Total Pageviews

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Mother Natures cycle -vs- Man's stupidity cycle


Sorry if this offends anyone but we are observers of nature and as such have some interesting observations. On our walk this morning we noticed thousands of small moth's that will next year be spruce bud worms. The spruce bud worm has a very interesting life cycle. All of these moths will lay eggs on the tips of the many spruce trees that we have covering our mountain. Those eggs will remain on the trees until next spring when they will hatch. A very cold winter can wipe out the majority but otherwise we will have many spruce bud worms next year.

The larva when they hatch then eat the tender tips of the spruce branches. They then repel from the branches on a thin strand of web to the ground. Once on the ground they are mostly eaten by ants and other insects. Those that survive then metamorphosis into the moth and then the cycle starts all over again. The moths are then drawn specifically to the spruce trees again. A naturally consistent and reliable order of things.

The worms sometimes on their way to the ground will end up on your hat, clothes, or face. They do not bite but can be annoying and messy at times. Humans walk through the woods flailing their arms to keep the worms at bay because they are an inconvenience to them. The spruce trees lose their new growth due to the appetite of the larva and after a few years the weak tree's will die. The more hearty trees while brown will come back. When an area is heavily infected the spruce bud worm will move onto more fertile area's and those tree's that are hearty come back and survive. It is natures way of thinning out trees so the most hearty survive and the weaker trees die. Beetles infect the weak tree's and the sap suckers, hairy woodpecker and other bird species then feed off the beetles. It is nature's way of keeping things in control and a natural order.

We are close observers of nature and the cycles that exist around us. We noted this morning that there are thousands of these moths now fluttering around but when you get near our property you hardly see any. When the forester came to talk to our association several years ago he mentioned that the spruce bud worms don't have natural enemies. I have observed that he is very much in error. We have had Robins build a nest under our deck for several years now and I will watch them feed their young. I have seen Robin's hop around on those tree branches and gorge themselves on the the spruce bud worm. I watch them all day long feed the moth's to their young. I see other birds eating the worms and the moth and therefore we don't have many around our house. If you go 1-200 yards from our house the amount of moths is noticeable different.

We have observed this for many years now and while other's have a spruce bud worm problem we don't. Other's listened to the forester and spray their trees which occurs during the exact time birds are raising their young. The spray kills the baby birds and sometimes the adults as well. They use high pressure sprayers so they can get the entire tree. Therefore the birds no longer raise their young in these area's and the human stupidity cycle starts. They spray every year and the problem is equally as bad each successive year. Spruce bud worms move in from unsprayed areas to attack and feed on the more fertile trees that have been preserved for them. Spraying kills both the spruce bud worm as well as beneficial species. Then to add to the stupidity they cut trees that they think have died but actually are alive. They cut them either because they don't look nice or they appear dead. The smaller or weaker trees are left to die later from either the worm or over crowding and the most hearty trees are removed for aesthetic sake. I guess you can see where I'm going with this stupid thing. Almost anything else can be fixed but regretfully stupid lasts forever.

So that is the the cycle of the spruce bud worm. The man breeds and the stupid cycle starts all over again. In our case we watch the Robins gobble up the worm and moth that an expert says doesn't ever happen. Our baby birds are safe here and the two nests under the deck each have three babies each so next year we will have around 6 more nests and more babies to feed and fewer moths again. We don't cut trees just because they look bad but cut them when we are sure they are fully dead.

We live in a semi arid climate and endure long periods of no rain. Now we are in one of those periods and the strong survive and the weak die. People admire our property and the way it is cleared. Our secret is letting nature fulfill its cycle and then we step in and cut totally dead trees, give them away for firewood, mulch the branches and work with the cycle and not against it. We are in one of those very dry periods now and see clearly how nature is designed. The aspen trees all live as a family of trees off a single root that runs long distances with multiple trees coming off that root. Aspen trees are interdependent on each other to survive as a family of trees. When we are in drought conditions like now the trees on that root system get stressed all trying to survive together. We have noted that they will start to drop their leaves from the top to take stress off the entire family of trees. Nature is designed a unique and marvelous way and to interfere is stupidity. At least in my opinion.

But the human stupid cycle just seems to continue. Man sees the spruce bud worm, decides something has to be done immediately and gets out that pressure sprayer. So we have therefore observed two distinct cycles. The natural cycle that is harmony and orderly by nature and the man cycle that is disruptive, destructive and stupid. Both continue but in the end only one will endure. Sooner or later man will poison himself to extinction. It is just the natural order of things. Our hospitals are full of cancer victims both self induced and at the hands of others. Our water and food is full of carcinogens that slowly kill us. On the other hand the natural cycle goes on even though we try to disrupt it. That is why I say there is no cure for stupid. I hope I didn't offend anyone, but that is what we observe living where we do.

2 comments:

Barbara said...

"Sooner or later man will poison himself to extinction."

This is a great line Bruce! It is because man always thinks he has a "better" way of doing something. He never does.....not when it comes to nature. It's been a perfected way of living since the beginning of time and so it will continue without any interference from us. Nature has always done it better than man! How can we hope to improve on perfection?

Bruce said...

Thank you very much Barbara: We just attended our church on line (noted in the web sites to follow on this blog) and I learned three things from the sermon.
1) That I am to love not only the people I know but those I don't know.
2) That I am to love diverse and different people for who they are, not what they are.
I never have had a problem loving people because of whether they were gay or straight, conservative or liberal, dog -vs- cat lovers, republican or democrat, friend or foe, but my personal hang up has always been stupid. I had a hard time loving people who seemed to profess stupid as a way of life and at the same time impose it on others.
3) Any ministry I may have is not aimed toward stupid because God has much to do with me and my own personal growth but dealing with stupid is so far down the list that I won't live long enough to ever get there. Far more important things are higher on that list. I don't think that people when they are at the end of their life and drawing their final breath say to themselves "I sure wish I had loved more dedicated stupid people".
I also learned that love is not a big group hug but wanting what is best for the other person and respecting that person for who they are, not what they are. Some people are just simply hung up on stupid and will not change. For now they are going to have to wait at the end of my list.
So with what is left of my life I am going to leave stupid on the bottom of the list and deal with the more important issues.

Your posts on the GSD web site says essentially the same thing but far more eloquent and tactful than I could ever say them. You capture the pure essence of the GSD and the failure of man to appreciate the GSD fully. Thank you for your kind words. To us both I say - forward and onward....