Category Archives: Natural History

It’s Shark Cartoons Week

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Sharknado II was just released.

I’m afraid soon I’m going to read a statistic stating more people believe there’s a chance they could be eaten by a shark in a tornado than believe in global warming.

One of my favorite statistics is that you have a better chance of being killed by a soda machine than a shark. The cans in a soda machine are in its upper half so they roll down to you. People sometimes shake a machine to try and get a stuck can out and the whole unbalanced thing falls on them. You’ve got to love natural selection. Continue reading →

Slug Sex

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Last week’s blog post titled Mushroom Sex got more hits than any other page on my website.

I doubt it would have done as well with the titled Fungi Reproduction. That’s why this post is titled Slug Sex, not “The Mating Habits of the Ariolimax columbianus?”  I do want readers.  Plus, while slugs may be slow, the way mate is pretty racy.

A common rule in nature is that if a creature is smaller than you, eat it; if it’s bigger than you, run from it; and if it’s the same size as you, mate with it. Continue reading →

Mushroom Sex

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I was surprised to learn that Charles Darwin’s daughter, Henrietta, was a prude.

She did her best to rid her patch of stinkhorn mushrooms. Their Latin name, Phallus impudicus, gives an indication why a prude wouldn’t like them. Even a kid from Waldport whose Latin doesn’t extend beyond E Pluribus Unum can get a pretty good idea what this particular “fruiting body” looks like. Fruiting body is what they call the part of a mushroom you can see. Some are limp. Some are erect.

Mushroom Cartoon 9145

License Mushroom Cartoon 9145
Get it printed on stuff at Cafepress and Zazzle

Continue reading →

Weather & Topless Beaches in Oregon

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The Oregon coast has topless beaches in that if you’re feeling particularly frisky, feel free to take off your sweatshirt. I feel practically nude if I’m not wearing a sweatshirt.

When it’s 100° inland, it’s often foggy and windy on the beach because cold air is sucked off the ocean.

“Honey, it’s 100° in Portland,” I imagine someone saying, “but only 50° in Yachats. Let’s spend the weekend on the beach.” They come wearing shorts and flip-flops and since it’s 50° they buy a coastal sweatshirt. Continue reading →

Excerpts from a Fire Fighter’s Journal

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Fire season is upon us and that got me thinking about my days as a forest firefighter.

It was one of my “other duties as assigned” when I was Siuslaw National Forest’s head naturalist at Cape Perpetua. These are excerpts from a journal I kept over the years. They first appeared in Backpacker Magazine.

“Concerned crew boss: ‘If you get hurt, be sure to tell me immediately so I can start the paperwork.’” Continue reading →

Birds, Birds, Birds

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Last night I watched The Big Year, a comedy about competitive bird watchers. It’s a premise I would have thought absurd except I’ve been around such people. In addition to cartooning I teach natural history and lead nature walks, and I would rather get between a mama bear and her cub than get between a bird and birders trying to add to their Life Lists. Full disclosure, I don’t keep a Life List. Continue reading →