Race Field Week 01 - milipede "bones"

Okay, so insects don't have bones, actually. By they do have exoskeletons -- skeletons on the outside. In the case of this expired milipede, that fact is very apparent.

Milipedes are a common out here. I don't believe they bite, which would make them among the few things that don't bite, sting, or poke humans around here. That fact alone makes me like them.

Millipedes have an interesting relationship with Aphanogaster ants. The millipedes live with the ants. I believe Burr Williams said the millipedes eat the decaying food down in the ant nest. In return for this easy dining, the millipede will help protect the ants with its defense by emitting a foul smell. Burr has also seen millipedes accompanying an Aphanogaster ant nest relocation, done usually at night, by the light of a full moon. No, really.

UPDATE: I had the story a bit wrong, so I asked Burr to tell it to me again. In his words:

we have a small species of army ant that only moves its nest site in the dark of the moon. blind snakes travel with them, for the tiny snakes eat their diseased eggs and pupa. when the army ants find the aphanogaster ants hole, they go inside, the aphanogaster ants leave the hole, the millipedes release liquid from their spiracles (holes on their sides) which contains a tiny bit of cyanide, which makes the army ants leave. after the gas clears, the aphanogaster ants go back inside

What a sight that must be!

And another correction, from FBer Chris Cherry: As a kid, his brother took some millipedes home in his pockets and had welts to prove it. Perhaps from the stuff they excrete? Ah, alas, yet another desert defense mechanism to be wary of.

Outside Links:

• Search results for millepede on the Sibley Nature Center site.
  

Race Field Week 01 - goat bones

Here's evidence of knuckleheads who think West Odessa fields, and West Odessa in general, is a great place to dump.

At least animal carcasses are biodegradable. And when the dry desert and hot sun get done with them, they are quite beautiful even.

But not all trash is organic or remotely beautiful. Some of it is quite toxic. Even "just" household trash can contain some serious toxic waste.

Sometimes, I think of painting a series of signs, like the old Burma shaving cream signs:
"Keep"
"driving"
"until you"
"get to the"
"community"
"waste"
"facility!"

Sometimes, I think about adding "*sshole!" to that.

I'd join any crusade, any group, any legislation to prevent this sort of dangerous behavior.

Race Field Week 01 - my marking system

Here's a two-for-one photo. I took it to illustrate one of the plants I'll be watching for blooming so I can identify it. The red is 100% wool, so biodegradable. Unfortunately, I doubt the dye is all-natural. Maybe something I'll teach myself how to do one day. In any case, I'll remove them once the year is up.

You can also see a track to the right. Tracks were everywhere on this visit to Race Field. We had a few days of rain last week and tracks were still dark, wetter than the surrounding dirt. So many tracks — coyotes or dogs, pack rats, something with a cloven hoof, and more — criss-crossed the desert floor, so much so that it gave me a real sense of how busy it is when I'm not around.

Maybe some day I'll get good at track identification.

Race Field Week 01 - mantis egg case

I wish I had marked the location of this mantis egg case with a piece of wool so I would be sure to find it again! I'd love to watch it hatch in the spring. Baby mantises look like mini-me's of adults.

Better yet, maybe next time I see one, I'll bring it home with me, put it in a jar, and when the babies hatch, my grandchildren and I can release them into my garden.

After taking photos, of course.

Race Field Week 01 - nibbled ephedra

With all the good stuff gone, like berries and seeds, the critters begin nibbling the less favored morsels for sustenance. Here is some ephedra that has been used to get some one by, perhaps a pack rat since there was a midden near by. I'm guessing if the rodent was annoyed by sinus trouble, it is no longer.

So far, I've noticed only mesquite bark and ephedra stems used in this way. I'll be keeping note of others as the cruel month of February drags on.

Race Field Week 01 - pack rat midden

This isn't just any old pile of bones. These are bones used by a packrat to build his "midden," or nest. This particular midden is at the beginning of my traditional entrance to Race Field. The arrangement changes, but this rodent distinctly favors bones. It could be an artistic preference, but more likely it's a matter of convenience. Lots of SOBs dump their trash and dead animals along this road. This pack rat is just using what is plentiful for him or her.

Still, I'd like to think it is partly an artistic preference, a Georgia O'Keefe pack rat if you will.

Race Field Week 01 - impaled bird head

Ew. Gross, right? Imagine my surprise when I shooed away my dog Ansel to see what he was licking.

It's not everyday you see a bird's head impaled like this. In fact, I've only seen it once before and then it was a grasshopper, not a bird, that had met this gruesome fate. Like this bird, only the grasshopper's poor head remained.

I don't know for a fact this is what happened, but shrikes impale their prey similar to this. And until I did some research, I didn't know they ate/impaled other birds, so it's quite possible. I'm counting it still as somewhat of a mystery, though, because I've never seen a shrike. They look similar to a mockingbird, so perhaps I've overlooked them. I'll have to keep an eye out in the upcoming year, especially with this bit of evidence in mind.

If this is the handiwork of a shrike, I have some questions. Do shrikes typically leave the head to be eaten last, or not at all? And why would a shrike use a four-winged salt bush instead of a mesquite, lotebush, or a javelina bush, all plentiful, all having sharp thorns?

It does make for a sad photo. But, in that way of thinking, no sadder than a picture of a bucket of fried chicken.

Outside Links:

• Here is an interesting video on Youtube of a shrike capturing a mouse and impaling it, from Israel.
• According to WhatBird.com, loggerhead shrikes can be found here year round. Both WhatBird and AllAboutBirds.org include audio also. I need to listen a few more times to commit its calls to memory.
  
• This article by Ro Wauer on The Nature Writers of Texas blog (now defunct?) is where I learned that shrikes count birds, including larger birds like mockingbirds and jays, as possible prey.
  

Race Field Week 01 - mushroom

{UPDATE: A preliminary identification via Burr Williams and the FB crowd is: Podaxis pistillaris.}

The last couple of times I've got out to Race Field, I've found this mushroom. It is about 4-5 inches tall, very dry to the touch. I was able to easily disassemble it by just slipping off the cap. The spores inside were as fine as soot, and darkly colored like soot too. The inner stem was stiff, woody, surrounded by a furry-feeling structure.

What kind of mushroom is it, I wonder? (Click on any photo to see larger.)


Photos above were taken on 02-07-2010


These photos were taken on 01-14-2010. The middle photo is after I opened the mushroom on the left and tapped it to release the spores.