Scribblings Conservation Blog

Halloween with Mother Nature

10/31/2023

What better way to celebrate Halloween than to look at some weird, wacky, or scary creatures!

Halloween!! It's time for the ghosts, goblins, and monsters to have their day in the limelight. You don't really have to go far to see some frightening sights. Heck, just turn on the TV news. The politicians who thrive on invoking fear and spreading misinformation are scary enough to make me want to run and hide under the nearest rock.

I'd rather hang out with the bugs. They go about their business, creeping, crawling, buzzing, flittering, or hopping around just trying to survive. They come in all shapes and sizes and specialize in particular jobs. They're amazing to watch.

Through my observations, I've concluded that Mother Nature is not only a masterful creator but also must have a sense of humor. She's designed some unique creatures that are downright mind-boggling. A few will trigger an "Ewww" response when you see them and make you want to walk away very quickly.

Others can scare the bejeebers out of you, give you a painful bite or sting, or just ruin your day in some way.

Here are a few creatures I prefer not to come across on a dark and stormy night… or for that matter, in broad daylight:

A Puss Caterpillar (Southern Flannel moth) may look like a soft, furry, cute little thing, but toxic bristles are hidden beneath that fluffy hair. The sting of the caterpillar causes severe pain that radiates throughout the body.

A junk bug disguises itself by carrying the carcasses of bugs it has killed and eaten. This camouflage prevents birds and ants from snatching them up as a quick meal. These tiny bugs feed on aphids and the eggs of other bugs. Junk bugs are the voracious larvae of the green lacewing.

Assassin bugs won't kill you, but their bite is terribly painful. If you see a wheel-shaped varmint approaching you, go the other way. Please don't kill them, though. They prey on invasive species such as Japanese beetles.

We've all seen them climbing the walls, scurrying across the countertop, or hiding behind the curtain. These home centipedes are beneficial predators ridding us of pests, but they do tend to creep people out. They won't hurt you unless you try to pick one up. Then, they might give you a bite.

A damsel bug doesn't look scary, but it will give you a nasty bite if you mess with it. Leave the little guy alone; he'll help keep down the aphids and other pests.

There are over 200 species of stink bugs in the U.S. None of them are poisonous, but they live up to their name when threatened. They emit a smelly vapor that will make you do a 180 and get away. The brown marmorated stink bug is a widespread invasive species.

We've all heard that if the world ended, the cockroach would outlast all other living creatures. They do benefit nature by recycling decaying matter, but when they move inside homes, restaurants, food processing plants, and other commercial properties, they become harmful. They carry germs, bacteria, pathogens, and parasites and have to be the world's most unwelcome houseguest, especially if you live in the southern U.S. and have the gigantic palmetto bugs. Gross!

More creepy bugs are out there, but that's enough for now. I hope I didn't spoil your day.

Be safe this Halloween, and be mindful of all creatures crossing your path. Halloween is a fun and sometimes spooky time for the whole family. But it's also a time to appreciate the fascinating and complex creatures that share this world with us. From insects to bats, owls, crows, and snakes, these "scary" creatures pose no real threat to humans, and many suffer from habitat loss, pollution, and more.

If you want to keep Halloween safe for you and all the other creatures out there:

Use a flashlight and be mindful of the environment around you. You never know what kind of critter is sharing the same space.
Keep candy where animals won't find it. Also, be sure to dispose of candy wrappers properly to avoid littering or creating a choking hazard for an animal.
Birds and bats can get tangled in fake spider webs. Use these decorations where wildlife won't be flying through.
Be alert for nocturnal wildlife while trick-or-treating.

When you are ready to dispose of your Jack-o-Lantern, toss it outside for the creatures to eat. They love raw pumpkin, and it's good for them. Please leave it in a wooded area for wildlife or give it to a farmer to feed his animals.

Happy Halloween!

0 Comments

5 CLIMATE CHANGE FACTS TO SCARE YOU INTO ACTION THIS HALLOWEEN

10/24/2023

0 Comments

Guest Author: Katelyn Crews
(Katelyn Crews is an EARTHDAY.ORG Intern with a passion for creative writing and the environment!)

It’s Halloween, which means costumes, candy, and scary movies. Fear turns to fun on October 31 because Halloween lets us seek scary thrills that can’t hurt us. When we feel like threats are closing in on us and things are getting truly scary, we just turn off the TV and turn on the lights. But there is one terror that we can’t escape, no matter the time of year.

We’re talking about climate change! Here are five of the scariest, most bone-chilling facts about climate change to get you in the mood for terror this season (and hopefully also scare you and your fellow trick-or-treaters into action to address it).

1. Within the next 2 decades, global temperatures are likely to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. That is terrifying.

In its highly-anticipated Sixth Report in 2021, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that a certain amount of global warming is locked in and is irreversible. They reported that from 2011–2020, the global temperature had already reached 1.1 degrees Celsius above 1850-1900 levels.

It is also predicted that within the decade, global temperatures are over 50% likely to rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels, the so-called “tipping point" of climate change. This degree of warming is predicted to increase the frequency of wildfires by a magnitude of 8.6, kill 70-90% of coral reefs, and raise our sea levels globally by .3 meters.

In its 2018 special report, the IPCC warned that we only have until 2030 to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. Yet, little has changed since then to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It’s like the movie Don’t Look Up; we know what’s happening but we aren’t doing enough to change the outcome.

In 2019, global carbon emissions from fossil fuels and industry reached a high of 36.44 billion metric tons. In 2020, emissions fell by 5.8 percent due to COVID-19 and the resulting economic crisis. Despite that year’s reverse trend, however, 2022 emissions were back up to 36.8 billion metric tons and 2023 emissions are actually expected to increase by 3%.

“We need to change policy and approaches in light of the latest evidence about the state of the climate system. Time is no longer on our side,” said Professor Piers Forster, the director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds.

2. The last 7 years have been the warmest on record.

NASA recently announced that the summer of 2023 was the hottest summer on record globally, surpassing the intense heat experienced in 2016.

“The dog days of summer are not just barking, they are biting,” said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General about the record-breaking heat of 2023. “Climate breakdown has begun.”

And not only are our food systems breaking down, so are our bodies. With the rising heat comes rising humidity to levels that are dangerous to human survival.

Summer 2024 is already forecasted to be another record-breaking summer, one that would rival the disastrous 2023 summer in terms of heat, humidity, and hazardous weather events.

“Whether one year is a record or not is not really that important — the important things are long-term trends,” said Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Director Gavin Schmidt. The current long-term trend is that each summer is getting hotter and hotter.

Are you scared for our future, yet? Well get ready cos it’s going to get even scarier.

3. Our extinction rate is currently 1,000 times the natural rate.

Imagine dressing up as a frog for Halloween and having to explain to younger generations what a frog was and why it’s gone. Almost half of all amphibians are at risk of extinction due to climate change — so this could be a reality if we don’t act soon.

Extinction is a natural phenomenon, claiming about five species per year. But some experts suggest we’re in the midst of the sixth mass extinction — one that is caused mostly by human activity.

According to a 2023 report, 48% of species are declining and on their way to extinction. It also revealed that 33% of species listed as non-threatened by the IUCN Red-List are actually decreasing. By mid-century, as many as 30 to 50 percent of the total species found on Earth will have disappeared because our extinction rate is currently 1,000 times the natural rate. In 2021, 23 species were declared extinct by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which tragically included the beloved Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.

Allowing this to continue is “a crime equivalent to tossing books from the Library of Alexandria thoughtlessly into a fire, erasing the shared inheritance of all mankind,” according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Science in a review from 2009.

Species diversity is crucial for ecosystem resilience, and without it, ecological communities will not have the strength to withstand change — especially not the change we’re throwing at them.

4. Climate change is already happening, and it’s detrimental to human life, too.

The impacts to human health are much scarier than any child-eating clown movie.

Rising temperatures — coupled with a growing number of people in cities and the increasing population of elderly — have increased heat-related deaths, according to a 2023 study in Nature Communications.

A 2018 report concluded that the lack of adaptive capacities and effort toward reducing emissions threatens human lives and the national health systems people rely on, by pushing services to their limit and disrupting core infrastructure. Vulnerable communities are already being hit first and worst.

But hyperthermia is not the only risk climate change brings to human life. Higher temperatures worsen air quality, negatively affect crop production, increase the spread of infectious diseases, and threaten freshwater deposits.

A warming world also increases the intensity of natural disasters.

Instances of wildfires have increased over the years, according to the EPA, and the burn area and intensity of fires have increased. In 2023, there were two major fire events in North America. In August, an intense wildfire destroyed Maui, Hawaii and claimed more than 100 lives. In Canada, from May continuing all the way into fall, forest fires have been raging. 44 million acres have been burned, affecting not just wildlife but also humans as the smoke chokes out cities in Canada and the northeast United States.

Hurricanes are reaching new extremes, too. The frequency of high intensity hurricanes — ranked as categories 4 and 5 — has increased over the last 30 years. It has become immensely more difficult to escape these storms unscathed, and it will only get harder in the future.
Have you noticed that the Halloween season doesn’t feel the same either? If we can’t wear a full costume without sweating then something is wrong, right?

That’s because climate change is shifting the seasons. Falls, winters, and springs are growing shorter, while summer extends into the supposedly cooler months. North American winters are losing snow and ice as a result — making prime ski destinations, well, not prime.

This not only makes dressing up in a full-body werewolf costume uncomfortable but also disrupts the natural interactions between species, their habitats, and their migration patterns.

BOO!

5. Many leaders still aren’t taking it seriously.

The world has been aware of climate change at least since the IPCC formed in 1988. Scientists and the public rallied around environmental policy, but many global governments had a different idea.

They were going to ignore it.

Countries contributing the most to global emissions have the best chance of curbing climate change, but leaders are doing little to address it.

Although it has been seven years since the Paris Agreement entered into force, none of the world’s major economies are on track to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

To outline steps to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience to climate change, parties submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) every five years. While July 31 was the deadline to submit updated NDCs, many countries didn’t actually increase their climate pledges, and others missed the deadline entirely.

Climate literacy is among the climate goals that have missed the mark. Climate literacy (as supported by an integrated K-12 curricula) is needed to prepare youth with an understanding of the climate crisis and skills to create solutions, yet not one country has thoroughly addressed it within its NDC.

Everyone may die at the end of horror movies, but we don’t have to.

We’re not in a Hollywood studio, helplessly in the hands of sadistic screenwriters. We can actively choose to change the ending of our story — and for that we should feel hopeful.

Younger generations are taking matters into their own hands and striking for the climate. They’re skipping school completely to plead for an end to inaction toward climate change and demanding world leaders to undertake environmental reforms. A 2021 study revealed that 83% of people aged 16-25 feel that we have failed to take care of our planet and concluded that it is vital for governments to take “urgent” action against climate change.

The next UN Conference of Parties (COP28) will be held this November. In this international meeting of heads of state and governments and stakeholders, countries will have an opportunity to heighten their ambition on climate change.

“This is the critical decade for climate change. Decisions made now will have an impact on how much temperatures will rise and the degree and severity of impacts we will see as a result,” said Professor Piers Forster.

After decades of inaction on climate change, we don’t have any more time to spare before it’s too late. Join the movement and add your voice to this urgent call for change. You can become a Social Squad activist, sign the Global Plastics Treaty petition, and spread the word to your friends! Or, you can donate to our Canopy Project, which organizes tree plantings all over the world, and take the effort not to buy clothes that promote Fast Fashion.

This Halloween we must face our fears. The human-made monster that is climate change won’t go anywhere if you just close your eyes or turn off the TV. Action and advocacy are the only way to flip the script — and not wind up like your favorite victim at the end of the horror film.

0 Comments

Turn Your Yard into a Bat Haven

10/10/2023

0 Comments

When you think of pollinators, do bats ever come to mind? How about as Mother Nature’s pest patrol? Did you know that one single bat can catch up to 1000 mosquitoes an hour?

Bats make up one-fifth of the world’s mammal species and are essential to environmental health. There are nearly 1,400 kinds of bats ranging from tiny bumblebee bats weighing less than a U.S. penny to giant flying foxes with nearly six-foot wingspans.

Sadly, global bat populations have been declining by the tens of millions in recent years due to climate change, habitat loss, careless use of wind turbines, and a fungus called white-nose syndrome (WNS).

According to the world’s foremost authority on bats, Merlin Tuttle, other catastrophic factors leading to the demise of bats are cave disturbance and destruction, and some species have even become extinct due to overharvesting. In addition, “They are easily misunderstood and victimized by exaggerated disease speculation, leading to deliberate eradication campaigns with disastrous consequences.”

Most of us are not too knowledgeable when it comes to bats. That’s why the month of October is dedicated to learning about these threatened and underappreciated creatures. We want you to love bats just as much as any of the other threatened pollinators.

Education is Critical
Bats have recently been determined to be America’s most threatened warm-blooded animals and have never needed your help more! https://www.merlintuttle.org/

People won’t protect something they fear or misunderstand. For years, we’ve been led to believe bats were dangerous sources of scary diseases such as Ebola. For nearly a decade, the media and other sources have spread the rumor that bats carried the virus, but evidence now shows humans and other primates transported the deadly disease. It’s the same with our current pandemic. Dr. Tuttle states, “The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has not been found in bats, and there are no reports of transmission from a bat to a human.”

In reality, bats keep to themselves trying to survive. However, that’s getting more difficult with the loss of their traditional hangouts. Forests, caves, and mines need to be protected to help restore bat populations. For example, both humans and bats love large complex caves and abandoned mines. Unfortunately, sport caving sometimes disturbs bats forcing them to seek shelter in locations where unsuitable temperatures and conditions hamper the rearing of their young during the summer and hibernation in winter. The disturbance isn’t intentional. Instead, folks are not aware of how their actions can negatively affect the cave’s inhabitants.

Through educational programs and activities informing the general public of the bat’s good qualities, progress can be made in helping them. There are plenty of opportunities for bat conservationists and cave explorers to collaborate in identifying, restoring, and protecting key caves and abandoned mines. Also, homeowners can learn how to adapt their backyards to be more bat-friendly and welcome them to the neighborhood.

Helping the Bats
Bats eat bugs. Once we accept them as a beneficial asset to our community, we’ll enjoy having them hanging around. As their natural habitats become more scarce, our yards will play an increasingly significant role in securing the bats’ future.

Bats are a sign of a healthy environment, so landscaping for bats is also good for people.

Plant a diverse selection of native flowers of varying sizes, shapes, and colors to lure in the bugs. Be sure to include night-blooming plants that’ll attract night-flying insects.
Don’t forget the trees and shrubs. They’re essential in providing food for insect larvae and adult insects, shelter for flying insects, and roosting opportunities for bats.
Create a water feature. A small pond or a marshy area provides bats with somewhere to drink and attracts insects that start life as aquatic larvae.
Linear features such as hedges or tree lines help bats navigate.
Reduce or remove artificial lighting.
Refrain from using pesticides.
Keep cats indoors at night.

With the loss of natural roosting sites, many folks lend a helping hand by installing bat houses. They come in various shapes and sizes and can be placed atop a pole or mounted on a building. You can find bat houses on the internet, but Dr. Tuttle warns that some aren’t well constructed and can injure bats. He explains how to choose a quality bat house here.

A well-made bat house is the first step. Next, you have to choose the best place to install it. Dr. Tuttle and offers these recommendations on selecting the right location:

Mounting on a post or the side of a house, barn, or shed is best. In particularly cool climates, always opt for a building.
Even in hot conditions, your bat house should receive 6+ hours of direct sunlight daily. In cooler temperatures, the more sunlight, the better.
Place the bat house at least 10-12 feet off the ground, 15-20 feet is better. For the best chance of success, make sure it has a clearance of 12 feet beneath the house from any obstacles such as balconies or roofs.
Locate bat houses at least 20 feet away from trees. Houses mounted on trees offer limited sun exposure and allow predators (primarily owls) to perch on nearby branches. If a tree is your only option, choose a sunny spot far from potential predator perches.

Bats are beautiful, beneficial, and efficient creatures that have been terribly misunderstood for a long time. It’s fun to watch them making low passes across the yard, snatching mosquitoes and then soaring overhead on the prowl for their next bug. They really are good guys. Give them a chance to prove their excellent bug-hunting skills, and then you’ll be happy to welcome them to your yard every evening.

0 Comments

Greta Burroughs

I am passionate about cleaning up our environment and restoring the habitats/ecosystems necessary for pollinators and wildlife to flourish.

Yet, Pollinator Conservation and Environmental Restoration involve more than just planting trees, flowers, and shrubs. In order to regain the balance Mother Nature intended, we need to also counter pollution, global warming, overuse of pesticides, and destruction of ecosystems.

By publishing articles, essays, and resources on this blog, I hope to Educate, Encourage, and Empower others to find a niche where they can make a difference in this world.

Halloween with Mother Nature

5 CLIMATE CHANGE FACTS TO SCARE YOU INTO ACTION THIS HALLOWEEN

Turn Your Yard into a Bat Haven

Greta Burroughs

Archives