Room to Grow : Nature’s entertainment
Posted on Sunday, August 17, 2008
It was a late summer evening, and I had just finished washing the camp dishes down at the river's edge. By the twilight, I made my way back to camp, where my tent was pitched between the tall pines and a 60-foot-high bluff overlooking the Buffalo River. After a quick cleanup of camp, I stoked the fire to repel the mosquitoes and with my back to the fire sat on the bluff's edge with my legs dangling.
For entertainment, I threw rocks off the bluff and watched the bats dart toward them. I wondered if the bats felt disappointed, or just foolish, as their sonar led them to a hard pebble rather than a juicy oversized mosquito. Regardless, the entertainment value was priceless, and I was not alone.
As nightfall settled and the big, bright moon came up behind me, my interest shifted from the bats to the moonlight's reflection in the water below as the rocks splashed in the river. The moon, if not full, was close to it, and from above the trees behind me, its light cast a creepy shadow of the bluff on the dimly lit forest across the river.
From the periphery, I caught a glimpse of a vaporous flutterer flying in and out of the bluff's shadow. A luna moth was flying around in a way that seemed aimless - fluttering back and forth, up and down. Moonflakes, as they're called, only fly at night. As adults, they only live for about a week, which is just long enough to mate and lay eggs.
Feeling completely satisfied with nature's entertainment for the evening, I decided it was time to go to bed. Just as I turned to stand up from my perch on the bluff, a dark winged shadow crossed the moon's silhouette, and as it passed several feet over my head, there was no sound from its wings. An owl, who must have been watching the luna show from behind me, silently made a dive for the moth. In one fell swoop, the owl captured the moth in its talons. It then landed on a tree limb across the river. In the faint moonlight, I briefly saw a light greenish glow. Then, like a dying flame, the moth disappeared into the darkness.
In complete contentment with myself and those around me, which was nobody, I felt tired and decided to go to bed. Bedtime always comes earlier when camping. It seemed like 10 or 11, but was only 8: 30. Each time I go camping, I'm amazed at the entertainment that nature has to offer. I can remember many of nature's shows that I've watched, but sometimes I can't even remember what I watched on TV the night before. There's something better worth watching. Get out and enjoy it.
• • • Mark Bray is a county extension agent with the University of Arkansas'Cooperative Extension Services. His column appears on Sundays. Call him at (479 ) 271-1060 or e-mail mbray @ uaex. edu.
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