Photos A Walk in Nature

[Will Power]

Today my hound dog and I pulled the cards on a few trail cams. I love this time of year. Flowers and critters galore.

Blackbear sow with cubs
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Lynx with freshly caught snowshoe hare
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Good sized bull moose
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Swallowtail butterfly
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Bear guard
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Lupines
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Siberian asters
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Moose yearlings (born summer of 2024)
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I can see you...
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Fantastic pictures, I need to get a decent game camera.

Here in Finland (and elsewhere in Scandiland) Lupins have fallen victim to group green-think whereby squads of people go out and uproot beds of Lupins. Certain eco fascists have decided in a blanket fashion that they are an invasive non native thing and thus must be eliminated. They arrived here about 150 years ago, apparently, escaped from gardens and now are an object of hate. I find his both depressing and enraging, Lupins were also deliberately planted in desolate barren areas to hold down the soil, they also used to be all along motorway and in between highways giving a beautiful display in June, they fix nitrogen and other elements in the soil and attract bees. Now they are being uprooted everywhere and for what? The areas they mainly grow in are often mowed as verges anyway thus they are not endangering any plants, but you tell that to these zealous bands of women intent on purifying the nature..... Bumblebees and butterflies know otherwise......

 

[kyhunt]

And Rapid River Knifeworks about 15 miles from Escanaba

Thank you for recommending this place. I drove by it several times and finally stopped by today. Very cool place. I didn’t buy anything this trip but still it was cool.

 

[kyhunt]

And just so I’m not derailing the thread. Today was last full day in the U.P. Lighthouse at Peninsula Point.

 

[.577NE]

Fantastic pictures, I need to get a decent game camera.

Here in Finland (and elsewhere in Scandiland) Lupins have fallen victim to group green-think whereby squads of people go out and uproot beds of Lupins. Certain eco fascists have decided in a blanket fashion that they are an invasive non native thing and thus must be eliminated. They arrived here about 150 years ago, apparently, escaped from gardens and now are an object of hate. I find his both depressing and enraging, Lupins were also deliberately planted in desolate barren areas to hold down the soil, they also used to be all along motorway and in between highways giving a beautiful display in June, they fix nitrogen and other elements in the soil and attract bees. Now they are being uprooted everywhere and for what? The areas they mainly grow in are often mowed as verges anyway thus they are not endangering any plants, but you tell that to these zealous bands of women intent on purifying the nature..... Bumblebees and butterflies know otherwise......

Will Power , thank you for sharing your thoughts about the lupine situation in your neck of the woods so to speak. I had no idea. I will look at them now with even more appreciation. I love all things wild.

 

[Will Power]

Thanks .577NE I do understand that some plants and particularly animals have become an invasive species at the cost of indigenous populations - introduction of Foxes in some places have destroyed rare small mammals and birds, think some areas of the southern US have Pythons loose as a result of idiot owners releasing the horrible things. But to me, Lupins have been here so long and much enjoyed in summer that their destruction is pointless and ugly, the places they grow are often disused places, verges, entrances to woodland which otherwise have no other flowering plants and as I wrote earlier, often get mown anyway. Rosehips are another shrub on the eradication list, another piece of intolerance and viciousness-these too attract insects and small birds.

Contrast this with the current mantra & obsession with Windmills, they are appearing all over the countryside despite local opposition and in this area which is flat and open they disfigure the skyline. Nobody gives a detailed cost analysis of this either: the amount of power generated, cost of installation, running and then dismantling-if any- as the useful life is under 15 years. The materials used are expensive and I doubt bio-degradable. Moreover, in an arctic country they frequently are standing idle in low temperatures. The damage to the skyline is one thing but he impacted on birdlife has been awful, ground nesting birds will not go near them, large migrants Geese, Swans, Cranes etc are often killed by the turbines and their noise disturbs bird calls & song, some people say bees are disturbed by them as well and mammals certainly , but hey it's green and clean! So says electric (monopoly) companies. I've seen bird numbers go down these past 4 years, people allege that the birds will get used to them and return, I'm sceptical about that...hope I'm wrong.

Here's an 'invasive' tree I planted on the property, ornamental crab apple, gives wonderful blooms and suggests that knives grow on trees too CASE/Norfolk

 

[mbkr]

Thanks .577NE I do understand that some plants and particularly animals have become an invasive species at the cost of indigenous populations - introduction of Foxes in some places have destroyed rare small mammals and birds, think some areas of the southern US have Pythons loose as a result of idiot owners releasing the horrible things. But to me, Lupins have been here so long and much enjoyed in summer that their destruction is pointless and ugly, the places they grow are often disused places, verges, entrances to woodland which otherwise have no other flowering plants and as I wrote earlier, often get mown anyway. Rosehips are another shrub on the eradication list, another piece of intolerance and viciousness-these too attract insects and small birds.

Contrast this with the current mantra & obsession with Windmills, they are appearing all over the countryside despite local opposition and in this area which is flat and open they disfigure the skyline. Nobody gives a detailed cost analysis of this either: the amount of power generated, cost of installation, running and then dismantling-if any- as the useful life is under 15 years. The materials used are expensive and I doubt bio-degradable. Moreover, in an arctic country they frequently are standing idle in low temperatures. The damage to the skyline is one thing but he impacted on birdlife has been awful, ground nesting birds will not go near them, large migrants Geese, Swans, Cranes etc are often killed by the turbines and their noise disturbs bird calls & song, some people say bees are disturbed by them as well and mammals certainly , but hey it's green and clean! So says electric (monopoly) companies. I've seen bird numbers go down these past 4 years, people allege that the birds will get used to them and return, I'm sceptical about that...hope I'm wrong.

Here's an 'invasive' tree I planted on the property, ornamental crab apple, gives wonderful blooms and suggests that knives grow on trees too CASE/Norfolk

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I was an environmental engineer for 28 years. I find the following sums things up well:

The Four Rules of Nature

1. Everything is connected to everything else;
2. Everything has to go somewhere;
3. There is no free lunch;
4. Nature bats last.