This one's for Dad

Every year in the spring my father moans of the work necessary to clean up after the oak trees in his yard. The oak tree produces two types of flowers, the male and the female. Here is a photo of the male flower or catkin as it is called. My dad affectionately calls these tumbleweed. They tend to pile up, and roll about.

This flower contains the pollen that will fertilize the ovum (eggs) in the female flower. The catkins then fall from the tree, and make a mess all over your yard. The female flowers stay in the tree, and the fertilized egg develops into the seed, better know as the acorn.

Here is a wheel barrow full of catkins, maple seeds, and a few fallen leaves that my husband swept up from our driveway. You can imagine what the rest of our yard looks like. Now try to imagine all the pollen that was released by these catkins prior to falling from the trees. Achoo!!! God bless you. Now where are the Kleenex and the allergy pills?

Snappers A-Laying

The other morning the bus driver stopped to point out that around the corner from us there were two large turtles on the edge of the road. I grabbed my camera, and was able to catch these photos of two different snapping turtles. Our neighborhood boarders wetlands and a pond that has grown in size over the years as a result of some very active beavers. As you can see the turtles had come up from the pond and dug holes in order to deposit their eggs. Mating season was during the fall, and female turtles can store sperm in their bodies for some time. June is typically time for these turtles to lay their eggs. Turtles do not stick around to care for their young.

Luckily, these turtles are large enough to be seen by the drivers of cars. If you come across turtles trying to cross the road you can help them (I'm not sure I would try to help these snappers) by carrying them in the direction they are traveling in. I have also noticed some communities have posted turtle crossing signs to alert motorists to areas of wildlife activity.