Mallard Ducks

Here we are, still at the freshwater pond, with a Mallard Duck and her two babies. How do we know this duck is a female? Right, because she is brown. This coloring allows her to sit on her nest without being seen. Male Mallards have green heads. Like the turtle, Mallards will eat just about anything they can find: Small fish, clams, snails, tadpoles, worms, and plants. So, is the Mallard a carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore? If you said omnivore, you are correct. The chicks survive because they stay very close to the female. If she and the babies are approached by a predator, the mother Mallard may act like she is injured. Then the predator may focus on her and not her babies. As many as ten or twelve chicks can be born at once. They are hidden by their gold and brown colors. These ducks survive very well in many different parts of the country.

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Turtles

I was visiting a different ecosystem today. This is a fresh water pond. Plants and animals that survive here are different than those on a hillside covered with chaparral. There is a baby to the left and a Mom or Dad to the right. These turtles are called Red Eared Sliders. Originally, they were found in the southeast United States, but pet stores began selling them and now they are all over the world. Turtles are reptiles. We can find them basking on logs around this pond to get
warm. Turtles have been around for millions and millions of years. What protects them? Their shells, of course. They can pull their head, arms, and legs into their shell and escape predators. Also, they can swim away very quickly when startled. If they are caught from behind, they can push very hard with their rear clawed feet. Are these turtles fluorescent purple? No, mostly they are green and brown and they blend in with their surroundings. Turtles are omnivores and will eat pretty much any plant or animal that will fit in their mouths. In the autumn, when it starts to get
cold, they will hibernate. That means they will stay on the bottom of the pond or they will find a hole in the woods and not do much of anything until it gets warm again. Their bodily functions…breathing, digestion, and blood flow…slow down very much. How bizarre is that? Do you wish you could hibernate sometimes? Where would you go to hibernate and when?

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The Arroyo Willow

If you go on a hike near a creek at this time of year, you might see something that
looks like snow falling. Actually, the “snowflakes” are the seeds from the Arroyo Willow. The Arroyo Willow produces catkins. Catkins are dangling clumps made up of dozens of tiny flowers. Bees pollinate the flowers. The flowers turn into tiny seeds surrounded by cottony fluff. The wind blows the fluff off of the tree, carrying the seed with it. The seed then gets planted nearby, creating another Arroyo Willow. So, in this case, the wind helps disperse the seeds. The Arroyo Willow needs this type of seed dispersal to survive.

The tribal people living here needed the Arroyo Willow many things. The bark was made into clothing. The twigs are flexible so they were made into animal traps, bows, and arrows. The wood was also used in shelter construction, baby cradles, and baskets. The leaves and bark contain an ingredient that relieves pain, salicylic acid. This acid is found in aspirin. The Juanenos, Luisenos, and other tribal people would chew pieces of willow bark to get rid of headaches and toothaches. Cool!
If you could find a treatment for a disease in a plant, what disease would you cure?

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