I saw a bobcat for the first time in the Mojave two days ago while doing field work . I wrote this a short time afterward.<\/p>\n
THE BOBCAT – by Aaron Sedgwick<\/p>\n
Rising from the sand slinks the carnivorous grendel,
\nJewel of the Mojave. Diamond eyes and cat-sized.
\nShadows run from her gaze, Silent steps on the salt flats.
\nManeuvering the wreckage of a thousand burned out buggies,
\nGlass bottle shards, Shotgun shells.
\nFixed on the resting jackrabbit,
\nTunnel vision stalking, buzzards hawking for the kill to come.
\nShe… p o u n c e s
\nBounding and bouncing jackrabbit shatters the calm.
\nDust devil cage binds the pair together,
\nFreeing them when the howling stops.
\nSmiling and lapping the last drop from her chin,
\nShe returns to silence.<\/p>\n
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I made three seed collections over the last two days! They were all from previously scouted populations that I had scouted for\u00a0way back in April. It’s exciting to successfully utilize previously scouted information from the same field season that I’ve personally collected.<\/p>\n
One difficulty with the\u00a0abnormally dry\u00a0conditions in the Mojave has been that\u00a0population data and\u00a0vouchers from previous wetter years do not reflect the current conditions and\u00a0distribution of species\u00a0in the field.\u00a0\u00a0Frequently, many of the populations that we are documenting are not even flowering ,\u00a0but the population data may be useful\u00a0either next year or\u00a0later in the summer when\u00a0monsoon season\u00a0begins.\u00a0This means that every seed collection is sensational and precious this year. I’ve often thought that the plants that are producing seed this year could have particular sets of traits that are favored during dry years, making their genetics valuable for restoration. They could possibly be better adapted\u00a0to the\u00a0climate change projections\u00a0for\u00a0southern California, which predict a drier and hotter Mojave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I saw a bobcat for the first time in the Mojave two days ago while doing field work . I wrote this a short time afterward. THE BOBCAT – by Aaron Sedgwick Rising from the sand slinks the carnivorous grendel, … Continue reading