Earth Almanac: March/April 2008

Bluster and Bull

In sand prairies, dry savannas, and semi-deserts throughout the middle third of our nation, bullsnakes are emerging from the rock crevices, abandoned prairie dog tunnels, and old wells where they have slept away the winter, curled in the embraces of their kin as well as such species as rat snakes, milk snakes, timber rattlers, and racers. March is an excellent time to find these enormous, beautifully patterned constrictors as they bask in the spring sun, often perched atop a gopher mound. As the days lengthen, males search for females. An adult bullsnake is an impressive beast on any occasion, never more so than when it feels threatened. It will hiss loudly, puff up its body (which may be seven feet long), and vibrate its tail, creating a sound like an angry rattler, especially if there is dead vegetation underneath. A wild bullsnake may attempt to bite if you pick it up. But more often than not it will quickly quiet down.

A Happy Wail

Where cliffs and bluffs overlook western steppes, deserts, and treeless mountainscapes, prairie falcons are courting. The male folds his wings and dives, uttering piercing cries. Presently he struts around a prospective nest site—usually a flat area or a hole on the side of a steep rock face—and the female carefully examines it. A courting pair will perch and fly together, sometimes exchanging prey in midair. Because mammals are an important part of their diet and they frequently inhabit arid country of scant value for agriculture, prairie falcons escaped the exposure to chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides that caused virtual extinction of their cousin, the eastern peregrine falcon. The prairie falcon’s aggressiveness and relative abundance makes it especially popular with falconers. 

Dwarf Daises

From western North Dakota to Alberta and south to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, Easter daisies are splashing some of the year’s first color across dry prairies. Among the smallest relatives of the sunflower, they are no more than two inches high, and their white or pink, yellow-centered blooms are about as wide, giving the impression that there’s no stem, or “scape”—hence the specific name exscapa, Latin for “without a scape.” The Easter daisy’s dwarf stature makes it especially popular with rock gardeners. It is easily cultivated, provided you protect it from excess moisture in winter.