We humans are wired to be a part of nature
- Herb Broda: Nature Notebook
- January 19, 2019
- 1371
I’m a bit of a data nerd. When I walk outside, I focus too much on increasing my pace from last week or adding a certain number of steps to round out the day. But after the holidays, what I really needed most was just a slowed-down mosey in the woods to soak up the nature around me.
Winter is a great time to take a walk. The bugs aren’t biting, and plants aren’t churning out pollen. With jackets and jeans keeping you warm, sunscreen is only needed on the few square inches of exposed skin that peek out of your winter gear.
As dozens of writers and researchers have said, we humans are wired to be a part of nature. Although we work hard to stifle the feeling, we crave to be connected with the outdoors.
So one pleasant winter afternoon I stopped looking at my watch and counting my steps and just slowly walked.
And stopped.
And watched.
And listened.
The calmness and serenity of a winter woods surrounded me with its comforting strength, solid trunks always reaching and branching to catch life-giving light. If you look at an older tree, the branches and leaves are always at the top. What a great life metaphor: To grow, we have to reach higher to find what sustains us.
Even a small woods can provide an island of quiet in a noisy world. There are no beeps, pings or incessant background music. The camera angle doesn’t change every five seconds, and there are no flashing colors or dizzying graphics. There are just trees with an occasional squirrel or bird adding a bit of movement and audio to the scene. It’s a view that is both simple yet extraordinarily complex.
When I returned home, I honestly did feel changed. My outlook was more positive, and I felt refreshed. That short saunter in the woods with its three of four stops along the way had an impact.
Give it a try. Choose a day with little wind (10 mph or less) and ideally a temperature above freezing. A little sun and a blue sky are always great but not essential. Any of our many local parks will do just fine. The location is not nearly as important as the pace and the mindset. Maximum benefits come when you walk slowly, stop, watch and listen.
Great horned owl
The winner of the early nesting trophy has to be the great horned owl. This bird is the first owl in Ohio to build a nest, usually about now. Young will appear in late February or March.
The nests are often “borrowed” from other birds such as red-tailed hawks, crows or great blue herons. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, these aggressive predators have even been known to drive bald eagles from their nests (gutsy move).
One of the most fascinating things about owls are the eyes. They are huge, making up nearly 5 percent of the bird’s overall mass in some species. If our eyes were a comparable size, they would be as big as softballs. Although owl eyes are fixed forward, they have the amazing ability to swivel their necks 270 degrees. That’s more than twice what we can do.
The great horned owl is the largest and most powerful owl we have in Northeast Ohio. According to the ODNR, “The great horned owl is considered the top bird of prey, fearing no creature but man.”
That's a pretty impressive resume because Ohio has about 20 species of resident birds of prey. The great horned is found in every county in Ohio.
This fierce hunter will attack skunks and even cats or small dogs. The great horned is a nocturnal hunter, so skunks are a great target. The little dudes have a big white stripe, which announces “here I am” to the waiting, hungry owl.
Apparently even fierce hunters can make mistakes. In North Carolina several runners with pony tails were attacked by a great horned owl. Wildlife authorities felt the owl was a juvenile and had not yet mastered the “squirrel tail vs. pony tail” part of the curriculum. It evidently saw the bobbing pony tails and thought, “Hallelujah, there’s a big one.”
The local home owner’s association prudently advised residents to wear hats and avoid running from dusk to dawn.
Email Herb Broda at 4nature.notebook@gmail.com.