bezener. Lone Pine Publishing, 2000.
Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests by Casey McFarland, Matthew Monjello, and David Moskowitz. Houghton Mifflin Harcout, 2021.
The Birder’s Handbook by Paul Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin and Darryl Wheye. Simon & Shuster, 1988.

It’s that time of year again, when the animals are getting out and getting down. While driving home the other day I drove past a forest where I had once trailed a part of courting Coyotes (Canis latrans) and realized that now is the time we will be seeing these courting behaviours. I had written about them before, but it was worth revisiting as it will likely be coming up on the land, and in my classes.

As I had written before:

“Getting the chance to follow along and watch the intimate lives of other animals can feel a little awkward in the retelling. I don’t want to come across as voyeuristic but instead as being witness to the possibility of a litter of new life. Coyotes are often a maligned species, where the conversation surrounding them is often of management and control, loaded with tones of fear and frustration. But following these two highlights an individuation and animism we don’t afford Coyotes very often. I hope only to remind of the struggle to survive, adapt and thrive amidst the persecution they endure. Reflecting on the day, I feel like it’s a study in the mess of courtship which many of us can relate to, and it feels like the news I wish we saw more of: first kisses, late night dinner parties with old friends, meeting a newborn family member. It is the joy of being and relating to others in deep meaningful ways in a world which often separates and isolates, harms and hinders. It’s romantic as hell, and I love it…”

To Learn More :
Examining Coyote Courting Behaviours : Tracking at Bell’s Lake
Tracking Journal : December 25, 2020
Behaviour of North American Mammals by Mark Elbroch and Kurt Rinehart. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.
The Natural History of Canadian Mammals by Donna Naughton. University of Toronto Press, 2012.

We had just crossed over from the thick White Cedar forest into a little more spacious deciduous forest, when, in a very unassuming tone, a friend called us over to check out some tracks. I don’t know if he realized at first how cool the trail he had just found was, but as we stepped off of the path and looked down at the tracks everyone leaned in a little closer, and our voices started to ring with a little more excitement. Our colleague had found a Fisher trail.

Once again I have been inspired by the Fisher to dig a little deeper into their ecologies, behaviours and the signs they leave behind. There is always so much to know that another show about them, relating another story of following the Fisher trail seemed worthwhile.

To Learn More :
Natural History of Canadian Mammals by Donna Naughton. University of Toronto Press, 2012.Mesopredator release facilitates range expansion in fisher by Dr. Scott LaPoint.Ep. 180 : Winter of the Fisher
Ep. 211 : Fisher Researcher Dr. Scott LaPoint
Tracking Journal 2021.11.27 (mostly about trailing a Fisher at the same location as the entry above)

s we get ready for the longest night of the year, it’s also a time to celebrate traditions and set our sights for the new year with the rebirth of the Sun.

Making radio for me also holds traditions embedded within the episodes. Every Solstice I dig into the archives and pull out a rebroadcast which was originally aired December 21st, 1985 at 10:30pm on the BBC. And now, for the 6th year in a row, I get to broadcast one of my favorite pieces of radio. Step aside War of the Worlds or Gunsmoke (both of which should be listened to at least once in your life), Alison McLeay’s “Solstice”, is the best radio I have ever heard. A guided journey beyond our contemporary world of christian Christmas consumerism and looking deeper to reveal the ancient earth based practices and traditions where so many of our modern traditions arise from. Along the way we meet a rattle wielding Shaman, a witch, a hunter, a Raven, and a Wolf who help guide us back to the origins of Yule.

Here’s hoping for a solstice of peace, rest, and joy… some hard things to find these days.

You know when there is someone kicking around the party whom you recognize, maybe even say hello to, but you just don’t know that well? Or perhaps you two have been acquainted for a while but something comes up and that gets you talking a little more intimately? I feel like that with Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor). I wanted to try my hand at foraging and creating some medicine, but really I needed to read up on what others have sorted out before I prepare anything for ingestion. To learn more, listen to the show.

Here are the sources I read from:
National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America. Knopf, 2023.
Polypores and Similar Fungi of Eastern and Central North America by Alan E. Bessette, Dianna G. Smith, and Arleen R Bessette. University of Texas Press, 2021.
Medicinal Mushrooms : The Essential Guide by Christopher Hobbs. Storey Publishing, 2020.

If you didn’t know already, I work at an outdoor school doing place-based, or nature-based education. Through this work I have come to know many people who have challenged and supported me to grow and to learn more about the complex relationships that exist within this field of work. How do we aim to teach about a land which has been occupied through theft, displacement, war, and genocide? How can we say we work towards loving relationships with ourselves, with each other and the land when this is the past and present reality of the place we inhabit and the position of the states we are governed by?

I got to talk with a mentor, friend, and elder in my community, Lisa Donahue, about how we can struggle to do the work of bringing folks outside and teaching them alongside the land when the context is rife with harm. As always, Lisa shared from the heart with precision, passion and a poignant reckoning of the ongoing need to work towards justice, peace and good relations. I am so grateful for her wisdom, her humility and her care.

I wanted to have this write up yesterday, but my heart is so weighted with sorrow over the ongoing genocide in Palestine, here in Canada, and the other ongoing wars and injustices throughout the world right now. I had to take an extra day to collect my heart and thoughts.

My room, my house, my bags are all full of books, twigs, fruits, feathers, seeds, nuts, and bits of mushrooms this time of year. So too my stomach, my dreams, and my heart. My bedroom is littered with naturalist books and books of fairy tales and myths which I pull out and read before I turn out the light. I love the folk tales because if you read them in the right light, they share stories of relationships with the land from before christian colonization. For me, of european descent, this gives insight to how my ancestors may have gotten to know the places they lived and who they depended on to live good lives in relation with the lands they lived with.

I have shared stories of snakes, or the Winter solstice, or wildflowers throughout the years of doing this show, but never have I told a story about mushrooms. Until recently I only knew one or two, but recently I read a new one, a magical one, which I have really come to love. So on this week’s show I share the story of the “Berry-sisters and the Mushroom-brother” from the book Echo of the Green Mountains : Ukrainian Folk Tales as well as read a little about the internationally praised edible mushroom Boletus edulis.

This episode might be well suited for a cup of tea. But I’ll leave that up to you.

Image : Boletus edulis LC0371.jpg by Jörg Hempel⁠. 2014. Image. Wikimedia.org. (CC BY-ND 3.0)

To learn more :
Echo of the Green Mountains : Ukrainian Folk Tales by Serhiy Vladov and Mary Skrypnyk. Dnipro Publishers 1988.
National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America. Knopf, 2023.

Every big mast year for Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra) I like to harvest a ton of them and then process them for both the husks and the nutmeat inside. While the nutmeats are very troublesome to access it is getting easier as I learn which tools are better than others, and the food value is totally worth it. As for the husks, it’s pretty easy to rip or cut them off of the nut. This year, as in previous years as well, there has been a small ethical dilemma which has come up when using the husks for dye. Nestled in the husks are small larvae of what I believe to be the Walnut Husk Maggot Fly (Rhagoletis suavis) which is a fruit fly I don’t know much about. But because I love Walnuts, I figured I should learn.

And that’s what this week’s show is all about. A fruit fly who loves Walnuts… Can’t live without ‘em. Sometimes I feel that way, too.

To learn more :
Walnut Husk Fly How to Monitor and Manage Walnut Husk Flies
Decomposition: fly life cycle and development times
University of California IPM page on Walnut Husk Fly

A week ago, I got to join the Field Botanists of Ontario on a field trip to the Dufferin County Forest Main Tract site for a mushroom I.D. walk. We saw all sorts of different mushrooms and had a ton of fun.

Scattered in the back of the Main tract there are many American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees. Some tall, some small, but they are there amidst the Red Oaks (Quercus rubra) and Sugar Maples (Acer saccharum). If you look close at the branches of these Beech trees you'll find little white fluffy insects dancing about in huge colonies. These are the Wooly Beech Aphid (Phyllaphis fagi) and they are there sucking sap out of the Beech tree. Now when any animal consumes their fill of whatever it is they are consuming, they must release the waste, and so too with the Aphids. This waste, called Honey Dew, is dropped and as it falls lands on the leaves, branches, and ground below. When this happens, the spores of the Honey Dew Eater (Scorias spongiosa) come around and land on the Honey Dew and begin their life cycle.

This weeks show I share some of what I have been reading about in regards to this community but specifically focusing on the life cycle of the Honey Dew Eater fungi.

To learn more :
Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada by George Barron. Partners Publishing/Lone Pine 2014.
Ascomycete Fungi of North America: A Mushroom Reference Guide by Michael Beug, Alan E. Bessette, Arleen R. Bessette. University of Texas Press, 2014.
National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America. Knopf, 2023.

Lichens been a draw for me for the last few years. When it comes to a diversity of lifeforms coming together in a fungal structure to draw down nutrients from the atmosphere, to beautify a landscape, to feed some of the largest land mammals down to sheltering some of the smallest arthropods, I’m hooked.

For many of us, the problem has been where to start, how to get into the lichens, how to identify them and how and where do we learn what roles and functions these forms of life have on the land?

In comes Dr. Troy McMullin, lichenologist with the Canadian Museum of Nature, author of dozens of papers on lichens, describer of 10 species new to science, and author of the new book Lichens : The Macrolichens of Ontario and the Great Lakes Region of the United States out on Firefly Books.

A hefty book full of colour photos, illustrated glossary, detailed keys to the 113 genera found in Ontario and some adjacent states, this book is helpful for beginner lichen lovers and for the professional lichenologist. Not only that, Troy came on to talk about his career learning about these unstudied organisms, why they are so important to him and how they can help us understand the changes we are seeing in the climate.

It’s not everyday you get to talk with one of the foremost researchers in a field. I am so grateful for the chance. I got to ask a bunch of questions which I have been wondering for a long time.. some of which are answered fully in the book, some of which it took a conversation with the author. Thanks again, Troy!

To learn more :
Lichens : The Macrolichens of Ontario and the Great Lakes Region of the United States
Troy McMullin’s page at the Canadian Museum of Nature

Last Thursday a call came over the radio at work. “I just want to let everyone know that there are two Walking Sticks mating on the tent”. I can’t really remember what I was doing with the students at the time, but we all dropped everything and made our way, some faster than others. I had seen a couple of Walking Sticks over the Summer, but realized, while jogging through the forest on my way to see these two going at it, that I knew very little about the life cycles, ecology and overall natural history of this species or the order as a whole. I figured I should observe the mating pair carefully, and then research a bunch when I get home.

The species native to my area of Southern Ontario, known as the Northern Walking Stick (Diapheromera femorata), has been making many appearances in my life over the past few years but I still know so little about them. Inspired by the most recent sighting mentioned above, I decided to learn a little bit more about them.

Big thanks to Jen for letting everyone know the Walking Sticks were there.

Resources I pulled from for this episode:
Insects : Their Natural History and Diversity by Stephan A Marshall. Firefly Books, 2006.
Insect Enemies of Eastern Forests by Frank Cooper Craighead. US Department of Agriculture, 1950.
Princeton Field Guides Insects of North America by John C. Abbott and Kendra K. Abbott. Princeton University Press, 2023.
The Complete Insect by David A. Grimaldi. Princeton University Press, 2023. (highly recommended!)
Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney. Stackpole Books, 2010.

and a blog post of my own : Tracking Journal for 2021.08.15

Animal Forms is a project is all about empathy, about remembering how to be in connection with the other-than-human world. As Miki asks, “aims to explore how we (humans) can imagine ourselves in the place of the other people we share our planet with. How might our thoughts and actions change if we practiced seeing the world through another's eyes?”

Miki Tamblyn has created a project where folks can practice being an other-than-human animal. What does that look like? We are invited to sit in the woods by ourselves with a mask, a journal and pen, a camera, and a mirror and take on being the animal whose face we put on.

We sat down at the site of the project, along the Eramosa River in Guelph to discuss inspiration, project formation, overall response to the project and its goals, as well as the experience of embodiment of another form of life.

There was really so much to say, but you’ll have to listen to hear it all.

To learn more :
Animal Forms page
In depth look at Joanna Macy’s Council of All Beings

In some circles, reciprocate is the new “sustainable”, a hot word which implies a lot but isn’t always doing what we might imagine. But how can we try to actually live up to, and create the reciprocity, the giving back and forth, to that and those who give us so much?

For me, Moth Garden feels like a project trying to demonstrate reciprocity in a real, tangible, replicable ways. Christina Kingsbury and Lisa Hirmer have been researching, planting, growing and shaping a garden with an intention of creating sensory worlds for/of the more-than-human, nourishing spaces planted with food, shelter, and room for transformation and rest; planted for often maligned and misunderstood members of our broad interspecies communities.

With Moth Garden, Lisa and Christina are shifting the focus of attention to not singly acknowledge the diurnal, sun loving species, but to also welcome and include to the night flying beings through all life stages. Our gardens are so often, pretty much nearly always, built for the human eye, to be celebrated during the day, full of sun. Now this garden is still very attractive to my human eye, and obviously requires the Sun, but how does it move away from those conventional relationships and move towards new ones with the night, with other animals, with other senses?

How beautiful and full of care and consideration reciprocity can be.

Big big thanks to the moths, the bees, the plethora of tiny lives that live within and visit this garden. Thanks to the plants which sprout, shoot, blossom and bloom. Thanks to Lisa Hirmer and Christina Kingsbury for creating this space for us to visit.

To learn more :
www.mothgarden.ca
Heather Holm’s book Pollinators of Native Plants

A couple of days after my recent interview discussing Mulberries with Matt Soltys, the Arboretum at the University of Guelph shared a couple of posts on instagram about the Red Mulberry Recovery Program where researchers are looking into how to identify, propagate, and eventually distribute Red Mulberries (Morus rubra) to their partners (mostly conservation organizations). They are also trying educating the public on how the White or Asian Mulberries (Morus alba) can be detrimental to conservation of the Red Mulberries. Immediately I wrote to them to try and set up and interview.

Some of the same questions from the first interview came up, and some new ones as well, but mostly I wanted to hear about the Recovery Program and see how it was being put together, why this conservation of Red Mulberry biodiversity is so important, the effects of a changing climate on Red Mulberries, and how the conservation efforts of the University of Guelph Arboretum can mitigate the harms of human caused habitat loss and fragmentation.

Gratefully Sean Fox, senior research associate at the Arb, took the the time to get into the complexity and nuance of dynamic movements of species and how we can take actions towards conservation of a species which is endemically endangered.

It’s great to have a resource like the Arboretum so close so I can both talk to and learn from the folks doing the research and conservation work, but also to wander and explore the grounds (for free) and learn through my own observation. It’s a great place.

To learn more :
University of Guelph Arboretum’s Red Mulberry Conservation Program

University of Guelph Arborteum's instagram

I have had a long curiosity regarding Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) ever since I had heard of them. Perhaps the most toxic plant on Turtle Island/North America. Of course I would be enamoured! I misidentified them for a couple of years thinking I knew who they were, but it wasn’t until the past four or five years that I began taking a closer look, seeking them out, learning the lore, and reading the sometimes sparse literature on the plant. This show is an effort to collect my thoughts and learning, and to make the recent blog post, which has lots of good photographs to assist with proper i.d., more accessible to those who don’t want to read it all but would rather listen to it instead.

It seems my series on plants is growing every week. I promise to get back to some interviews soon, but this one is pretty important to me.

The Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) is a widely distributed edible fruit tree which fills my heart as much as my belly. It’s just sweet enough, with berries just big enough, just in reach to make me so happy to come across. Sometimes we happen upon them wandering through the woods, sometimes we go visit our favourite individuals, sometimes we make detailed extensive maps of every tree the city has planted… or maybe I just do that.

To eat something builds relationship in a very particular way, which I appreciate, especially when that edible is shared by many species. We really become part of the broader ecosystem when we participate as other animals do, and if we choose to enter into that relationship in a reciprocal way we can begin to tend and propagate the ones we care for.

Serviceberries, Juneberry, Shadbush, Saskatoon, whatever we call them, our affinity with them grows as we get to know them more. That’s what this episode is all about - learning some of those more meticulous details to compliment our own personal relationships with the plants we hold so dear in our hearts… and bellies.

To learn more :
Fruit and Seed profile of AmelanchierShrubs of Ontario by James H. Soper and Margaret L. Heimburger. Royal Ontario Museum, 1982.
The Book of Forest and Thicket by John Eastman. Stackpole Books, 1992.
American Wildlife & Plants : A Guide to Wildlife Food Habits by Alexander Martin, Herbert Zim, and Arnold Nelson. Dover, 1951.
Growing Trees from Seed by Henry Kock. Firefly Books, 2016.
Botany in a Day by Thomas J. Elpel. HOPS Press, 2006.

Mulberries are a well known and popular wild urban edible that a lot of foragers come to know early in the development of the craft. They are easily identifiable, taste great, and prolific in urban and peri-urban environments which means lots of people can get to know them. Not only are there an abundant of Mulberry trees out there, each fruit producing tree makes buckets of fruit that litter the sidewalks for a month if the birds, squirrels, Raccoons and humans don’t get at them first. And while Mulberries don’t seem like a political focal point in the world of conservation, I am learning that they can be as well.

I got to visit with my friend Matt Soltys (The Urban Orchardist) to discuss Mulberries and their ecology. We sat in a small backyard cabin adjacent to his Mulberry tree to keep out of the rain and got into some big questions : How many species actually grow around the Great Lakes bioregion? Where does hybridization come in clutch in the context of global change and massive anthropogenic disturbance of the landscape? Are conventional conversations around conservation xenophobic and colonial or do they uplift and support decolonial efforts to retain ancestral cultural and land based relations? While we don’t have the answers, I think these are important questions to be asking.

Additionally, near the end of the podcast we discuss Sam Thayer’s new book Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America⁠ out now from Forager’s Harvest.

Big thanks to Matt Soltys of The Urban Orchardist for taking the time to be on the show and sharing his research and ideas.

To learn more :
The Urban Orchardist
Matt’s Instagram
Sam Thayer's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America

In the previous post I mentioned that I had been watching a specific Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana, or the Anishnaabemowin name asasawemin) looking at Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) egg masses and how the caterpillars had emerged. I ended up taking a closer look at the Chokecherry in the days following as my interest had been piqued.

Chokecherry is a role model. How can we be in good relationship with so many different life forms, transform degraded and barren anthropogenic landscapes in preparation for new life? Yes, there is a note of caution to be had, an awareness of potential hazards, but the overall theme of this shrub appears to be regeneration, repair and creating spaces for life to flourish again.

This episode is a long form exploration of the Chokecherry ecology. I hope it works for you as much as it works for me!

The car broke down on our way to visit my mum. My brother and I got out of the car, and while he researched how to change the alternator, I went behind the vacant garage where we parked the inoperable vehicle. When I explored to the far back of the lot I was grateful to find a small wetland, thriving with tons of species. Trees, tall and low shrubs, and understory thick with both native and non-native, aggressive opportunistic plants vying for life. I was totally impressed and appreciated this wild oasis in the midst of an annoying happenstance.

While I sat there, on an old discarded stump I discovered adjacent to the wetland, I began thinking of weird ecological combinations, novel ecosystems and “invasive” species, both in the context of their potential benefits and their potential harms. I continue to wonder about the role of Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Burdock (Arctium lappa), Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) on the landscape of Turtle Island/North America. I continue to weigh all theories and ideas swimming around in the varied academic research and current collected folklore (not so much in the mythic sense, but more so the popular awareness and storytelling of these populations), and try to tease out some path forward : do we leave these populations alone? Do we try to intervene? If so, how? Can we do both? What lessons are already being demonstrated on the landscape? How do we listen to the needs of the lands we cohabit with these contested species?

I guess this is what this weeks show is about, all considered out back of an abandoned garage. Sometimes we can be grateful for the car breaking down. Big thanks though to my brother for the wonderful adventure.

To learn more :
Wild Urban Plants of the NorthEast by Peter Del Tredici. Cornell University Press, 2020.
When Doing Nothing is the Best Invasive Plant Management Tool - youtube video : Dr. Bernd Blossey shares his research on Garlic Mustard

Lately a lot of folks I know have been finding Morels (Morchella spp.) in and around the city where I live. Possibly one of the most prized edible fungi on the planet, everyone seems very excited to bring them home and cook them into an ephemeral dish. If I find a bunch I may do the same, but until then I wanted to look into this amazing fruiting body a little bit more.

It wasn’t long ago that I assumed that this genus was just one or two individual species. Turns out I was incorrect. I have also heard that the False Morels (Gyromitra spp.) look a lot like the Morels and it would be difficult to tell them apart… I reviewed it and I think those folks are missing something important in the id features.

One thing about the show.. I wish there were more books on the natural history of these species, which I could have drawn from. Something akin to John Eastman’s, or Carol Gracie’s works. Alas, there is one, but it’s too expensive right now. But it’s out there if you are looking.

Also, the second part of the show is a review of the new National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America. I hope you find it useful.

Sources for the show :
Ascomycete Fungi of North America: A Mushroom Reference Guide by Michael Beug, Alan E. Bessette, Arleen R. Bessette. University of Texas Press, 2014.
Mushrooms of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada by Timothy J. Baroni. Timber Press, 2017.
National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America. Knopf, 2023.

I was out with a couple of friends the evening before. We’d been thoroughly engaged listening to the painfully loud calls of the Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) when I pointed out an Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) call to one of my pals. He pulled out his phone and got on the Merlin App to try and id the call a little better. Lo and behold, on the list of birds included in his immediate recorded was a Sora (Porzana carolina)! Now, Soras aren’t too rare, or too interesting to many, but they are a bird I have never seen, never heard, and barely heard of. When we were discussing who a Sora is, all I know was that they were a waterbird that didn’t look like a duck. I imagined something more akin to an American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosa), but I was way off.

Soras are still mysterious to me, but it was fun to go back to the pond, listen to the birds again the following morning, and bring out some books to learn more and reflect on listening. I hope y’all enjoy it as well.

To learn more :
Birds of Lake Pond and Marsh by John Eastman. Stackpole Books, 1999.

Cardinals, Blue Jays, Robins, Mourning Doves, Mallards, Black-capped Chickadees. Quite common and familiar birds most folks seem to know. One of the reasons is that they have very distinct patterning and physical traits that render them easily identifiable. Even some of the Sparrows can be differentiated by a slightly advanced beginner.

Flycatchers? They can be tough. When I see a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris) in the woods, despite being one of the more recognizable, determinable Empidonax species, I am still left uncertain, full of doubt and just generally end up calling it a Flycatcher.

But I have found since reading Cin-Ty Lee and Andrew Birch’s new book “Field Guide to North American Flycatchers : Empidonax and Pewees”, I have been looking at the birds with a different lens, one that considers a more holistic view, that asks more questions of often overlooked characteristics which can help lead to a solid id.

I spoke with Cin-Ty and Andrew about their new book and how this new method of identification can help us not only better identify some of the Flycatchers, but also to look at how we regard all birds in ways that encounter them more fully, experiencing them in broader context through investigating narrower characteristics.

To learn more :
Field Guide to North American Flycatchers : Empidonax and Pewees
Cin-Ty Lee’s website
Andrew Birch’s website

Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) are always exciting to see. However ubiquitous or plentiful they may be on the land, it is always a gift to observe them circling and soaring overhead. I have been noting their behaviours for a few years now, trying to catch a glimpse whenever I can. A couple of years ago I watched a pair eager to find out if they were nesting in the valley I walk or ride on my way into work. I never did find that nest, but I hoped I would in the future.

On Monday, a colleague called over the radio that he was observing two Red-tails building a nest. He later watched as the pair were mating on a different tree down closer to the river. This series of events sparked a great curiosity and enthusiasm between all of my colleagues. We have been trying to find ways to observe, but also not interfere. Trying to research, but not just rely on the books. But as it is still relevant, I decided to hit the books. Thus, this weeks show was created. A deep dive into the nesting behaviours of one of my fav cohabitants.

Thanks Drew for the suggestion to include my sources in the show write-up. And to Matt Hamilton for the photo.

Sources for the show:
Forest Raptors & Their Nests in Central Ontario - this is only a partial pdf, and does not have all of the content. I am searching for a complete pdf.
Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests by Casey McFarland, Mathew Monjello & David Moskowitz. HMH, 2021.
Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey pt 1 by Arthur Cleveland Bent. Dover, 1961.
Stokes Guide to Bird Behaviour vol. 3 by Donald and Lillian Stokes. Little, Brown, 1989.
Birds of Forest, Yard, & Thicket by John Eastman. Stackpole Books, 1997.

When you want to get to know someone, you listen to the stories they have to share. We might ask some questions once in a while, but mostly we watch and listen and that’s how we learn more about who they are and how they exist in the world. We might go visit them in their spaces and ask more questions, like why do they hang out in a particular space more than another? Slowly we start to build a deeper understanding and awareness of who this someone is, and usually, deeper connection.

Listening to the more than human world is a fundamental piece of learning from the land. It decenters the human and allows us a chance to participate in the always ongoing conversations between birds, winds, trees, rivers, insects, and all the myriad of forms which inhabit the worlds we too inhabit.

This episode is a return to ritualized listening. While I try to listen all of the time, it’s around this time of year when my ears really pick up on novel sounds, calls and songs which have been missing from my local bioregion since at least the Fall, but some since the previous Spring. The theme of this show, of recording the early morning bird song in the warming days of Spring, recurs every year, and has since the last four years I believe. Its a good ritual to maintain.

A quote from two years ago:

This tradition is about relationship building through active listening and paying attention. We can’t know someone without listening to them, without giving them attention and acknowledging them. By listening to the birds and working towards understanding them we start to identify their needs, “desires” and habits. By listening to a human friend we do the same. Through this identification we might also develop empathy and care, compassion and love. Seems worth the listen to me.

Why not ritualize this interspecies relationship building and also honour it through highlighting and uplifting on this podcast platform as I might a researcher, author, or knowledge holder? Once we’ve listened where do we go from there? How do we deepen the bonds that listening creates? Can we know the land better through listening to the more-than-human world?

Recently while tracking a Fisher (Pekania pennanti) in Algonquin Park we encountered a large galloping trail that had a long stride length of 106 cm (41¾ in). This was about 28 cm (10 in) longer than what is recorded in Mark Elbroch's “Mammal Tracks and Sign” (Stackpole, 2019). When I finished measuring, I was discussing this extraordinarily long stride with some colleagues. They told me about a National Geographic article, based on a paper about increasing body sizes and range expansion of Fishers in the Northeast. I was immediately interested. When I got home from Algonquin, I looked the paper up. I read the abstract but I had to find out more so I wrote to the author, Dr. Scott LaPoint, to see if he could help answer my questions and be game for an interview. He was in.

And what a wealth of knowledge! Scott LaPoint was very open to share his research findings on Fishers, on seasonal size changes in the skulls of some small Weasel species (elaborating on Dehnel’s phenomena), as well as the need for wildlife connectivity corridors and Dr. LaPoint’s research throught The Hudson Highlands Wildlife Connectivity Project with Bobcats (Lynx rufus) and Fishers studying how they move throughout the landscape. There was even mention of the New York Times article about a Fisher seen prowling around the Bronx a few years ago.

I am always so grateful to get to talk with the researchers who are doing the work in the field which enables us to learn more about the species we track, trail and encounter, especially the cool mesopredators like Fishers. If you are curious about Fishers, Fisher ecology, or wildlife in general, than this is one to listen to.

And just so you know, the Fisher Scott is holding had just been sedated and he was preparing to do a full work up on her, including attaching a tracking collar. No Fishers were hurt in the making of this podcast.

To learn more :
Scott Lapoint’s website
Scott Lapoint’s twitter page
Mesopredator release facilitates range expansion in fisher
Great description of Dehnel’s phenomena
Weasel-Like Predators Are Reclaiming Territory In The U.S., And Growing Larger - article from Popular Science magazine

Over and over on this podcast (and through the blog) I have spoken to the need to be outdoors and the value for us emotionally, physically, spiritually and socially in participating with the wider wilder world around us. But when these opportunities are interrupted by white-supremacist narratives on who belongs outdoors, the BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library steps up and reminds us that everyone belongs outside!

BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library is a community-based lending library focused on providing access to outdoor equipment for the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) communities of (so-called) Guelph and the surrounding areas. Their gear list includes snowshoes, kayaks, camp stoves, fishing poles, bikes, coolers, sleeping bags, and so much more. But it doesn’t end there. There are events like social hikes, yoga and meditation, archery, cross-country skiing outings, even an overnight camping and paddling weekend!

Through collaboration with partners they are working to increase representation of BIPOC communities engaging in outdoor recreation by reducing barriers to access, creating community, and providing resources and education. What a great organization!

I spoke with founder Dionne Daley about why a BIPOC specific gear library is needed in our communities, why it’s important to dispel the myth of needing to buy all the fancy gear just to get outside, and how folks of colour are asserting space in the outdoors.

Take a listen to the show, and please check out their website and check out their instagram account for more details on how to become a member.

To learn more :
BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library website
BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library instagram

Tracker Certification North America is an evaluating body in the field of wildlife tracking and trailing, and so much more. They host evaluations which double as in depth community tracking and trailing training sessions, going deep on the explanations and pointing out how the evaluator can see what they can see. This process encourages dialogue, feedback and reflection, community discussion and a deeper understanding of the trails the animals are leaving behind.

From a tool which was designed by Louis Liebenberg to celebrate and employ ecological knowledge of indigenous trackers in southern Africa (namely the San of the Kalahari) in wildlife research and conservation, to an international certifying body which assess’ and trains wildlife trackers of all skill levels, the CyberTracker process, also known as Tracker Certification North America on this continent, is leading the way on communication, public education, and evaluation of wildlife track and sign.

Sophie Mazowita has returned to the show for her second time to tell us more about the history of the organization, what evaluations are all about, the difference between a track and sign vs trailing eval, as well as the upcoming North American Wildlife Tracker Conference happening online on March 18 - 19 (I’ve already registered).

Full of stories and insight into the happenings of Tracker Certification North America, this was an exciting and fun conversation to have. Big thanks to Sophie for being on the show again.

To learn more :
Tracker Certification North America website
North American Wildlife Tracker Conference
Sophie Mazowita’s previous appearance on the show

Cop City is an urban warfare training facility being built on the South side of Atlanta. To construct this sprawling $90 million compound stretching 85 acres, developers are bulldozing a forest. The stated motive for this project was to boost morale of police in the wake of the George Floyd uprisings, which showed that the public in Atlanta and elsewhere had lessening faith in the role of policing in keeping them safe.

I first heard about the Stop Cop City campaign in 2022 when a friend shared the story with me. We were inspired by this campaign that brought together land defence, the movement away from police and towards liberatory alternatives, and a critical anti-racist analysis, something which has lacked in the history of environmental movements of the past. It reminded me of the tree sits I once participated in to protect forests in Tseshaht, Te'mexw. Snaw-naw-as, K'omoks territories (Cathedral Grove, British Columbia).

The story of the Stop Cop City campaign has since blown up, because of the public outrage at the project, due to the killing of Tortuguita by police, a forest defender camping out in the contested forest.

I got to speak with Leila about the history and ongoing progress of the campaign, how it has evolved, how public support continues to grow for the Stop Cop City movement, and how many local institutions, such as  local universities and major corporations are revoking support or outright condemning the training facility.

It’s a hard listen at times, but really makes the case that this absurd project, of cutting down the largest urban forest in the United States to build a military-style training facility is not only not good for public safety, but detrimental to the land.

UPDATE: Here are some extra links that were shared with me I’d like to feature:
1. Come to Atlanta for the Week of Action March 4-11
2. Make calls to city officials
3. Target APF, contractors, sponsors near you
4. Donate to Atlanta Solidarity Fund + Stop the Swap

To learn more :
Stop Cop City website
StopCopCity instagram
Interview with Tortuguita
StopCopCitySolidarity.org
Stop Cop City link tree

Dani Kastelein-Longlade and Amina Lalor along with with guest artists Katherine Rae Diemert and Brenda Mabel Reid have created an inspiring and beautiful exhibition, Journey With Our Kin,  at the Queens Square Idea Exchange gallery in Cambridge Ontario. The exhibition is open until Feb. 5th, 2023.

I got to talk with Dani and Amina about their work at the exhibition, and about how getting to know the lands where we live may interrupt the colonial frameworks we daily navigate. We discuss relationships with the land, the Nokom’s House project we have all been a part of, and about their place in the world along with varied identities, passions, and work they take up.

This episode is also formulated on the questions Dani and Amina pose with their exhibition:

What does it mean to care for the land that cares for us? How do we foster kinship among all our relations — the interconnected network of creation that encompasses the earth, water, air, sun, moon, plants, fungi, and animals?

How do we reconcile and bring together multiple perspectives to build community in connection with the land?

How do we strengthen our capacity to care for the land? What skills do we need to do so?

How do we creatively express our journeys of (re)connection with our other-than-human kin?

To know the land is to understand colonialism and its impacts, as well as to know efforts in decolonial space making, which inherently roots relationship with the more-than-human world as a foundation. Understanding histories, and futures, of lands and those who have, do, and will continue to live on them, human and non, is a cornerstone of this “to know the land” project I am working within. The confluence of these conversations, my own project, and the artistic expressions from the exhibition help in conceptualizing, building, and centering intimacy with the wilder world. Naturalist knowledge, or using a different frame, interspecies relationship building, is about healing broken ties and creating new reciprocal approaches between different bodies (human, water, fungal, vegetal, etc). This is what I believe Dani, Amina, Katherine, and Brenda are touching upon in their work. I am grateful for the reflection their creations evoke in me.

Big thanks to Dani and Amina for their time, and to Toni Hafkenscheid for taking the photos of the artwork.

Without much snow so far this winter, my tracking has been shifting towards other sign out on the land. Lately this has been signs on plants, scats, rubs, with a focus on Pileated Woodpecker feeding sign written in the bodies of the trees.

I first noticed this kind of sign along the Bruce trail many years ago, and then again in Algonquin Park. These days, I just see it everywhere, and through sharing what I am noticing with friends, colleagues and students, I am coming to realize that others just aren’t as excited as I am. So, maybe this show is just me sharing the excitement with potential others who may also get stoked to find this awesome sign of a pretty large bird who has made a pretty big comeback.

To learn more :
Birds of Forest, Yard, & Thicket by John Eastman and Amelia Hansen, Stackpole Books, 1997
Bird Tracks and Sign by Mark Elbroch and Eleanor Marks, Stackpole Books, 2001

I have a big affinity for the suburbs (I know, it’s weird), and the Eastern Screech feels like a suburban bird. They hang out along the riparian corridors with the tall older trees, hunting mice, crayfish, songbirds, and whomever else they can catch. I did the same when I grew up in Brampton, Ontario, but instead of mice, crayfish and songbirds, I was hunting for feral Apple (Malus domestica) trees, Wild Grapes (Vitis riparia), and anything else I could eat. I bet there were Screech’s along the Etobicoke Creek, too.

Last year, 2022, on January 4th, I recorded a show about Eastern Screech Owls (Megascops asio), which I only played on CFRU, 93.3 fm, which is the campus-community radio station where my show is broadcast. Turns out I never put it out online for some reason. Now this year, 2023, I was reading in bed when I heard the tell-tale monotonic trill of an Eastern Screech Owl out my window. This inspired me to record this new episode all about Eastern Screech Owls.

I hope you learn as much as I did.

DickDaniels  http://theworldbirds.org Eastern Screech Owl RWD at CRC2.jpg. Image. 1.4MB. Wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_Screech_Owl_RWD_at_CRC2.jpg. Creative Commons License (CC BY-ND 3.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

“Wither, wither, black flowering night. May your dark juices bleed, burn up like a pool on the summer plain, shrivel like a stain upon sand, dwindle to a basalt pebble, tiny as a slow-worms eye is. Vanish, to nothing.”

Here we are again, in the deepest of the doom season, yet with light on the way. The rebirth of the Sun. A time for our seasonal celestial celebrations with stories, food and fire. Celebrations to beat back the cold. The winter solstice is such a special time for me these days. I used to get so depressed in the Winter, feeling like all was dead and empty, but through ongoing relationship building with the land I live on, I am coming to know that the wild heart of the Earth still beats, no matter the long night of the season.

The past couple of years have been wrought and wrenched by sickness and isolation. Many celebrations have broke down, broke up, or been cancelled. Yet as with the solstice, new ritual is born in the dark gestation times.
And still, personal rituals observing the solstice continue even if the public rituals cannot. This show, the Winter Solstice broadcast is one of my favourite ways to use this platform, by honouring the creators who came before me and rebroadcasting their work. This the fourth? year that I get to play this radio play by Alison Mcleay, which was originally broadcast on BBC Scotland Saturday December 21st, 1985 at 10:30pm. I was two years old when this originally aired, and though my local CBC channel would sometimes play the BBC Wold News throughout the night, I don’t know if this would’ve been aired. With the voices of Michael Elder, Diana Olsson and Paul Young and producer Patrick Rayner. Pour some tea, tuck yourself in, and listen close to the story of the Winter Solstice.

To learn more :

Alison Mcleay obituary
Alison Mcleay bio
Micheal Elder details
Diana Olsson
Paul Young
Patrick Rayner

It started with a suggestion that I could learn a little about how to differentiate between Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis), Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and Balsam Fir (Picea balsamifera), but then it turned into a zany rabbit-hole of discovery, confusion and awe.

This episode details a lot of the complicated information I have been coming into while trying to learn more about Canada Yew, and the Yew family, Taxaceae, more broadly. A beautiful family, holding long lines of mythos and medicines. I keep being challenged in my assumptions as I pull the threads of knowledge, and it excites me more and more. Even when I am confounded in my research, it still offers a lot in the way of explanations, even if it more so leaves me full of questions (hopefully to return to in the future).

What does Canada Yew look like? How does it harm with ingested? Is it always toxic? What about the aril? What the hell is an aril? I really try to get into it, but I am only just scratching the surface.

Here are some of the articles and papers I mentioned in the show :
The ecology of Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis Marsh.): A review
Taxine alkaloids article on Wikipedia
Dangers of Yew Ingestion pdf
OMAFRA (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) article “Yew Poisoning in Horses and Ruminants”
Plants Poisonous to Livestock by Harold C. Long
Incubation of European yew (Taxus baccata) with white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) rumen fluid reduces taxine A concentrations.
Popular landscaping bush has killed dozens of big-game animals in the Treasure Valley from Idaho Statesman

Many of us have been there. You find a nest, you look inside, and there huddled amid the grasses, vines and twigs are small nearly naked nestlings. Maybe the nest isn’t familiar, or soon as you realize it is occupied you get out as fast as you can so as to not disturb.. but later when reviewing some photographs you begin to wonder who is was in the nest?  Or maybe you are a wildlife rehabilitator, and someone calls your team with a baby bird, separated from their kin and they aren’t sure what to do next?

It can be really hard to identify a baby bird, and that can be problematic in trying to identify the exact care needs the bird requires to flourish. Some birds may only feed their nestlings seeds, where as others require insects. Identification is key to the survival of many of the species of birds found across North America/Turtle Island every year. There are few resources and fewer accessible texts outside of academia to turn to, but with Linda Tuttle-Adam’s new book “Baby Bird Identification - A North American Guide” things just got easier.

This weeks show Linda and I spoke about her motivations for the book, some nestling identification clues to get started with, and some general nestling ecology. She reminded me a couple of times of the role of wildlife rehabilitators as agents of conservation, doing the work that may allow an individual member of a potentially threatened species to reach independence and, hopefully, to reproduce.

Thanks again, Linda!

To learn more :
Baby Bird Identification - A North American Guide
Baby bird identification companion website
The Narwhal article “Ontario has found 11 species at risk along the planned route of Highway 413” I mentioned in the show

“Fewer ramps per pound means more ramps in the ground”.

Ramps? Wild Leeks? Allium tricoccum? Whatever you call them, they are a type species for foraging and everyone wants to be in relationship with them. Often that means everyone is looking for them and trying to bring some home, or sell them at markets or fine restaurants, sometimes without care or consideration as to what is best for the Ramps themselves. This hasty desire to be in relationship, through foraging and consumption, can lead to dangerous results like overharvesting(1) or even poisoning through misidentification(2). But when we slow down, study, and learn the best ways to know and be in connection with a plant then it may even be possible to support plant populations while harvesting from them.

Sarah E. Nilson and Eric Burkhart join me for a conversation around when is the best time for commercial growers to be harvesting and why we it might be better to be harvesting at certain phenological stages rather than others. We talk about Ramps, their general ecology, why it is important to maintain relationships through harvesting, but in good ways that give the plants the best chance at sustained growth and genetic diversity.

Patience seems to be the big lesson here, and what a great way to teach us.

To learn more :
Ramp (Allium tricoccum Ait.) weight differs across the harvest season: implications for wild plant stewardship and forest farming
Eric Burkhart’s website at Shavers Creek Environmental Centre
Plugging the Leak on Wild Leeks: The Threat of Over-harvesting Wild Leek Populations in Northern New York
Veratrum parviflorum poisoning: identification of steroidal alkaloids in patient blood and breast milk

This episode is a bit of a vulnerable one. I talk about some profound lessons which really impacted me, and shook some of my self image. I also feel a bit exposed by acknowledging I have honestly received some profound lessons from interactions with a dead Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).

Essentially the show is about theft, and honouring our values & commitments to the world around us, and how we want to be in relationship with those we share this world with and with those whom we teach and mentor. I feel that this story telling is because I did something I believe to be a grievous and intentional act against another, but it is also about learning from my mistakes and working towards repair.

I recorded this one back on September 15th, but wanted to wait a bit to release it. It felt suitable to release it today, being Halloween, when that liminal space between the living world and the world of the dead is reportedly thin.

Thanks for listening to this one.

Tis’ the season to be considering the concepts of death and decay. We can smell it in the cool wet woods, and we can see it draped across the doorways along our streets. Skeletal trees sway with boney branches scratching at grey skies, and the dark is ever creeping in. Why not celebrate some of the most profound and interesting parties involved in this death and decomposition : Fungi!

This weeks show I zoom in on a game, “Death and Decomposers” to help teach about how essential these factors of life are, as well as the Deadly Galerina (Galerina marginata) aka Funeral Bells mushroom, and it’s toxic capacities. Lastly I read about wood decay fungi like White Rot and Brown Rot from the amazing book Polypores and Similar Fungi of Eastern and Central North America to elaborate a little more on the decomposition capacities and processes of this amazing kingdom.

It really is a fungal world out there, and is certainly blowing up. Get out there and look for the fungi. It may take a second for your eyes to adjust, but soon enough you’ll be seeing them everywhere.

To learn more :
Season of Fungi pt. 1
Season of Fungi pt. 2
Season of Fungi pt. 3
Deadly Galerina study
Polypores and Similar Fungi of Eastern and Central North America

“One of the things we tend to do culturally, the framework is to separate humans from the earth and to see them as two separate entities, rather then seeing that as an interconnected relationship..”

My experience with Memona is that she is all about challenging that feeling of separateness and working towards restoring and remediating that disconnect between the sacred Earth and us humans who may have forgotten it. She has described Ecopsychology in the past as “the area of study that explores the connective, holistic relationship between humans and the Earth,” and her passion really drives that home, albeit in a very open way, often allowing the land to lead in that remembering and reconciling.

Memona Hossain is a mother, community activist, Muslim, woman, and a PhD candidate who cares deeply for the Earth and all the varied human and more-than-human communities which share this collective home. I would call her powerful, quick and someone with a profoundly holistic view of the world who seeks to know other the worldviews of other communities.

I feel like this interview is just a launch pad for more conversations I would like to have with Memona. I think she would be a great person to talk with on the harm in our work, and the building of better relationships with indigenous folks, and hopefully that will happen soon.

To learn more :
Memona Hossain’s twitter account
Toronto Star opinion piece
How To Draw A Tree.ca
Interview with Dawn Matheson

It’s easy, pretty accessible and turns out to be a lot of fun and often full of learning. A sit spot, or magic spot, or secret spot or whatever else you might call it is simple. Just go find your sit spot, close to home, accessible and easy and then sit there, quietly.

That’s it. The act, or lack of acting really, really pays off. I have a ton of stories of exciting encounters with the world beyond the human. Perhaps it was noticing the infinite detail in Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) flowers, or the diversity of life found within 30cm square of ground just in front of me, or maybe it was a small herd of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginiana) in a local urban park. It is because of the practice of  going to a Sit Spot that I have been able to observe so much, learn so much and become acquainted with the land around me.

Nature is everywhere, and we can notice it in all sorts of ways. Be it our balcony, backyard or a bench at the park. Find a spot you can go to reliably and find a nice place to sit. Bring something to sit on if need be (a piece of an old blue foam bed roll is great), but you can use anything. Most people report that it takes about 30 minutes for things to get back to “baseline”, meaning half an hour for the birds to sing as they would if we weren’t there. This gets shorter as we spend more and more time at our sit spots as the birds and wildlife come to know and expect us. As baseline comes sooner, and the animals return to routine behaviour patterns, then we tend to see and experience more.

Doesn’t really matter where you are even. Friends have done sit spots from their kitchen windows, from their prison cells, from balconies 9 stories up. It is an extremely valuable practice that I would wholly endorse to anyone seeking to learn more about the land.

To learn more :
Naturalist Habits Tier List Video (as mentioned in the podcast)
“Prison Connections” episode

After a delay of a week, Justin Kestler and I got to talk about his new book The Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores of Canada. This concise book is a quick guide to interpreting the origin of hairs based on the morphology of scales along the cuticle (outer side) of the hair. It’s not like a fingerprint per se, which attempts to identify an individual human, but instead may help to identify a species. This is because the scale structure is different across species but not so much individuals of that species. Make sense?

We talked about the process of documenting the hair scales, acquiring the hairs, and a bit about ecological traits which might be indicated through the characteristics of the hairs. It was really fun to nerd out about the finer details of hairs. The book, and the interview have really pushed me to keep a hair journal and begin looking for a microscope. Maybe in the future…

To learn more :

The Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores of Canada

Gallformers.org has been referred to me by a few friends over the past few months as they helped me to identify some unknown galls I have found in the field. I have written about galls on the toknowtheland.com website many times as well (1)(2)(3), usually having to refer back to gallformers.org finally figure out who made them.

I got to ask a ton of questions and we got to talk about why Jeff and Adam started gallformers.org, what a gall is, gall research resources, individuation between gall forms based on the inducer and the host, do they harm the host plant, and so much more.

My appreciation and curiosity surrounding galls and their ecologies could just go nowhere if I didn’t have tools and resources to help me find answers to my curiosities, but because of Adam and Jeff at gallformers.org I have been able to keep going down the gall makers emergence hole and am consistently learning so much as I go.

I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.

To learn more :
https://www.gallformers.org/
https://twitter.com/gallformers
https://www.patreon.com/gallformers
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/1673632 (my iNat profile)
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/3081415 (Jeff's iNat profile)
[email protected] (Jeff mentioned the Slack channel--anyone who wants to join they can contact Adam and Jeff through email or Twitter DMs or iNat messages)

“It was a clear night, and the stars were as visible as they get around this area within the city. I made out Polaris and the Big Dipper earlier while looking for a place to record. I noticed a faint breeze, coming from my neighbourhood blowing down towards the river…”

Just over a year ago I went for a walk along the river by my house and I pressed record and put my recorder down. I walked away for while and came back with a score written by millions of years of evolution and speciation coupled with the few dozen that colonization and industry has occupied the same territories.

The first recording was successful in sharing a piece of the night with a broader audience. It captured the Summer with the beauty I was truly hoping for, and so, I tried it again. This time with a little more magic…

Sit back, relax and enjoy the sounds of the night.

I am overwhelmed sometimes by the sheer diversity and quantity of Spider species I encounter. So many! I take a ton of photos and bring them up on my computer hoping to try and identify a couple, and maybe write about who I am seeing out there, but the precious few who I have been successful in identifying are just that, the precious few. Not many at all.

It has been hard to find a good field guide to Spiders. A friend at the University of Guelph Arboretum was/is? working on one, and there is a pamphlet put out by the City of Toronto, but I was having trouble finding one with good images, and a good glossary (I need these things - I do not know the nomenclature yet).

When I recently I received a copy of Spiders of North America by Sarah Rose I got stoked. It is a hefty book. 624 pages of high quality images from differing angles, details Spider life histories, species profiles of just over 500 species, and range maps. It’s full, and a bit of weight which may inhibit some from bringing it into the field with them, but I do like how many species it covers and the information it offers. One of my main critiques though, is that it is not larger. I don’t know if anyone has ever made a part 1 and part 2 of a field guide before, but Spiders would be a good topic to try that with someday.

Sarah Rose and I spoke about her work as chair of the American Arachnological Society’s Common Names Committee, about Spider behaviours such as molting and ballooning, Spider diets, how to photograph Spiders so we can later identify them and bit on range expansion due to climate change.

If you haven’t already, check out Princeton University Press’ other field guides in their series. The titles include guides to Caterpillars, Dragonflies and Damselflies, Bees, Flower flies and so many more.

To learn more :

Spiders of North America (Princeton University Press website)
The American Arachnological Society
Spiders of Toronto (pdf of pamphlet/magazine)

Daniella Roze lives this stuff. Seriously. She has spent years living off grid in a small community of folks learning how to live in closer connection with their land base out West. She has done month long adventures with a crew of women living with only the hides on their backs and whatever they could harvest from the land. She is also the founder, and was the former director and lead instructor at the Thriving Roots Wilderness School. Land based learner, educator, ecopsychologist, and PhD candidate, Daniella is well acquainted with the healing and possibility in the work of helping folks connect with the land, but she is also aware of the harms.

Together we discuss how can our nature based organizations work towards “justice” when we have blinders imposed by the dominant culture? When we replicate racist hiring practices, when we speak of the land in ways that erase the indigenous histories of the places where we work? How can we do the work to be more equitable, inclusive and welcoming to black, indigenous and other folks of colour?

When Daniella approaches these questions she seems to keep ever present her own goals of working towards “fostering resilient culture on the courageous journey of whole hearted living”. A goal I believe we should all be striving for.

This is the second interview in an ongoing series. Check out the first interview with Jenna Rudolph here.

To learn more :
Thriving Roots Nature School
Unsettling Ecopsychology: Addressing Settler Colonialism in Ecopsychology Practice

What is scat? Well, in the great words of a creative crew of naturalists*,

Starts with “S” and it ends with a “T”
It comes out of you and it comes out of me
I know what your thinking but don’t call it that
Let’s be scientific and call it “SCAT”

Why would someone write a book about scat? Why would someone need a book about scat? What’s so special about scat?

Finding and identifying scat is definitely part of a trackers repertoire as scat is a gateway into the natural history of the animal who left it. It highlights which species the animal is in relationship with, can help identify where the animal has been, and more generally can teach us more about our land base, which really is the point of this show.

The book highlights more than just scat though. It also connects the skulls and teeth to the digestive tract. It details who eats what and where the scat might be found. It includes detailed measurements and rulers for checking your finds in the field. It is beyond thorough, and all information is provided in an easily digestible framework.

Dorcas Miller has been authoring books on natural history for many years, including Track Finder (1981), Berry Finder (1986), Winter Weed Finder (1989), Constellation Finder (2005), and most recently Scat Finder (2022). She is also one of the founders of the amazing and inspiring Maine Master Naturalist Program, which has been training new naturalists for the past 10 years, a program which has really inspired my work.

Dorcas and I share stories while I ask questions about her awesome new book. It was an honour to get to talk with Dorcas.

*The Scat Rap was first created in 1988 at a “Music and the Environment” workshop at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, Tennessee by a group of naturalists, including Andy Bennett, Mary Keebler, and, Rodd Pemble.

To learn more :
Scat Finder book information
Maine Master Naturalist Program

Jenna Rudolph has been running an nature school on unceded territories on the West coat of the continent. What does it mean to support students in developing connections to a land base that is stolen from indigenous people? It would be easy to shy away from the question, as many have for so long, but Jenna and her colleagues at Soaring Eagle Nature School are trying to explore this question directly, with humility, patience and deep care.
Not only the school, but also within the broader “nature connection” industry, Jenna is one of a few voices who have been pushing others to examine the harms in our work. What does it mean to teach land based skills on stolen native land? Who has access? How do we distribute the knowledge, power and capital gained from this work in good ways? How can we hold ourselves accountable to, while not getting in the way of, marginalized folks who are doing similar work?

Some of these questions got examined in our conversation, while some weren’t. That’s ok though. My hope is that this is going to be the first in a series of conversations with other folks doing “nature connection” kind of work. Keep an eye on this site, and an ear to the broadcasts. My hope is that these talks reach far and wide and new conversations can be had between new friends, and accomplices, motivating and inspiring us to better relationship with each other, and the land we now live on.

To learn more :
Soaring Eagle Nature School

On July 24, 2017, Jessica Reznicek admitted to engaging in acts of sabotage to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,886 km long (1,172 miles) underground oil pipeline running through indigenous territories, crossing beneath the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, as well as under part of Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Her actions resulted in 4-month delay in pipeline construction. Despite the fact that the pipelines were not running at the time so there was no chance of a spill and no one was hurt during the acts of sabotage U.S. federal Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger later applied a domestic terrorism enhancement to Jessica’s sentences doubling her prison term to 8 years locked up, followed by 3 years supervised probation.

Last week, Reznicek's attorneys argued an appeal that the district court had inappropriately decided that her actions constituted a federal crime of terrorism. They are now awaiting a decision concerning the appeal.

I have been following this case for a couple of years now and to get to highlight it again was important to me, especially now with the looming decision in regards to the appeal.

For this show I got to talk with Charlotte from the Support Jessica Reznicek Network about Jessica’s case.

To learn more :
supportjessicareznicek.com
Support team Twitter page (useful for recent news and updates)
Petition to repeal Jessica Reznicek’s terrorist enhancement

Baptiste Morizot has changed the way I look at the world. He has offered a depth to the nuance of my relationships by giving them words and concepts to draw from. He examines in great detail how we relate (in the familial/ancestral sense, and the geopolitical sense) to other life forms with whom we share the planet.

In anxious times we need to hold each other closer, and that motion is still alive when I think of my encounters with the more-than-human. I draw solace and comfort, safety and a sense of resilience when I interact with others beyond my form. But sometimes we forget about these encounters, we forget that we are a part (constituent) and only feel apart (separate).

Using the examples of interspecies communication through strategic deposits of wolf and weasel scat along human trails through a mountain pass, to the ancestral connections and ritual through seasoning our food with salt, Baptiste looks to many varied experiences and ways of being alive to distill an ethic, maybe new, but likely older than we can remember, of being in community with, instead of having dominion over.

I was going to be joined by my firend Julian Fisher for this one, similar to how we discussed Baptiste Morizot’s previous book “On The Animal Trail” a couple of months ago, but as he needed to finish his own work, I was instead joined by American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus), Crack Willow (Salix fragilis), Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and many others in the field (or at the ephemeral pond rather) to record this reflection on the book. I hope you enjoy it.

To learn more :

Ways of Being Alive @ PolityBooks.com

Every year I bring the recorder out listen to some of the other-than-human animals in our shared spaces. I then come home, dreamily relisten to the recordings and then set them up as a show. Why would I broadcast an hour of other animals making noise? Well, that’s a long story which if you have listened to the show before you probably know already.

The other-than-human world is alive and breathing. They sing and mate and eat and die, just like us. We honour all the varied stages of our human lives through words and song, of which we record, archive, teach and celebrate, so why not them? Sure we use our languages to speak to their lives, but wouldn’t it be nice to allow them to sing their own songs and for us to pay attention as we would our own? I certainly think so.

There is a beautiful mystery within these recordings. I don’t stick around when I record them, but I bring them home and listen and it’s all a surprise. What made that Robin (Turdus migratorius) alarm? Who was wading in the river near by to make the sounds of rippling currents? Why do some of the Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) suddenly stop singing? Who may have been hunting in the dark just out of sight? It’s a beautiful chance to hold the land a little longer, to investigate a little deeper and to hopefully know a little more intimately, year after year.

If you would like to hear the recordings from last year, you can listen here.

Birdwatching is obviously a thing as birds are everywhere, loud, demonstrate interesting behaviours, and they are often brightly coloured. Squirrels too are everywhere, loud, and demonstrate interesting behaviours. They aren’t brightly coloured, but their brindled, black, red, brown, grey, or even white in the case of some albino individuals at Trinity Bellwoods downtown Toronto, are still a joy to observe. So why not take up Squirrelwatching?

Elizabeth Porter is the project coordinator for the Squirrel Life project which is developing an app to collect community sourced observations of Squirrels (all species within the Sciuridae family) and their varied, interesting and often comical behaviour and then enables future researchers to access the shared collected data for their research. It’s a project with many aims including getting folks outside to observe wild life close to home while encouraging a closer look at varied Squirrel behviours which are happening all around, all the time. Along the way, Elizabeth is looking at how to communicate scientific research and findings with broad diverse communities. A great goal.

For me, tools which help people connect with the land in a good way should be explored and celebrated. Inaturalist, Merlin, and now Squirrel Life could be part of broader cultural tools like field guides, workshops, podcasts and experiential work in schools to get folks building their own relationships with the land. I am grateful that these tools exist.

To learn more :

Squirrel Life on twitter
Squirrel Life on instagram
Squirrel Life on Facebook
Epicollect website where you can find out more about the project

By calling, Greg is a Jesuit priest. Lorraine, a textile artist. Both have a keen eye for observation, and translation. Learning to see the wonder and awe embedded in the guardians of the air we collectively breathe, the trees, they render the arboreal grace and might into earthly transmissions which allow us to know the land a little better.

On Earth Day weekend, April 22-24 2022,  Greg Kennedy, Lorraine Roy and I will be facilitating a retreat at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre with the theme of Trees. We will be taking the time to give thanks, make beauty, to reflect and listen as we explore some of the many ways we connect with trees.

In preparation for this upcoming retreat, Greg and I have been going on many walks around the 600 acre farm where the Jesuit Centre is situated. We’ve been planning, and sharing in our profound respect and love for the land. I had suggested this interview to talk about the weekend and Greg reached out to Lorraine as well to see if we could all get in on it and share some of why we are involved in this project, and to reflect on what brought us to this work, who has inspired us, and what we hope to bring to this emergent weekend.

It was great to talk with the both of them. I learned a lot through our conversation, and I know I will learn so much more on our coming retreat weekend.

I you would like to sign up for the weekend, check out the link below.

Trees Retreat Weekend information and registration

Nature Guelph was established in 1966 and since then has been promoting connection with the lands in and around the city I now call home. I have been attending their events for years, always drawn in by their knowledgeable speakers and presenters and great community. It has been a hub for naturalists in Guelph and I have been so lucky to get to know the broader community of humans and non-humans through their efforts.

I got the chance to talk with John Prescott long time member of the organization to talk about the past, present and future of the organization detailing their work in partnership with rare Charitable Research Reserve, the Arboretum at the University of Guelph campus, and about the City of Guelph’s campaign to become a Bird Friendly City. It was great conversation.

If you want to learn more about the work Nature Guelph is doing you can check out their website and their facebook pages here. Be sure to visit some of their partnering organizations and projects with some links below.

Nature Guelph
Guelph Nature Community - Nature Guelph Community forum on Facebook
The Arboretum at the University of Guelph
rare Charitable Research Reserve is a community-based urban land trust

Knowing the plants who are in relationship with the animals we track can help us find the animals we want to learn about. They can point in the direction of where the animals are going or where they will be going. They can show us if we are in the right environment or if we need to keep looking.
This episode is pretty much a story of a recent afternoon spent tracking in the Lake of Bays region, just South West of Algonquin Park, where we spent a few hours following the food and then finding the animal.

To learn more :

Grey Squirrel Food Preferences: The Effects of Tannin and Fat Concentration
Squirrels, Acorns and Tannins
The Pine Marten is Nature's Most Adorable Assassin! - listen close for the growls. Different context, but very similar.

I have been tracking Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) a lot lately, and trying to learn a little bit more about them through their tracks and all the questions that come up. What are they eating right now? How can I tell them apart from Voles and Shrews? How many live together in the Winter? Who ate this one’s brains? You know, the usual.
I have also been looking at bird tracks a bunch, especially in this past week, when I noticed a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) feeding on the withered stalk of an uncertain forb on the side of a new gravel road near where I work. It was fun to go and see the work the Song Sparrow had done, and wonder at all the debris that remained. Who knew there’d be so much to look at and wonder about?

Tracking is an interspecies pedagogy. We learn from the animals in the field, or from other humans who have learned about them and written out what they have learned. I am full of gratitude for all the life that the snow reveals and for the gift of tracks from the animals who leave them.

I have seen and been part of a lot of Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) removal efforts, and while initially hopeful, often there is a inevitable return of the non-native to once again take over the forest understory in short time. What if there were strategies, without herbicides or biocontrols to reduce or prevent the likeliness of Buckthorn’s recolonization?

Mike J. Schuster from the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota recently co-authored a paper looking into native phenological competitors to Buckthorn which can be planted after Buckthorn removal to help keep R. cathartica out. Luckily for me, one of the suggestions was a (fairly simple) practice I have been learning about and working on for the past 5 years! Plant more Elderberry! Sambucus canadensis and perhaps even more so S. racemosa can help block out the light essential to early Buckthorn growth. By planting these two shrubs , who have similar phenological timelines to the Buckthorn, we can help restore native biodiversity in forests experiencing Buckthorn invasions.

I will try to remember to create a follow up episode in the Spring to detail how to propagate Elderberry to help anyone who wants to try this experiment at home.

To learn more :

Cover it up! Citizen science project

It has been the Winter of the Fisher indeed with long tracking missions following three different Fishers at three locations in Southern Ontario between November 27, 2021 - January 16, 2022. I had only written of one of the experiences and hadn’t really told the story of the second and third, I thought I could detail some of what happened, and some of what I had been learning about for this episode.

Fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a hefty member of the Weasel family (Mustelidae) only found in North America. Once trapped widely for their pelts, Fishers were once extirpated from many regions, but through extensive protections, reintroductions and better land management practice, Fishers are reclaiming some of their prior range.

Powerful and beautiful, fierce and fuzzy, the Fisher is an animal I long to know more about. Here I share a couple of stories and share some entries from field guides in an effort to learn from this wonderful animal.

A friend told me that someone in their small village had spotted a Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis) in the same river the passes through the city where I live. This is the closest sighting of a River Otter to my neck of the woods I have ever heard of. I was so excited that I ran to my  desk where I had all of my mammal books out anyways, and flipped to the River Otter entries and started learning.
I ended up recording some of the important things in a couple of the entries, but then got to thinking about where the word Otter comes from, and from there ended up re-reading a portion of one of my favorite stories of all time, which happens to feature an Otter character.

This show is tribute to all animals who are experiencing range expansions, moving back into their historic territories and holding it down for the future. As I mentioned to the person who observed the Otter in an email, “[a]midst all the rough news of the year, this is some good news to hear.”

My friend Julian Fisher recommended a book to me he thought I would enjoy. It was Baptiste Morizot’s On the Animal Trail from Polity books. I got it and began reading when he told me he had just finished the book and was working on a review for the journal Environmental Philosophy. In light of this, I asked him if he would like to do a “book report, not a review” with me, where we could just have a good conversation about what we were thinking and learning about through reading the work. Julian is a philosopher, and I am a tracker. Why not share in the feast of ideas that is On the Animal Trail together?

Baptiste writes beautiful accounts of tracking wolves, bears, panthers and worms, and describes some lessons he and we have been offered by these cohabitants. But he also asks us to look a little deeper into these lessons and into our relationships with these different, and in some ways not-so-different, communities. Can the tracker be a diplomat between communities helping to lessen the violence humans inflict on the more-than-human world? Can tracking change how we see the world by changing the way we interact with the world? Can following animal trails help us find a deeper sense of belonging to place because we are more in tune to the relationships happening around us? Julian and I get into it.

I have read a number of books by various authors where efforts are made to conflate tracking wildlife with deeper understandings of our human selves. There is even a phrase for this kind of work: “inner tracking”. A couple of those books were just bad, while some offered ideas I could get into. Baptiste Morizot’s book On the Animal Trail is different. Here is someone reflecting on real experiences in the field, tracking these non-human neighbours and learning to encounter the world with new senses. It is a great read.

This is potentially only part 1 of Julian and I’s discussions of this book. We hope to find the time to talk again and get a little deeper.

More info :

On the Animal Trail website

Julian Fisher’s instagram (@juleswfisher)

The tracking blog I mentioned where someone tracks their cat

2,100,000 acres protected within not only the most populous area in Canada, but one of the most important economic areas, the struggle between development and sprawl vs protection and conservation of farms, forests and fragile wetlands is a very real undertaking, and one very much beyond me. Getting to talk to Shelley Petrie of The Greenbelt Foundation about how a successful mobilization 16 years ago to protect some smaller tracts has expanded to include so much more was helpful in understanding some of the broad and focused details of what exactly the Greenbelt is and who the Greenbelt Foundation are. By supporting local farms, restoration efforts, education and work “future-proofing” in the context of climate upheaval, the Greenbelt is supporting so many people within the protected lands, but also those of us outside them on the periphery.

With a local council North of Toronto recently voting in favour of a developer’s request to redesignate 1,400 acres of Greenbelt farmland into developable lands I got to wondering if the Greenbelt can hold up against this and possible future impingements? Where do folks allow development and where do folks protect lands? What do we need to make sure that the Greater Golden Horseshoe can not only live through current and future climactic changes, but also thrive as a great place to live for everyone here and every who will be here in the future.

I see the Greenbelt in Ontario as a both visionary and pragmatic example of protecting land around these urban spaces, providing and maintaining habitat for the more-than-human world, for city dwellers like me to be able to more easily access a bit of greenspace, and for the preservation of local farmlands for growing food for the people who live near by. These protected spaces need to not only be protected and cherished, but also grown and expanded.

To learn more :

The Greenbelt Foundation website

Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership

Alderville Black Oak Savanna

Episode photo courtesy of Greenbelt Foundation

I first noted the book because of the “tracking rats” part of the title, but when I began reading it I realized Dr. Cylita Guy’s new book Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats : Urban Ecology, Community Science, and How We Share Our Cities is more than what it seems. Cylita has written about how eight different researchers go about conducting their research along with how they themselves, as individuals, some as BIPOC scientists, interact with and encounter their work.

There are stories of late night encounters with the police, and of a scientist observing birds in park being asked to leave because other park goers were “uncomfortable” likely because the scientist was a Black woman. There are stories of urban ecology researchers that reflect the urban human population dynamics which, in some ways, are comparable to the wilds they work to understand. Microplastic pollution effects on urban animals, studying bees in cities to better understand climate change, looking at how bats interact with parklands in built up environments. Human created landscapes are wild and full of wonder. Life blooms everywhere and within these pages I read the stories of the broad ecologies which I am not only witness to, but also apart of.

Oh.. we also talk about Bats… which is pretty cool.

More information :

Dr. Cylita Guy’s website.

Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats : Urban Ecology, Community Science, and How We Share Our Cities : information on the book

RCMP has invaded Wet’suwet’en territory from the second time in as many years. Land protectors have been resisting a pipeline going through their territory for many years, and most recently from a site where the pipeline would be buried below a river where folks fish and drink from.
When the police raided the blockades there were calls for support and solidarity actions. Locally and abroad there have been marches, rallies, vigils, and more.

This weeks episode is all about giving context for the situation, looking at what is happening now, why the invasion wouldn’t even be legal according to Wet’suwet’en or Canadian or international law, and some recordings from a local solidarity rally in support of Wet’suwet’en land protectors.

Learn more here :

https://www.yintahaccess.com/

https://twitter.com/Gidimten

https://twitter.com/unistotencamp

The massive Beehive Collective posters were a big part of my culturation and activist upbringing. Every punk house, infoshop, or radical space I encountered had one of their many gorgeously illustrated prints in a living room, bedroom or even in the washroom. They were so detailed, so thorough and nuanced that I would discover new facets every time I made the effort to study one. But despite seeing them so often, these black and white billboards were still a little mysterious and the narrative  a bit illusive. I never quite understood the entire story behind most of the work. I know they came with a pamphlet detailing everything, but I didn’t often find one of those in the punk houses where I was encountering the posters.

When Saku and D came through this past week on their whirlwind Southern Ontario tour, visiting neighbourhood parks, schools, they brought with them a simplified key, a song, a Seussian poem detailing the narrative of the work, which made it much more approachable to a broader, and younger audience. Inspired by their own child and the desire to teach them about what has been going on in the world, they put together a new book detailing the true cost of coal.

This is my jams. Taking complex things and rendering them accessible and teachable and then doing the work to get that out into the world. I really appreciate this stuff. Thanks again to Saku and D for putting in the work on this one.

To learn more check out:

Beehive Collective website

The True Cost of Coal book

I really appreciate when I can meet someone who can take something despised and vilified and transform it into a beautiful focal point, braiding together natural history, human history, and urban ecology. Using a playful approach to science, research and with her signature illustrations, Rosemary Mosco brings the Pigeon back into our awareness as a wonderful urban companion through the Anthropocene, instead of being viewed as a pest or vector to be avoided.
From her online comic, Bird and Moon, drawn by someone who really cares, through to her books, written and illustrated with humour and reverence, Rosemary enlivens the world, while welcoming us to pay more attention and more appreciation.

I got to talk with Rosemary about her own connections with nature, her award winning bird and moon comics, really diving deep into Pigeons (Columba livia) and her new book A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching.

To learn more check these out:

A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching

Bird and Moon comics

Rosemary Mosco’s personal website

Dr. Micheal Shapiro’s fun online game “Pigeonetics”

Most of this episode is a talk given at the Decolonizing Thanksgiving Dinner (formally Anti-colonial Thanksgiving Dinner) on October 14th, 2018. I wanted to highlight this conversation on reconciliation when right now, RCMP forces are again actively invading indigenous territories across so-called Canada.

Since September 25th, the Gidimt’en Access Point has been holding new blockades and using a variety of tactics to keep Coastal GasLink workers and the RCMP off their territory. Specifically, they have been blocking access to a drill pad, without which CGL will be unable to drill under the Wedzin Kwa, or Morice River.

Gidimt’en clan members and supporters have established themselves on the site, which they have named Coyote Camp, building a log cabin complete with a wood stove to support a sustained defense of the camp.

The RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group has been present at the camp, carrying out daily reconnaissance, searching tents, emptying campers’ drinking water supply, and generally harassing the site’s inhabitants.

In the words of Sleydo’, spokesperson for Gidimt’en Checkpoint, “Our way of life is at risk. Wedzin Kwa [is the] river that feeds all of Wet’suwet’en territory and gives life to our nation.”

While this talk may not represent the values and ideas of the Gidimt’en Checkpoint, or the clan members, I think it highlights the fallacy of the Canadian states narrative of reconciliation while actively trying to remove indigenous land protectors from their ancestral territories.

To learn more check these out:

Yintah Access - website for the Gidimt’en Checkpoint

Gidimt’en Strong - Gofundme

What do we know about the RCMP’s resource extraction protection unit?

Before I pressed record I was pressing Matt with questions about fungal infections which affect Apples throughout the orchard. We wove between trees, ducking low branches looking for the perfect spot to record in. My hands were full with my audio recorder, my newly broken headphones, and apples I had gleaned from below a couple of nice old trees with well pruned branches, low canopies and open form, perfect for climbing in and grabbing the few remainders left on the trees. It took me a second to realize that this accessible form isn’t inherent in the trees but instead the invisible work of knowing hands and keen tools. My old friend beside me beneath the apple trees had been pruning these trees back into production over the past couple years but still he looked at them, not as someone proud of their accomplished work, but instead like a sculptor who stares into the stone scrying to see the shape that begs to emerge…
Ok, maybe that is a bit dramatic, but it’s fun to see your friends work in the world.

I sat down with an old friend, Matt Soltys, otherwise known as The Urban Orchardist, for a conversation about his work as an orchardist, and his business helping folks start growing their own.

We spoke about food sustainability, local food culture, how fruit trees help sequester carbon, build community and of course, give food.

The book we spoke about near the end of the conversation was Apples of North America - Exceptional Varieties for Gardeners, Growers, and Cooks by Tom Burford.

The seasons are changing and it’s getting a little more obvious everyday. I have been watching life turn over the past couple of weeks and it’s been lovely. I went out on Saturday, sat under a Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), and watched the wind move through the grass.

I’d been feeling a sense of loss since the moment I realized I had forgotten to press record on my wonderful but now lost-forever interview with Olivia Messinger Carril and Joseph S. Wilson authors of the new book Common Bees of Eastern North America. It was a great one, but I messed up and now it’s gone.

This weeks show I try my best to share what I have been learning about in regards to my local landbase, as well as trying to remember some of the highlights from talking with Olivia and Joseph. It wasn’t the same, but it was ok. And the book is still just as good. I am grateful for that.

More info :

 Common Bees of Eastern North America

Bumble Bees (genus Bombus) are a diverse genus of Bees with 25 species in Ontario according to range maps, but more like 14-16 species you are more likely to encounter. It can be a confusing process not only trying to decipher the genus of a Bee, but especially down to the species. Now how about trying to i.d. a increasingly hard to find species? Its hard. Its harder still to try and help these bees get back into the mating game, supporting their regeneration and helping them help reinhabit the places where their populations were once more common.

Tiffani Harrison is the conservation outreach and field biologist with Wildlife Preservation Canada. She and her teams have been surveying various sites across Canada in search of Bumble Bees, to gather Queens for the breeding Bumble Bee Breeding lab in efforts to learn more about how to support declining species.

I myself am on a big kick to learn more about Bumble Bees and this interview with Tiffani Harrison was incredibly helpful in that regard. If you are interested in learning more about Bumble Bee ecologies, especially in the context of increasingly rare species, take a listen to the show.

For more information:

Wildlife Preservation Canada

In 1975, Hal H. Harrison wrote the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds’ Nests. In 1979 he wrote the Western guide. I have my copy of Eastern Birds’ Nests on the primary bird shelf (there are two shelves) beside Bird Feathers by S. David Scott and Casey McFarland. Now, Casey McFarland, Matthew Monjello & David Moskowitz have come together to revamp the Peterson Field Guide to Bird Nests. In one (kinda thick) package they managed to fit descriptions of over 650 bird species along with beautiful high quality photos of many examples of the varied avian architectures discussed. This one has a small name change too:
Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests

Casey McFarland joined me for a great conversation on what it took to make the book happen. We discuss the legacy Hal H. Harrisons work and how his book inspired a lot of what Casey, Matt, and David wrote, but also they were determined to find new practices that weren’t as invasive in their search for beautiful shots of nests and eggs.  We spoke about varied bird ecologies and place-based, habitat considerations birds participate within to best protect and rear their young.

From bird nests, to the Cyber tracker evaluation process’, to an encounter with a Bobcat while searching out nests on the Rio Grande, Casey shares his passion for tracking the wild, and deepening his understanding of the world around him. all the while sharing that enthusiasm and curiosity with others through his work along the way.

Shout outs to Matt Monjello and David Moskowitz who could not be apart of the interview. I hope, someday in the near future, our paths will cross and I can ask them all about their projects, their joys and experiences in writing this great new book.

Additional information:

Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests

Casey McFarland.net

David Moskowitz.net

An experimental demonstration that house finches add cigarette butts in response to ectoparasites

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) is a tree I have been building relationship with for years. Through gathering, processing, storing, cooking, dyeing, planting, distributing and educating, this has been a plant I have come to know a lot about, and with whom I have shared some of myself with. I do not know Walnut in all stages (I long to know the flowers more), and I do not know the post glacial dispersal (it’s always nice to learn the backstory), I am slowly coming to understand the more than human relationships this tree has with the world around them. I am also deepening my understanding of the complex relationships this plant has with humans.

Now is the time of the year has arrived for the first harvest of hulls, but not yet the time for the nut itself. That will come in a few weeks, but until then tune in to hear about how the Black Walnut supports a strong community of wild life, how to use the hulls for dye, and a little bit of lore on this wonderful tree.

For most of my life I have enjoyed biking and walking through the trails at night. I explore the meandering paths by creek or riverside, venture through parks and fields looking for something unnameable or unknowable by day. There is a special beauty that glows faintly at night and I have longed to share that with friends ever since I was old enough to spend the night out by myself.
It took me by surprise when I realized that others couldn’t get out as I did. They held back by more than subtle threats and stories told to keep folks in their place. I was heartbroken and angry. I still am.

The show this week is about sharing the sounds I came across recently on late night forays down to the river by my house and in my backyard. The crickets, the random passing plane, the one off calls of birds, the sudden cry of something I do not know…  I recorded these in hopes to offer them as chances to participate in the space of the night for folks who can’t get out there for whatever reasons.

I hope you enjoy.

I went up to Point Grondine with my partner last week and while there we saw lots of great flora and fauna. Cardinal Flower, Bunchberry, Bristly Sarsaparilla, Bluebead Lily, among so much more beautiful flora. Some of the fauna included Bears, Beavers, Porcupines, possible Wolf scat, Moose tracks... but also one night we were woken up by an animal going through one of our bags. I scared them away but they hissed at me before they managed to get up a 7.5 m/25 feet tiered rock face. The next morning I found some tracks and sign, and then met other campers later in the week who were near us who had a similar encounter. Who did the tracks say it was? Who did the neighbouring campers see by flashlight in the middle of the night? Bobcat.

So, I of course have to nerd out and study Bobcats since I got home, and wanted to read some detailed selections from Donna Naughton’s book “Natural History of Canadian Mammals” and Mark Elbroch and Casey McFarland’s “Mammal Tracks and Sign (2nd edition)”.

I sadly had to cut the show short to be short it would be suitable for my time slot at the radio, but I hope to research more and share what I learn in future episodes or blog entries. For now, check out the show!

illustration of Bobcat by Julius Csotonyi, from Natural History of Canadian Mammals by Donna Naughton, 2012.

The Raccoon (Procyon lotor), whose range has expands to include nearly all habitats on the continent, from Canada to Panama, has made their impact on the land, hearts, minds, and cultures of those who have encountered them.

Author, professor and animal nerd Daniel Heath Justice helps us navigate the wild cultural impacts and impressions of Raccoons. From indigenous Missippian cosmologies as boundary walkers to the denizens of Toronto’s liminal urban nightscape, Raccoons are imprinted on the imaginary as “category-defying, rule-breaking and boundary-breaching beings”. They are models for both lean, resilient, images of the noble wild as well as pestilent dumpster dwelling “trash pandas”.  Queer creatures indeed.

We talk about these binary breakers, the inspirations for the book, their names across cultures and eras, how Raccoons have been weaponized to reproduce racist stereotypes by white supremacist cultures, and even chat a little bit about the Joy of Cooking. A full bodied show for a full bodied animal. Hope you enjoy!

More info:

https://danielheathjustice.com

Ebony Jewelwings (CIalopteryx maculata) are beautiful, which is one of the reasons they are so interesting to watch. I have seriously sat for hours watching them, photographing them and trying to learn from observing what is going on. I have mostly come away with questions.

In light of my own questions and many from friends I have decided to try and research a little bit more about these beautiful broadwinged Damselflies in hopes that I can learn a little bit more and help answer some of those pressing questions.

So come along for the flight and enjoy learning more about the natural history and interesting ecology of the Ebony Jewelwing.

Books I read from:

Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East by Dennis Paulson

A Guide To Observing Insect Lives by Donald Stokes

A Guide To Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America by J. Resse Voshell, Jr.

Dawn Matheson wants to start connecting with trees, or a specific tree rather, at the University of Guelph Arboretum but she’s unsure which one yet. There is a process to get to know a tree and she is in the midst of sorting out that process. How do you find a friend in a tree when the culture around us says humans and trees can’t be friends? Well, she makes friends with other humans who are already friends with trees and starts from there.

Dawn is in the process of a project called “How To Draw A Tree” :

“I am building a project connecting trees with mental health and creativity which will result in a SOUND WALK up at the beautiful Arboretum at University of Guelph. Basically, we are matchmaking trees and humans for lifelong reciprocal friendships.”

Together we talk about our relationships to trees, the struggles of navigating interspecies communications while we navigate our own mental health, the work and challenges of settlers in building these relationships, and how Dawn hopes to engage with this work and her larger project of connecting with trees.

More info:

Dawn Matheson’s website

If you have listened to the show in the past you’ll know that I am interested in interspecies communication. Usually I focus on animals, especially birds and bird language. Dr. Sarah Abbott is also interested in interspecies communication, and recently completed her doctoral research project with a focus on communication between humans and trees. I thought this was exciting, so I had to find out more.

We shared about what we knew about how trees communicate with each other, and how they might communicate with people. We talked about indigenous technologies for use around interspecies connections and if there were ways for settlers to take off the blinders we have practice the skills she outlines, with some interesting conclusions.

Dr. Abbott and I spent a couple of hours just “webbing it out”, wondering for answers; it was a non-linear conversation, echoing miles of mycelial threads searching out nutrients in the dirt beneath the perceived forest… just the right way to talk about talking with the trees.

More reading:

Approaching Nonhuman Ontologies: Trees, Communication, and Qualitative Inquiry

Sarah Abbott’s website

Tina and Angie describe themselves as “the Wizards behind the curtain” of an awesome company based out of Brooklyn called Bird Collective. They make beautiful patches, t-shirts, sweaters and hats and more celebrating birds from across the continent while also donating 20% of the proceeds to conservation organizations and other projects that help make the world of birding more accessible to everyone.

Their mission from their website reads “North America has lost more than 1 in 4 birds in the last half-century. We're committed to finding and helping fund projects that can help reverse that decline and create a better future for our native birds and wildlife. At least 20 percent of our profits will go toward supporting these projects.”

I wanted to interview these folks because of the company model, and because of the cultural creation that is possible with apparel. I am a fan of looking critically at the clothes we wear, and remembering that the things we wear represent our values and our desires. Our outfits show who we are and what we’re into. Why not make it count by sporting a fav pastime of birding, and by supporting amazing conservation projects? This is the first time I’ve interviewed a company or a business, which I might have thought I would never do, but really, I am stoked about the work that Angie and Tina are doing and how they are doing it.

More Info :

Bird Collective

BlackAsFuckinSTEM

Certified wildlife tracker Sage Raymond, is completing her Masters of Science studying Urban-adapted Coyote ecologies in Edmonton. She has been working with colleagues on the Edmonton Urban Coyote Project studying the patterns and behaviours of these urbanized Coyotes in hopes to be better able to predict, and reduce some of the possible problems or conflicts which could occur between these wilder animals and human/pet populations.

Additionally, we talk about the use of tracking as a useful, non-invasive tool for studying wildlife, novel non-native zoonotic diseases (potentially lethal tapeworms!!) which are infecting the Coyotes and the implications that has for co-habiting human populations.

Studies Sage mentioned in the interview:

• E. multilocularis is especially prevalent in Edmonton/ Alberta: "Helminth parasites and zoonotic risk associated with urban coyotes (Canis latrans) in Alberta, Canada."; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30588908/
  
• Example of news article about this parasite in Alberta: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/tapeworm-echinococcus-multilocularis-alberta-klein-calgary-veterinarian-disease-coyotes-dogs-1.5224864
  
• Example of the coyote downward spiral where bad food <--> bad health <--> bad behaviour: "Greater consumption of protein-poor anthropogenic food by urban relative to rural coyotes increases diet breadth and potential for human-wildlife conflict" ; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecog.01128
  
• Coyotes that eat anthropogenic food have different microbiomes: "An altered microbiome in urban coyotes mediates relationships between anthropogenic diet and poor health"
  
• Example of Echinococcosis through a One Health Lens: "Neglected Zoonoses and the Missing Opportunities for One Health Education: The Case of Cystic Echinococcosis among Surgically Operated Patients in Basrah, Southern Iraq"
  
• A great, great paper showing that physicians are on top of their stuff!: Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Alveolar Echinococcosis: An Emerging Infectious Disease in Alberta, Canada
  

Wildlife biologist, Hannah Barron and lawyer Kaitlyn Mitchell have been working to defend Wolves, Coyotes, Bears, and Skunks, among many other animals from being poisoned indiscriminately. Why are they poisoned? The governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan say they are attempting to reduce the chances of livestock predation, and to supposedly protect endangered Caribou from population declines caused by the Wolves.

Together, with the organizations they work with, Wolf Awareness and Animal Justice, and many others, these two superheroes have signed on and submitted three requests under the Pest Control Products Act asking the Canadian Minister of Health to conduct a special review of the registration of all pest control products containing strychnine, Compound 1080, and sodium cyanide. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health refused to reconsider the use of these violent poisons.

Rather than scapegoating wolves and coyotes and placing indiscriminate and deadly poisons into the environment, Hannah and Kaitlyn detail and describe the reasons why these poisons don’t work, can’t work, and should be banned from use.

This is a hard one to listen to at times, but there is some good news as well.

Learn more:

https://www.wolfawareness.org/

https://animaljustice.ca/

I await the arrival of the Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) with a little bit more anticipation than most other birds. As I wander through the woods looking for tracks of animals or signs of Spring’s return, my ears are always tuned in to the possibility of the high liquid sound of a Wood Thrush’s song, perhaps the most beautiful song in the Spring forest around here.
Recognizing that I am in love with a song, I wanted to look into the bird who sings it a little deeply, learn a little more about their ecology, and understand something about their lives and how they may go about living it. So, this week’s show is about the Wood Thrush, a favorite bird this time of year.

Hopefully you live in a place where you can hear these beautiful songs, but if not, listen up and you just might fall in love as well.

Can we imagine a living piece of trash? Can we remember that magic exists and flows through all things, including that trash, the sidewalk, the tires sunk in the bottom of the river? Maybe respect and honour are not just for the pretty things, the magical things like a candle, or a plant, or the multitude of stars.

Sabrina Scott asks us to take all beings into account, allowing for their identities to remind us that the world is a breathing, heaving, mass of being -  from our own bodies we hold so high, down to the vaccines and microbes which populate all things.

Sabrina identifies as a witch. No no, not the tall black hat, broom and cat… (well, maybe a cat), but instead as someone who engages with the material and immaterial consciously and with care and consideration reaching for a broad understanding and engagement that recognizes the beingness of all objects and forms of life.

We discuss their book “Witchbody”,  magic in the anthropogenic space,  gender essentialism in witchy cosmologies, and a bunch more. It was a lot of fun.

Sabrina Scott’s website

Sabrina Scott’s presentation at CRASSH

The Virginia Opossum is of the most amazing mammals on the continent. These marsupials are slowly but surely expanding their range northwards, despite winters which can be so hard on the Opossum that they can freeze, or starve to death. Why are they expanding their range? Are they adapting beyond their traditional climate niche?

For this show we talk to Dr. Lisa Walsh, a mammalogist and biology educator about the wonderful natural history of the Virginia Opossum, how anthropogenic changes to the landscape are influencing their behaviours, and of her research about the processes of their ongoing range expansion.  

More info:

Contemporary range expansion of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) impacted by humans and snow cover.

Time is cyclic, as caused and demonstrated by orbits, seasons, and migrations. To honour those elliptical events I get to practice rituals with the land based on what is occurring in reaction to the always ongoing changes. One such ritual is observing the Spring Migration of songbirds.

Every year around this time I get to practice listening to the birds. I go and do my sit spot, or go for a walk and listen intently to try and notice who has returned to my part of the world from away, or who has been here all winter, but is now singing out.

I listen for territorial and mating calls/songs, companion calls, as well as for alarms, intraspecies aggression, and eventually juvenile begging calls. These are just some of the varied reasons why a bird may create some sort of cue, but definitely the easier ones for me to pick-up on. There is so much more which I don’t know.
I also hear the sounds of human interactions with the space. Traffic in the distance, folks running and talking, people with their dogs. All of these are interwoven in the broad communties and communications which are happening on the land.

This tradition is about relationship building through active listening and paying attention. We can’t know someone without listening to them, without giving them attention and acknowledging them. By listening to the birds and working towards understanding them we start to identify their needs, “desires” and habits. By listening to a human friend we do the same. Through this identification we might also develop empathy and care, compassion and love. Seems worth the listen to me.

Why not ritualize this interspecies relationship building and also honour it through highlighting and uplifting on this podcast platform as I might a researcher, author, or knowledge holder? Once we’ve listened where do we go from there? How do we deepen the bonds that listening creates? Can we know the land better through listening to the more-than-human world? I think so. Let’s give it a shot.

Doug Tallamy’s new book “The Nature of Oaks : The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees” is a month-by-month study of the ecology of Oaks. A perennial dive into the cycling inhabitants and visitors to Oaks throughout the year. While not quite a field guide, the book does offer detailed explanations, accompanied by large colour photographs, on a multitude of various insect and bird species who are interacting with the Oak.

This book, and interview, are full of natural history of the Oaks, as well as a call to action for those who have the means to plant an Oak.

Doug’s other books, “Bringing Nature Home”, “Natures Best Hope” have been informative in helping folks change the way they conceptualize their lawns. “The Nature of Oaks” will help us deepen our understanding of the ecologies of one of the mightiest cornerstones in our ecosystems across the continent.

As a note, sadly my microphone was not selected properly and my audio isn’t as good as it could be. Luckily Doug’s audio comes in loud and clear.

Doug Elliott is a pretty cool guy. Well, to be honest he’s what I want to be when I grow up. A story telling, plant loving, naturalist whose passion for nature and love for the land inspire all sorts of folks across the continent.

I first heard about Doug from one of his books many years ago, “Wild Roots”, but recently have been coming across his name more and more, whether it was through storytellers, or virtual singalongs, people are sharing his words.

We got on a quick zoom call to chat about a possible upcoming interview and then the interview sort of just happened then. I didn’t have all the questions prepared, and Doug didn’t know what I wanted to talk about really, but he was game and it was fun. I may have ended up telling more stories than he did.

Learn more:

https://dougelliott.com/ - Doug’s Homepage

https://dougelliott.bandcamp.com - Listen to, and purchase Doug’s albums of stories and songs

Buy Doug’s books

Dr. Kim Anderson, Dr. Sheri Longboat and Dr. Brittany Luby are the driving force behind Nokom’s House, a new lab in development at the University of Guelph. Together with a community of elders they are establishing an indigenous learning, sharing, teaching space which will be using relational pedagogies, community research, and land-based learning to make home for cultural recovery, inter-generational training, and the creation of indigenous futurities.

On the show we hear why there is a need for Nokom’s House within the academic setting, what the cultural architecture of safety can look like for marginalized students, the roles of women, especially older women, have within indigineous communities, and also why there needs to be spaces specifically for indigineous people on the University of Guelph campus, within the city of Guelph, and further afield.

Again spaces like this are truly inspiring for me. I end up with so many questions and hopes. What can settler folks learn from spaces like this, and how can we take the lessons and direction from indigenous folks and bring some cultural change to the spaces we create now and into the future? How do we decompose the structures we’ve created that actively separate folks from the land and from our more-than-human relationships? More questions than answers, of course.

Learn more about how you can support what they are doing here.

Wellington Water Watchers (WWW) is a grassroots organization working towards protecting their local water from those who would take it, pollute it, and render it a commodity. They have been working on the ground and in the streams since 2007. Through centering indigenous and marginalized struggles as a lighthouse to current and future WWW campaigns,  and through developing partnerships with other seemingly disparate local organizations, they have been working to challenge the destructive machinations of bottled water corporations (Nestle specifically), developers, and provincial and federal governments who have been neglecting or outright attacking safe clean drinking water and the natural habitats where that water comes from.

Arlene Slowcombe, executive director of Wellington Water Watchers, talks on the show about how they and their allies are working to protect water and oppose those who would endanger not only the most precious and vital of “resources”, but the key to all life on earth.

Learn more:

https://www.wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/

About 30 km from Lake Huron, there is a proposal to dig a 500m mine (“deep geological repository” or DGR) on 1500 acres along the Teeswater River. Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) wants to fill the mine with radioactive waste with a halflife of up to 1,000,000 years. They intend to monitor the dumpsite for a few years and then seal it and forget about it.

Thankfully there are folks resisting the proposed nuclear waste dump. Today’s show I talk to Michelle Stein and Bill Noll from “Protect Our Waterways - No Nuclear Waste” to find out what the proposed project is all about, and how they are working with their neighbours, both near and far, indigenous and settlers, from both sides of Lake Huron, to challenge the NMWO and the proposed DGR.

Sure, this show mostly covers natural history, wildlife, book reviews and such, but there are other things happening out on the land which must highlighted and explored, and resistance to huge industrial radioactive mining projects with possible catastrophic consequences which could still be playing out a million years from now are also worth taking a deeper look at.

Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus migrans) have been listed on the COSEWIC as an endangered species since 1991, and more recent population analysis indicates that there may be only 50 breeding pairs remaining in Ontario. With uncertainty around what has been and is continually causing the decline in populations, along ongoing habitat fragmentation, growing impacts of climate change, the future of the Loggerhead Shrike in Ontario is unknown.

But there is work being done to help populations recover. Hazel Wheeler, lead biologist on the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program with Wildlife Preservation Canada has been helping to coordinate captive breeding programs to support the rearing, and release of thousands of Loggerhead Shrikes since 2003.

Hazel joins the show to talk about some of the natural history of the Eastern Loggerhead, along with detailing the recovery project and how they are working hard understand what impacts are affecting the populations, and what they are doing in the breeding programs to assist these amazing and endangered birds.

Want to learn more?

Wildlife Preservation Canada

images credits, clockwise from top :  S Matheson, G Pitman, A Samuelson,

For this interview I get to talk with Jeremy Pustilnik and Paul Curtis about a recently published paper from the journal “Urban Ecosystems” on the interactions of Eastern Cottontail Rabbits (Syvilagus floridanus) and Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) around the use of Groundhog (Marmota monax) burrows and if the scent of Red Fox urine would dissuade the Cottontails from using the burrows. Not only does the paper cover this issue, but also invites some more complexity by looking at other animals, including specific reference to the Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis), and how and when those Skunks use the Groundhog burrows themselves.

The paper offers a lot of depth and detail around the broad intersectional ecology of the Groundhog burrow, who uses this burrow and why, and if by use of olfactory inputs from a local predator, would this act as deterrent to those species who use the burrows.

It was a lot of fun to get to dig in with these two biologists on their research, their experience and their passion for the work.

To read the paper :

“The effects of red fox scent on winter activity patterns of suburban wildlife: evaluating predator-prey interactions and the importance of groundhog burrows in promoting biodiversity” by authors Jeremy D. Pustilnik, Jeremy B. Searle, and Paul D. Curtis

image of Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) taken from study, provided by Jeremy Pustilnik.

The first show of 2021 is a great one. My guest is Sophie Mazowita, naturalist, educator, wildlife guide, tracker and much more. We talk about her journey as a naturalist and a tracker, how she gets off the trail and gets into the wilder world around her.

When I talk to folks about creating cultures of connection with the land, putting in the time, effort and passion into the work of learning ourselves and teaching others, Sophie is right on that. She has been working hard, as evidenced all over the internet with her videos, her career as a naturalist and educator, and her ongoing work getting folks on board with paying attention to the wilder world around them.

On top of her own personal endeavours, she shares her work with the Burlington Mammal Tracking Project where she led groups of trackers to map large mammal occurrence throughout the region. She shares more Conservation Northwest's Community Wildlife Monitoring Project where she is doing similar work, “organizing citizen-scientist volunteers to monitor and document wildlife using remote cameras where state and federal agencies don’t have the resources to go.” We also get to talk about a recent project of hers where she has been making space for folks to come together over video conferencing online to share their own tracking stories. What a great idea!

For more information about the work she is up to now, check out trackingconnection.com.

This is an older interview with cybersquirrel1.com creator SpaceRogue on why we need not worry about the threats of nationalistic warlike cyber attacks on the power grid on the continent, but instead we must be more concerned about THE SQUIRRELS!!! (sort of..)

Squirrels, Birds, Snakes, Raccoons have caused 2,123 power outages around the world since 1987, and possibly more. SpaceRogue has been collecting, documenting, and sharing details of these mischievous  animal attacks against the power grids. Tune in to hear about how the power infrastructure works in North America and how the wilderfauna are fighting back against “the grid”!

"I don't think paralysis [of the electrical grid] is more likely by cyberattack than by natural disaster. And frankly the number-one threat experienced to date by the US electrical grid is squirrels." - John C. Inglis, Former Deputy Director, National Security Agency 2015.07.09

Originally aired April 17, 2017.

Cycles of the year are very important to me. Spring Equinox is always quickening as you smell the winter dripping away. Summer solstice for dancing with friends throughout the shortest nights. Autumn Equinox is a celebration of the bounty the summer has brought, and a reminder of the coming winter.

But none really carry the weight for me as much as the Winter Solstice. The returning of the Sun fills me with hope and relieves the anxious dark which settles deeper into my bones. It used to be a time of depression and despair, when I only saw death and bad, but as I have learned more about the land, the Winter Solstice has become a quiet promise that this dark, too, will pass.

Many cultures throughout history have marked the Winter Solstice with story and fire, communal celebrations which tie in tradition and custom from years back. Sadly this year we can't gather like we might like, and many of our  traditions are going to have to change dramatically or be skipped altogether. Luckily, playing “Solstice” is a Winter Solstice tradition that I do not have to skip.

“Solstice” is a guided journey led by a Shaman character, walking through our modern world of Christmas consumption and traditions revealing how they are overlayed on top of ancient earth based practices.  Along the way we meet a witch, a hunter, a Raven, and a Wolf who help guide us back to the origins of Yule.

This the third year that I get to play this radio play by Alison Mcleay originally broadcast on BBC Scotland  December 21st, 1985. With the voices of Michael Elder, Diana Olsson and Paul Young with producer Patrick Rayner, this is an archival piece of radio which deserves so much more air time. I will continue to rebroadcast this radio play each year that I have a show.

**Alison Mcleay’s (Martin was her married name) obituary

9xm8bfix

The work of Forest schools is becoming a bustling landscape of small organizations and business' trying their best to teach and share alongside the land in the best ways they can. But how do we transplant a European sourced model onto colonized indigenous lands without repeating the same racist patterns of harm? How do we not only stop harm, but work towards healing, reparations, and good relationships with all the communities we serve through the context of learning and teaching on the land?

Heather Wilson is the new (as of Nov. 18, 2020) Executive Director of Child and Nature Alliance of Canada and has been working towards some very specific goals:

• Building an inclusive organization that welcomes all people, especially Black, Indigenous and People of Colour
• Empowering staff to carry out their work to the best of their ability
• Embracing and activating healthy experimentation and innovation
• Decolonizing CNAC’s work
• Creating an organization that can scale

With these commitments in mind, I wanted to ask how CNAC is moving forward, building decolonial futures in the world of Forest Schools/Nature Connection, and how do we do this work in pandemic times and beyond? 

With humility and grace, Heather shares some of the work she and the CNAC are doing to push Forest Schools towards a more inclusive, safe, meaningful, and culturally relevant option for all stakeholders.

*Illustration by Jeff Kulak

Coyotes have expanded their range in the last century more so than any other mammal on the continent, and is still going. Highly adaptive, intelligent, “wily”, and resilient, Coyote is not going to stop just because our human made landscapes get in the way. In fact, Coyotes make the way for themselves within our constructed spaces, finding edges and cracks and turning them into home.

But how do we c0-exist with an animal that so many have feared, hunted and sought to destroy for so long? How can we share the urban environment with a predator? When animals re-occupy the urban in novel ways, or ways that humans didn’t intend, how do we make space for that?

Lesley Sampson of Coyote Watch Canada, and animal geographer Lauren Van Patter take the time to share some of their experiences with Coyotes in urban environments, and share about how they are looking to help communities learn how to coexist with these wonderful animals.

Coyote Watch Canada

Lauren Van Patter’s website

Advancing best practices for aversion conditioning (humane hazing) to mitigate human–coyote conflicts in urban areas - Lesley and Lauren’s paper from Human-Wildlife Interactions journal

"How coyotes and humans can learn to coexist in cities" ,  article by Lauren and Lesley featured at theconversation.com

The Anthropocene’s animal? Coywolves as feral cotravelers by Stephanie Rutherford

*Coyote image by Joanne Merner c/o Coyote Watch Canada

Today I air a fanboyish interview with author, educator, terrestrial ecologist and inspiration, Tom Wessels.

Tom has written extensively on “forest forensics” and what I call “landscape tracking”, learning to read the signs of the forest to identify the ecological history and disturbance events which have affected that landscape. He looks to topographical features such as hills or the lack there of, floral composition of forest sites (which trees are present and who is not), and presence of any human made structures even when those structures have no relevance and therefore are invisible to the modern eye. These signs and more point to a hidden history revealed by his humble presentation of  He has been known to be able to identify a storm event from hundreds of years ago, which has toppled a tree in a random forest in New England down to the minute. He explains some of the ways he is able to deduce this throughout the show.

We also talk about his books, Reading The Forested Landscape, The Myth of Progress, and Forest Forensics among others. Tom shares ideas on ways we can imagine the future based on models of organization seen in nature, which we could adopt to create more sustaining, transformative, healing culture. He truly is a wealth of ecological knowledge and understanding of the New England forest landscape. Tom was, as I expected, detailed, sharp and full of insight. Well worth the listen.

This interview was originally broadcast November 18, 2019.

I get excited by finding dead animals on the land. There is so much we can learn by looking at these animals when they are in front of us. We can really examine their physical characteristics which isn't always that easy when the animals are alive, going about their own business, and generally trying to avoid interactions with humans.

When examining a dead bird there is a lot we can observe, such as their feathers, their bills, talons, bones the body has been opened by predators or by decomposition. We can move some of the limbs to better understand articulations, weight and possible range of motion. But sometimes it is difficult for us to know which animals we are finding out in the field. That's were Ed Drewitt helps.

For Episode 142 I get to talk to Ed Drewitt, naturalist, Peregrine Falcon researcher, and author of Raptor Prey Remains : A guide to identifying what’s been eaten by a bird of prey. On the show we discuss what is happening in England (where Ed is located), what the birds are up to this time of year, and also who is migrating and who is staying put. We talk about raptor ecology on the broad sense and also get focus on Peregrines. He also shares about his own efforts, from a school boy to working on his PhD 30 years later, all the while investigating feathers, skulls, and other prey remains.

It was a nice and relaxed interview, with Ed sharing so much of what he has learned through his years of observation and study, and how his book can help those who are getting started in the world of tracking birds of prey by learning to correctly identify that which they prey upon.

The show is a conversation with Jam Doughty, discussing the facets of their career as an artist creating beautiful works interpreting a diversity of lush flora, strange crustaceans, migrating autumn waterfowl and songbirds. We go over some of the complexities of being a white nature educator in the predominantly black community of Garfield Park neighbourhood on the west side of Chicago, working to push for more equity, and being and out spoken non-binary role model to the kids they work with.

How do we talk to our students, or the young people in our lives about our the complexities in the world around us? What about the subtleties and possibilities within our own experiences of ourselves? How do you challenge those we work with and for to push beyond lip service to racial equity and create real solidarity in our daily jobs? How does one do this amidst a culture of white supremacy, heterocentrism, and a pandemic, seemingly getting more and more out of hand?

We can’t answer it all, but there is open hearted conversation and sometimes that can help us through to the next day.

Check out their instagram here, and the Etsy account here .

Rhamnus cathartica, or Common Buckthorn, is a non-native opportunistic species of shrub that many love to hate, myself included most of the time. It seems to crowd out local species and possibly even poisons the soil beneath to make it even harder for other plants to take hold. Birds act as vectors for the seed dispersal and soon enough, another forest has a Buckthorn problem.

But what if we try to look at the species as a whole, trying to understand a little better, trying to learn a bit more about the relationships which are built around Buckthorn? Long used medicinally, for craft and beauty, we may already know some positives for this maligned plant. Can we look deeper and find something else? Something beyond the human?

This episode is a small step towards getting to know Common Buckthorn, R. cathartica, a little better.

Here is the link to the cabi.org write up on Buckthorn.

From Wikipedia :

In mythology, medieval literature and occultism, the language of the birds is postulated as a mystical, perfect divine language, … angelic language or a mythical or magical language used by birds to communicate with the initiated.

A look into some of the varied ideas of what the Language of the Birds might mean. Less of the tracking and scientific approach to bird language, but instead exploring the mythic knowledge, fairy tales and legends, and history of  the language of the birds.

Originally aired August 12, 2019.

Going to Hawk Cliff to go watch migrating Raptors is becoming a bit of a pilgrimage for me. It’s only the second time I’ve gone there, but the quality of the experience is profound. To get to see these Birds whom, when you see individually during your everyday, it is always a highlight of the day. But to go see hundreds of these amazing predatory birds is just astounding. What a gift.

Hawk Cliff is a chance to be social, a chance to learn, a chance to share and be in awe and wonder at some of the most beautiful birds on the continent.

This episode is recording a trip down to Hawk Cliff with some dear friends, including Matt, Britta, Adrian, and Danielle. The structure is similar to old audiozines I used to make, describing in situ as well as voice overs to tell the story a little better and to give context to the audio.

List of books mentioned:

Hawks and Owls of the Great Lakes Region, Chris Earley. Firefly.

The Life History of North American Birds of Prey, Arthur Cleveland Bent. Dover.

Hawks at a Distance, Jerry Liguori. Princeton University Press.

Birds of Ontario, Andy Bezener. Lone Pine.

Peterson Field Guide to Birds, Roger Tory Peterson. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Field Guide to the Migrating Raptors of Hawk Cliff. Hawk Cliff Foundation.

The Crossley ID guide to Eastern Birds, Richard Crossley. Princeton University Press.

Useful references and links:

Hawk Cliff website

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynandromorph

Danielle and I speak with Pinar and So of Queer Nature about how it might look feel and be to queer and decolonize our understandings of who we are in connection with the places we live. How can we interrupt the dominant narrative of ecologies viewed through the lenses of heterocentric, capitalist, white supremacis colonial narratives? Does the land make space for divergent identities, life ways and lifeforms? How do we as queer folks who seek to learn more about ancestral skills and the land bases we live on practice on lands we may not be ancestrally connected to?

Originally aired April 9th, 2018.

Matt Iles has been studying birds for about 12 years. He is humble, thoughtful and a wonderful teacher. He has taught me a lot and is a treasured friend and colleague. For this show we walk through the old fields of tall grass, Goldenrods, and assorted shrubs asking questions about his career as a bird biologist, about bird migrations, and his upcoming workshop “FlockShop #1 - The Eramosa River as Migration Stopover” put on with naturalist Adrian Iacovino at the Guelph Outdoor School.

Matthew’s instagram is   https://www.instagram.com/wild_m.iles/

Some useful online resources:

birdscanada.org/apps/checklist/ - Birds Canada Checklist tool.

audubon.org/field-guide - Online Bird Field Guide.

allaboutbirds.org - Useful information on I.D., Habitat, Range and assorted Natural History

ebird.org/canada/home - Keep track of your own finds, and support researchers.

Wonderful interview with Mountain Lion biologist and author Dr. Mark Elbroch, talking about his new book "The Cougar Conundrum : Sharing the World with a Successful Predator". Mark Elbroch shares some Cougar natural history and we hear his thoughts on the role media can play in Cougar conservation and his work with Panthera, a large Cat conservation organization protecting Cats around the world.

https://markelbroch.com/

https://islandpress.org/books/cougar-conundrum

https://www.panthera.org/

Sometimes it is hard to find ways to connect with the landbase in our daily lives. Our built up environments; navigating a world that seems to orient away from the land; and living with communities that don't support our goals of intimacy with nature.. but imagine how it might be trying to challenge this disconnect while locked up? 

Prisons are terrible places that don't really do much towards the healing of those incarcerated there nor the communities where they come from. They really just replicate and reinforce the ways our culture hurts us - alienation from our communities, from ourselves and from the land. But there are renegades. Folks in prisons looking out for the small life which breeds in the gaps and cracks, uncontrolled by the guards and their world. Today we hear some of those stories.

Originally aired January 16, 2017.

Discussing some hows and whys about storytelling as reciprocating interaction and interspecies language making. How can we work with stories to learn, teach and communicate better with each other in regards to the natural world, and then on top of that, how can we hear the stories of the natural world better so we can be a part of the learning, teaching and communication which is always already ongoing?