Earth Almanac
By Ted Williams

Spring Sting
Speed Racers
Pretty Poison
Ground Patrol
Spicing Up Spring
Trumpet Section

Spring Sting
When the wind is from the south, watch for scorpions overhead as they fly about, propelled by outstretched legs that serve as aerial oars, and when they descend before noon, shun them because morning stings are always fatal. So instructed Pliny the Elder two millennia ago. Such apocryphal scorpion lore, piling up before and since, is scarcely more astonishing than reality. Some scorpions were the size of crocodiles when, about 390 million years ago, the order exited the sea. All but four of the 90 species of scorpions now native to the United States abide west of the Mississippi, and while fatal reactions can be caused by most any venom, only the Arizona bark scorpion is considered truly dangerous to humans. In early spring scorpions emerge from winter quarters to forage for insects, spiders, centipedes, other scorpions, and small vertebrates. Because scorpions are nocturnal, few people comprehend how abundant they are, especially in our Southwest. Now is the time to set yourself and others straight. Scorpions glow under ultraviolet light, so order an ultraviolet flashlight via an Internet search for “black light.” Like stars reflected on a glassy sea, these ancient arachnids will suddenly fluoresce across the desert floor in shades of greenish yellow or greenish blue. But restrain yourself by following this valuable advice offered by the University of Kentucky: “No scorpion should be picked up with bare hands.”
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Speed Racers
In the eastern half of the United States black racers, some 70 inches long, are emerging from hibernation and seeking mates. This species, it has been reported by numerous rural sources, is one of the more aggressive “hoop snakes,” a family that assumes the shape of a hoop by seizing its tail in its mouth, the better to roll after downslope prey and people. This misinformation likely issues from the species’ speed. But instead of pursuing you a black racer will invariably freeze. If it doesn’t, it’s probably a black rat snake, one of the few North American snakes that can be as long or longer. Physical features that distinguish black racers from other large, dark snakes include a smooth, shiny back, large eyes, and a white chin. Its scientific name, Coluber constrictor, is a misnomer; the species doesn’t constrict its prey, it pins it with its body, then swallows it alive. If you block a black racer’s escape route, it will hiss and imitate a rattlesnake by vibrating its tail. There are three excellent reasons to admire it only from afar. When handled it will defecate on you, douse you with vile-smelling musk, and bite hard and repeatedly.
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Pretty Poison
In moist, rich woodlands from Quebec to Florida and as far west as Iowa, one of our few native poppies is unfurling its white blossoms over vernal pools and shrinking snow-banks. Bloodroot it is called because the root exudes a red-orange sap. Indians used it as war paint, basket dye, and bug repellent. By the 19th century bloodroot had become popular as a method of burning off skin cancers; unfortunately it doesn’t stop with the cancer. As recently as 2005 a Georgia doctor lost her medical license for helping an unlicensed naturopath prescribe bloodroot paste that, in one case, eroded the flesh from a man’s shoulder, exposing the bone. Bloodroot is easily planted by seed or cutting. But you may want to leave the work to your neighbors—in this case, ants. Attached to the seed is an elaiosome—a fleshy organ so relished by the insects that they carry the seeds to their nests, where they germinate in the rich debris.
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Ground Patrol
In rock canyons, talus slopes, and boulder piles throughout our Southwest, rock squirrels are mating. They look like gray squirrels in calico coats, and while they’re no less agile than grays when climbing trees, they spend most of their time on the ground, where they excavate burrows with strong feet and claws. Rock squirrel courtship resembles that of humans. A couple will appear to kiss, and the male will stroke the female’s head with his paws. Then, if she’s in the mood, she’ll arch her back, raise her tail, and lead him into her burrow.

A litter of three to nine pups is born between April and June, a second in late summer or early fall. Rock squirrels have a crow–owl relationship with rattlesnakes, which prey on their young. When they perceive a rattler, they’ll shake their tails and kick dirt at it, perhaps to induce the snake to rattle so they can judge its size and energy level (a function of air temperature) and perhaps to sound a warning to other members of the clan. Adult rock squirrels, quite resistant to venom, occasionally bite and kill rattlesnakes. They’ll even chew shed skins and anoint their fur with what one researcher calls “eau de snake,” thereby masking their own scent.
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Spicing Up Spring
Spring Before most other plants bloom, the pale yellow flowers of northern spicebush brighten low, deciduous woods from Texas to Kansas and east to the Atlantic states. The nectar sustains all manner of pollinators, and the leaves are the larval food source for the spectacular spicebush swallowtail butterfly. You’ll have to look hard for these caterpillars because they roll themselves up in the leaves. When you find one, note the two dorsal eyespots that make it look like a snake, presumably to intimidate would-be predators. In autumn at least 20 species of birds feed on the spicebush’s red berries. These fruits can be dried and used as a spice, and a tea can be made from the leaves. Northern spicebush, readily available at nurseries, is ideal for gardens, especially rain gardens that utilize roof runoff. And as with other native plants and unlike so many exotic ornamentals, you can plant it and then, apart from occasional weeding and trimming, pretty much forget about it.
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Trumpet Section
Now, in the Midwest, the Yellowstone ecosystem, Alaska, and Canada, trumpeter swans, named for their blaring vocalizations, are winging toward ice-free habitat at speeds approaching 80 miles per hour. Whether they’re flying or swimming you won’t forget the sight of these, North America’s largest native birds. An adult trumpeter can have a wingspan of close to eight feet, stand four feet high, and weigh 30 pounds. The two other swan species you’ll encounter in the United States are the tundra swan (about two-thirds the bulk of a trumpeter), and the mute swan—an alien from Eurasia named for its relative silence, which holds its neck in the classic swan “S” and has a black knob on top of its bill. Because the trumpeter’s flight feathers made the best quill pens and were much in demand for women’s hats, we almost lost the species to market hunting. By 1932 the world’s known population fell to 69 birds, but in 1954 a large breeding population was discovered in Alaska. Since then, under strict protection, careful management, and reintroduction to the Midwest, the population has grown steadily to about 34,000 birds.
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