It is 3pm on June 6, 2021. It is chilly and damp. The swampy/ wooded area right behind my house covers about an acre of land (possibly a little less) and I found it to be a very interesting place to do these blog posts on. Before getting into intimate detail, this area of land makes a large bowl like feature and down in the middle of this bowl like area is a swampy pond. There are multiple types of trees and shrubbery surrounding the area. The pond is a swampy, muddy little mess that used to hold still water and have salamanders all over the place but not so much anymore. It has since dried up and there is barely any still water down there only in the springtime. By thus time in the year it is pretty much dried out. It used to be full of water all year round and we could even skate on it in the winter. There is a particular type of plant that stands about a foot off the ground but only has leaves on the very top. Its about a foot long stem and they just blanket the ground below them. Over a very large part of this acre of land, these plants form a green blanket and you cannot see the ground through them.
- Is this bowl like area manmade?
- What are all of these little plants that cover the wooded floor?
- Why is there a huge willow tree in the corner?
- I wonder if the Colonists ever fought the British on this land? I hope so.
- Why do squirrels chase each other around trees?
- Why does bedrock stick out so frequently?
- The soil is much darker here than in a grassy yard. Why?
- What kind of bugs and stuff live underneath the soil?
- Why is it swampy and damp down here?
- Who decided to build my house on a rocky hillside?
- Why is the bark on these trees so rough?
- How rocky is the soil?
- When did this piece of land form?
- How did this piece of land form?
- How old are these trees?
- How old is the dirt a few layers down?
- What kind of birds live here?
- Was the visible bedrock always visible?
- If I were to travel back in time 300 years, would this area look the same?
- How tall would that Willow tree be?
- Is lawn grass really that natural?
- Why does that bamboo look alike plant exist and how?
- Why don’t flowers stay all year long?
- How is this plot so green?
- Is this enough questions?
Why do squirrels chase each other so aggressively? I have noticed this many times in this spot and around many other wooded areas where I have seen squirrels. They chase each other around trees and across the ground very aggressively. Squirrels are usually pretty afraid of people but when they get into their moods, they start flying after one another without a care in the world of anything else going on around them. It’s pretty entertaining to watch. I always just assumed that this was a way for males to assert dominance and claim their territory but it goes deeper than that. Male squirrels are actually pretty docile and relaxed. The females are the ones who are safeguarding their territory. male squirrels simply mate and then move on but it’s a female squirrels job to look after the offspring and when two squirrels are in a tree fighting match it is usually females fighting over space for their offspring to live.
Why Do Squirrels Chase Each Other? Question And Answer. Squirrel Arena. (2020, November 10). https://www.squirrelarena.com/why-do-squirrels-chase-each-other/#:~:text=Why%20Do%20Squirrels%20Chase%20Each%20Other%201%20Safeguarding,Baby%20squirrels%20are%20no%20exception%20to%20this.%20.
I really want to look into those plants that I had mentioned before. The ones with plain stems that are about a foot off the ground and have leaves on the top. They look like a blanket of green from above but if you were to poke your head under the mini canopy, it is just the ground with about a thousand mini green drinking straws peeking out of the ground. It’s pretty cool.