Marianna's Blog
Christmas 'Cat
Lessons & Reflections from the National Butterfly Center
(Or, How I Really Stepped in it, This Time)
I had the most wonderful walk down the Hackberry Trail, today. I was distracted by the dancing Zebra Heliconian, dazzled by the flash of a Mexican Bluewing, and surprised to see a big, beautiful Malachite float by, oblivious to my presence...and that's when it happened: I stepped in a big, steaming pile of cat scat. Score? Bobcat: 1; Marianna: 0.
No Closed Season!
Lessons & Reflections from the National Butterfly Center
You know, it's not all butterflies and rainbows out here.
You might be inclined to believe that, because you've only heard me talk about how great it is and how much I love it at the NBC; but the truth is there are some real hazards and things that keep me up at night. Like, where is Bobcat? And how do we get rid of the pigs? What if the bats don't inhabit the house we installed for them? Did I leave the lid on the banana brew? And a dozen other thoughts that creep in, when I can't sleep.
Most of my issues have comical consequences, like when the bait exploded in the Gator. But some of them cause me real consternation, like the javelinas in the garden. First, they love to eat the tender, young plants and succulents in the cactus beds, as well as caterpillars, bird's eggs and reptiles. Second, they trample everything underfoot; and they seem to reproduce like oversexed rodents! Of course, I exaggerate (a little). Still, there is little love lost between a woman responsible for land management and a population of wild javelina, in South Texas.
Media