A Northwoods Almanac for 11/15-28, 2013 by John Bates
Clubmoss Spores
Before
the snow buries our numerous species of clubmosses (genus lycopodium), you might want to take a last look at these amazing
plants. Most of us are familiar with “princess pine,” a clubmoss species that looks
a lot like a pine seedling, except for the fact it never grows larger than 5 or
6 inches tall. Those who think clubmosses are tiny pine trees must wonder why
they never grow up! All clubmoss species superficially resemble a conifer
seedling, but clubmosses produce spores like a fern - not cones with seeds like
a conifer.
Clubmosses
provide some minor economic value in our area because they are picked
extensively to make Christmas wreaths. But a century or more ago, it was the
yellow spores produced by the clubmosses that were of much greater value. In
the fall, little club-shaped structures grow from the tips of the shoots. Each
of these "clubs" packs thousands of spores, and if you just tap one
of them when they're ripe, a yellow powder billows out, catches any wind
present, and the spores float to their new homestead site in the woods. Some of
the clubs are on slender stalks that look like a candelabra setting for a
romantic vole's dinner.
But
here’s what’s amazing about these spores – they were used to power the first
internal combustion engine (though not a piston engine). When dispersed in
a little cloud, the spores burn spectacularly, almost explosively. In France in
1807, the brothers Nicephore and Claude Niepce used a smoldering wick to ignite
a flammable dust in a chamber at 12 times a minute. The resultant pressure
expelled a charge of water out of the rear-facing exhaust, propelling their
boat up the river Saone. The original fuel was lycopodium, or clubmoss spore,
powder. A patent was subsequently granted by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte on July 20, 1807.
They
called their engine the “Pyréolophore”
(pyr from Ancient Greek meaning "fire", Αiolos meaning
"wind", and phoros meaning "bearer"). Apparently the
fuel wasn’t only clubmoss spores, but a mixture of spores, coal-dust, and
resin.
Those
tiny spores today are still used to create
flashes or flames that are large and impressive but relatively easy to manage
safely in magic acts and cinematic
special effects. The spores were used way back
in Victorian theater to produce flame-effects.
And
just for fun, if you float some spores on a glass of water and stick in your
finger, it emerges dusted with the powder, but otherwise perfectly dry. Thus, lycopodium
powder has been used as dusting powder to keep pills from sticking together, for
fingerprint powder, and as an ice cream stabilizer, though why ice cream needs
to be stabilized is beyond me.
Beaver Caches
Over the weekend, I spoke with a long-time beaver trapper who told me that I might
think he was crazy, but he thought the beavers could predict how bad a winter
was going to be, and would increase the size of their winter cache accordingly.
If you’re not familiar with beavers’ caching food, every fall they cut many
hundreds of branches and weave them all together in an underwater cache about
15 feet from their lodge. These food caches
may be as much as 40 feet in diameter and 10 feet in height. Then all they have to do all winter long
is leave their lodge, swim under the ice, grab a stick from the cache, and
bring it back into the lodge to eat. Boring, but effective.
So,
I asked the trapper whether the beavers were caching a lot or a little, and he
said, “A lot – it’s going to be a bad winter.”
Well,
I’m a doubter. But, we’ll see if the beavers were prescient come April.
Beavers pair for life, breeding in February or March, and bearing their
young three months later in May or June. The usual litter contains from two to
four, and the kits remain in the lodge of their parents for two years. Then the
parents send them out on their own to find an unsettled area and a mate, and then
to build their own dams and lodges.
Sightings – Badger
Jim and Nancy Burger of Manitowish Waters sent
me a photograph of a badger they saw while hiking on the new WinMan trail near
the intersection of Cty. W and Cty. J near Winchester.
Badgers don’t hibernate, but
apparently spend much of the winter in cycles of torpor. They may emerge to
hunt when the temperature is above freezing, but for most of the winter, they
live off the fat they put on in the fall.
Badgers mate in August or
September, but development is delayed until the embryo is implanted in January.
Of the total gestation period of 250 days, growth occurs during only 50. Birth
is usually in April or May.
Sightings – Goldeneyes, Buffleheads,
Trumpeter Swans
Over the weekend, Nancy Burns on the Manitowish Chain of Lakes observed common
goldeneyes, buffleheads, and trumpeter swans foraging on the river. Most
waterfowl have migrated south, but these three species are lingerers, well
adapted to extremes in cold weather and water.
Goldeneyes,
in particular, appear to be completely undismayed by ice and snow, and commonly
winter on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, as well as inland lakes that remain
ice-free. Goldeneyes actually breed worldwide in
northern boreal forests and are the last waterfowl migrant to move south in
fall. Interestingly, they winter throughout nearly all of North America from
coastal Newfoundland to North Dakota, to western British Columbia and coastal
Alaska, and south all the way to central Baja California, and east to the Gulf
of Mexico and the coastal waters of central Florida. How an individual
goldeneye decides where it will spend its winter given all of these
geographical options is beyond me, but clearly they can adapt about anything
winter wants to throw at them.
Celestial Events
The full moon occurs on 11/17. Called by
various tribes the Beaver Moon, the Freezing Moon, the Snow Moon, or the Ice is
Forming Moon, this moon clearly marks the landscape’s remarkable transformation
into winter.
The
only problem with the full moon occurring on the 17th is that it’s
at the same time as when the peak Leonid meteor shower is happening. Thus, the
Leonids will be completely washed out by the brilliance of the moon.
Ice-up
will likely occur in the next two weeks. Woody Hagge’s 37-year average for
ice-up on Foster Lake in Hazelhurst is 11/26. He also notes that the average
length of ice cover has been 140 days, or 20 weeks. Get out the skates.
The
comet ISON will come closest to the sun on 11/28. So far, the comet has been a
disappointment. Right now, it’s still not visible with the naked eye. But if it
breaks up as it nears the sun, it could put on a spectacular show. There are
lots of websites keeping track of this, but one good one is www.space.com.
Conserve School
Last month I had the opportunity to teach
a few classes at the Conserve School near Land O’Lakes, and what a great place
for students! The school morphed a few years back from a four-year high school
to only teaching juniors in high school in one-semester blocks. And while the
change was controversial and painful, it has resulted in the school being able
to focus very clearly on providing an exceptional immersion in outdoor
education. The students I’ve worked with there over the years universally say
they’re having a life-changing experience, and I can feel it in their
enthusiasm and commitment to learning.
Remarkably,
the one semester residential school is free to all those who attend, at least
until 2017. I highly recommend a visit – this is the kind of school anyone who
loves the natural world would love to be a part of.
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