Diario de hannahbanana05

I found this pine squirrel on my way to class, and it was running around on the sidewalk and rocks. It was climbing trees and looked like a Loony Tunes character running all over the place. I haven't met that many squirrels, but the ones I have give me the stare like it's watching me. I found myself staring right back like I won't let you get me. I always found it amazing to see them climb trees really fast or when they jump from tree to tree, and you know the branches bend due to the weight. They also make a rustling sound when jumping through the leaves.

The pine squirrel was mainly used for food and fur by humans (Red Squirrel). The meat is small, but it was really good for hunting for hunters (Red Squirrel). In Canada and Alaska, pine squirrel pets were sold for their fur, making them valuable to hunters at the time (Red Squirrel). Pelts helped craft items, so they were valuable (Red Squirrel). Pine squirrels were also "helpful because they distribute and plant seeds of spruce and other trees" (Red Squirrel).

The pine squirrel, also known as "The Abert’s squirrel (Sciurus aberti) is associated almost solely with the montane (8,000-10,000 foot) forest ecosystem. They are quite distinct because of their tufted, or tasseled, ears and black coat" (Platten 1). Their colors range from black to gray, and they use taste to determine the value of a tree (Platten 1). "They are not known to defend territories, perhaps because their home range is quite large, averaging nearly 20 acres" (Platten 1). They like getting seeds as their preferred meal, but in the summer, their diet has a high proportion of fungi (Platten 1). "Generally, pine squirrels have a favorite feeding tree where it eats and drops leftover cone pieces" (Platten 2). They also only live fire years and breed once pure year in February or March (Red Squirrel). Their main predators are Hawks, owls, and martens (Red Squirrel).

I had difficulty determining whether the squirrel was a pine or red squirrel. But apparently, Pine squirrels is just another name for red squirrel, so they are the same squirrel with two different names.

Sources:

Platten, Mark. “The Nature of Teller.” Aberts and Pine Squirrels, 2018, teller.extension.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2018/12/Aberts-and-Pine-Squirrels.pdf. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023.

“Red Squirrel.” The Great State of Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=redsquirrel.main. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023.

This week, I bring the Chamomile plant. This is another species that I see during the summertime, but in a different form. I called them spider weed (I've heard other people call the plant pineapple weed) because I would walk through the plant, and spiders would always crawl on my legs. So, my relationship with this plant didn't start out on the right leg, if you know what I mean. Bad jokes aside, I never cared for the plant; it reminded me of spiders, which I hate, and it wasn't all that appealing to look at. Frankly, it looked like some alien plant sprouted in my yard, and it wouldn't leave. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get rid of the weeds, and I saw them sprouting all over my neighborhood in the gravel. They are also extremely resilient, like dandelions. I never realized that they turned into flowers or were actually an herb.

"The Tanainas boil the whole above-ground portion of the plant in water, strain the tea, and give it to a new mother and her baby to drink. They say it cleans them out and helps the mother's milk start"(Viereck). Tea from the whole plant is bitter, and tea made from the flowers is fragrant and sweet (Viereck). "The Kenai Tanainas give the tea to anyone who needs a laxative and use it as a wash for the eyes and skin" (Viereck). The tea was used as a cure-all for the Aleuts and Russians (Viereck). The commercial chamomile called Anthemis is used to treat all kinds of things, from colds, fevers, headaches, sores, coughs, and the list goes on (Viereck). Anthemis is so versatile that it makes me wonder why I haven't heard of it before.

Anthemis is a subspecies of the Chamomile plant, and the family they belong to is actually the daisy (Singh et al.). "chamomile is an annual plant with thin spindle-shaped roots only penetrating flatly into the soil. The branched stem is erect, heavily ramified, and grows to a height of 10–80 cm" (Singh et al.). The flower heads are arranged separately and are white in color. The yellow-to-brown center part is considered a fruit or achene (Singh et al.). They get the name pineapple weed because they smell like pineapples (Viereck).

All the spices I've learned about have taught me to look at things closely because you might discover something new.

Sources:

Viereck, Eleanor. “Chamomile.” Alaska’s Wilderness Medicines, Alaska Northwest Books, 1995, www.ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/books/Viereck/viereckchamomile.html. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023.

Singh, Ompal, et al. "Chamomile (Matricaria Chamomilla L.): An Overview." Pharmacognosy Reviews, vol. 5, no. 9, 2011, pp. 82-95, https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-7847.79103. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023.

I was walking around my neighbors and my house when I found what looked like red berries on this plant, so I took pictures of it (My neighbor gave me permission to look for plants in their yard). I then started looking up the plant to see if I could Identify it, and I couldn't find anything. I looked at all the different kinds of berries it could be, but I found nothing. After that I remembered something, I'd seen this plant before, there were also flowers here before. Then it hit me: this plant was that prickly flower plant I saw during summertime. It turns out that the species was a Pricky Wild Rose, and the red things are actually rose hips. My experience with Prickly Wild Rose is I just thought it was a flower with pricks on it.

First, I want to talk about rose hips; they are actually an accessory fruit that is made after being pollinated (Rose Hip). "Rose hips are used in bread and pies, jam, jelly, marmalade, syrup, soup, tea, wine, and other beverages" (Rose Hip). They can also be eaten raw, like fruit, but avoid the hairs because that can be made into itching powder (Rose Hip).

The native Americans used Prickly Wild Rose to make tea and would make salads out of the leaves (Rosa Acicularis). The inner bark was used to smoke tobacco, and perfume can be made using this plant (Rosa Acicularis).

The biology of Prickly Wild Rose, or "Rosa acicularis" is a deciduous shrub that can grow one to three meters tall (Rosa Acicularis). The flowers are pink and rarely white, and the hips are red and pair-shaped or oval (Rosa Acicularis). "Its native habitats include thickets, stream banks, rocky bluffs, and wooded hillsides" (Rosa Acicularis). "It is commonly known as the prickly wild rose, prickly rose, bristly rose, wild rose or Arctic rose" (Rosa Acicularis).

This was a fun species to research this week, and I never knew that rose plants produced hips until I now.

Works Cited:

“Rosa Acicularis.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 June 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_acicularis. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.

“Rose Hip.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Oct. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_hip. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.

For my species this week, I found the Yarrow; they look like a bunch of white flowers and reminded me of Cow Parsnip. I always see these Yarrows around my neighborhood, and I've always wondered what they are. They always looked like Cow Parsnip from afar, so I never got close to them. I hate Cow Parsnip because I had an accident where I brushed up against one, and it hurt a lot, but luckily, I didn't brush up against it that hard, so it wasn't that bad. But every year, I see more and more Cow Parsnips popping up around the neighborhood, and Yarrow just keeps reminding me of that fact. I figured I should give Yarrows a shot and see what they're really about.

Tribes in North America used yarrows for a variety of ailments (Vizgirdas 4). They would crush the plant and apply it to wounds and burns (Vizgirdas 4). They would also dry the leaves and use them in tea to help with colds, fevers, and headaches (Vizgirdas 4). It has also been used in Europe to brew beer (Vizgirdas 4). Finally, the Chinese consider the Yarrow to be good luck (Vizgirdas 4). I didn't realize the Yarrow had such a rich history to it. This makes me wonder what else there is to explore and find in my neighborhood.

The Yarrow, or milfoil as it is sometimes called, is a member of the aster or composite family (Asteraceae) (Vizgirdas 1). The Yarrow "has flat-topped or dome-shaped clusters of small white flowers that bloom from April to October. An attractive, hardy perennial, yarrow can reach about 3 feet in height" (Vizgirdas 1). The Yarrow is found throughout North America and in selective parts of Europe and Asia (Vizgirdas 2). "The name milfoil comes from its Latin name 'millefolium' meaning 'a thousand leaves'" (Vizgirdas 2).

Overall, the Yarrow turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought; I was actually debating whether or not to do a different species this week. I really thought that I wouldn't get that much information out of this plant, but I was pleasantly shocked. It goes to show me never to judge a plant by its appearance.

Source:
Vizgirdas, Edna. “U.S. Forest Service.” Plant of the Week, United States Department of Agriculture, www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/achillea_millefolium.shtml. Accessed 2 Oct. 2023.

For my species, I found the Siberian Peashrub. There are a few of them scattered randomly around my house, and one of them is so tall I can't even get a picture of the peas, so I took a picture of the shortest one. I don't know how long they have been here, but it's well over 50 years. My father told me they were called snow peas, but after looking at pictures, Siberian Peashrub seems more accurate. My experience with Siberian Peashrubs is that they produce peas, and the peas are tasty. You also have to keep an eye on them so that you can harvest them when they've had plenty of time to mature. That's the extent of my knowledge when it comes to peas.

Siberian Peashrub is actually an invasive species native to Siberia and parts of China and neighboring Mongolia and Kazakhstan (Caragana para 1). It was used as a food source by Eurasian immigrants who were traveling west, and that's how it was brought to the United States (Caragana para 1). This makes me wonder if the original homeowner planted one of these Siberian Peashrub 50 some years ago, and they are spreading throughout my yard. Siberian Peashrub was also planted on "Canadian prairies in the 1880's the hardy caragana provided shelter-belts, wildlife habitat, nitrogen fixation, and wind-breaks to prevent soil erosion and snow drifting" (Caragana para 1).

Siberian Peashrub comes from the Fabaceae family and the Caragana genus (Caragana). It is a shrub or small tree that grows 2–6 meters tall, and its growth rate can range from moderate to fast (Caragana para 2). The yellow flowers bloom around May or July and are fragrant (Caragana para 2). The fruit ripens in July, and as they dry out, they slit open popping the seeds everywhere for more plants to grow (Caragana para 2). I didn't know that peas were considered a fruit; I thought that they were vegetables this whole time. This goes to show how taking a closer look at something can reveal something new and exciting.

Source:

“Caragana Arborescens.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 July 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caragana_arborescens. Accessed 25 Sept, 2023

The species I observed was the Crackling Goose, which was historically hunted for food. They were also hunted for their feathers and bones; some cultures' places relied heavily on Geese' for food (Geese para 1). It is the main meal at Quebec weddings and is often used for celebrations (Geese para 1). Hunting Geese used to be done with a bow and arrow, but now firearms are the primary hunting tool (Geese para 5).

My experience with Cackling Geese is from camping; they are relatively fearless creatures, as I could get pretty close to them while taking pictures on the lake. They would side-eye me and go underwater to get food. My father also told me Geese are very territorial and are extremely mean if you get close to them. He used to raise geese on his father's farm, and he was always told to deal with the geese because no one else wanted to, so he got the short end of the stick when it came to chores. I found the geese I've seen to be unintimidating, but I also don't know that much about them, and I never get that close to them.

The Cracking Goose breeds in Alaska and Canada in subarctic and arctic habitats (Cackling para 1). "Pairs usually select a small island within a pond for nesting" (Cackling para 1). When they migrate and during winter, they gather in a flock in treeless habitats (Cackling para 3). "They forage in freshwater marshes, saltmarshes, mudflats, meadows, and agricultural fields" (Cackling para 3). They also on lakes they like to rest, relax, and bathe in lakes (Cackling para 3). The way they are distributed during winter is determined by agricultural practices (Cackling para 3).

The Cracking Goose was interesting to learn about, and I wonder what my following observation will be.

Works Cited

"Cackling Goose Life History." All About Birds, Cornell University,
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cackling_Goose/lifehistory. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

"Geese." Traditional Animal Foods of Indigenous Peoples of Northern North America, McGill,
traditionalanimalfoods.org/birds/waterfowl/page.aspx?id=6457. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

I observed this tree, which has three different organisms growing on it. At a distance, I saw this tree with something growing on it, but upon further investigation, I found it was growing multiple species. From looking at photos, I think the main species is a Foliose Lichen; the hanging one, I believe, is a type of Old Man's Beard, and the last one is the standard type of moss found everywhere in Alaska.

Foliose Lichen was used as food and medicine and was helpful in the creation of dyed cloth or fabric. Old Man's Beard was used historically for bedding and anti-fungal medication, as well as canoe sealant. Old Man's Beard is very versatile and has been used for many purposes throughout history. Moss has been used for various purposes, from toilet paper, stuffing dolls, and mattresses to being placed on a wound to stop bleeding. The possibilities are endless when it comes to moss and its versatility.

Both Foliose Lichen and Old Man's Beard are in the Lichen family, which is a symbiotic relationship with fungi and an alga. There are also around 3,600 variations of Lichen, and they can be found all over the world. The alga gives the fungi nutrients, and in exchange, the fungus helps the alga to spread.

There are 12,000 variations of spore-baring plants and can be found anywhere but in salt water. Moss likes more moist and shaded locations to grow at. They are located on forest floors and can grow on trees. Moss mainly absorbs moisture and controls erosion rates.

My experience with moss is mostly seeing it on the sides of trees and on the ground in the woods. I always found moss otherworldly and enchanting because it didn't really grow like grass. Whenever I stepped on the moss, it sank into the ground, and I always thought one of these days it's going to swallow me hole. I don't think that way anymore, but the bright green of the moss still seems magical to me. As for Lichen, I always thought it was a lighter version of moss, so it was a surprising sock to learn its more of a fungus than a moss.

Work Cited:

Admin. “How Our Ancestors Used Moss.” WabiMoss, admin https://www.wabimoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/wide-logo4.jpg, 15 Feb. 2017, www.wabimoss.com/nature-immersion/practical-uses-moss/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

Jones, Randy, and Randy JonesHaving discovered a fondness for insects while pursuing her degree in Biology. “Foliose Lichen.” Learn About Nature, 23 May 2022, www.learnaboutnature.com/plants/lichens/foliose-lichen/#Uses. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

Joubert, Roxanne. “Old Man’s Beard an Indigenous Medicinal Botanical.” Lady of the Herbs, 17 Feb. 2022, ladyoftheherbs.co.za/2022/02/17/old-mans-beard/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

“Moss.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 10 Aug. 2023, www.britannica.com/plant/moss-plant. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

“U.S. Forest Service.” Forest Service Shield, www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/beauty/lichens/about.shtml. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

“U.S. Forest Service.” Forest Service Shield, www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/usnea_longissima.shtml. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

Mushrooms have been used as a food source in Alaska; other times, they're used for dyeing wool or other natural fibers. They can also be used in medicine and some cause hallucinogenics. They are also rich in nutrients, meaning that their uses to the people varied depending on the spices.

I believe the species on the tree are the Bracket fungi, a distinctive group of hard, woody fungi that grow on trees, stumps, and fallen logs. They also lack a stem and have semi-circular caps on tree trunks that look like shelves. They like to grow in damp forests, mainly on birch trees, but can also grow on others. The Alaska natives used them as medicine and would be used to start fires or carry embers. They also used it to enhance the effects of tobacco. It was also an ingredient used to make chewing tobacco. Some people even used them as canvases for paintings.

My experiences with mushrooms, in general, are very limited; the only ones I see are the ones growing in my backyard. Those ones are usually bright red and orange or brown mushrooms. The only ones I've seen on trees are the wavy ones, and I only see them when camping. I found these mushrooms when surveying the yard; they were back behind my house on the edge of the woods. I saw the old tree, and when I approached, it was completely covered in mushrooms. I think I remember this tree when I was a kid, five or six years back, but there were maybe one or two mushrooms on it back then. I'm amazed at how far they've come and wonder how much more will grow.

Bracket fungi are a vital part of wood decay, meaning fungi generally absorb organic matter. Some are considered parasitic to plants as they can cause diseases like mildew or rust. They range from single-celled to multi-celled and can be found almost everywhere on the planet. Fungi are a very vital part of the ecosystem and help maintain order, so it is important to learn more about them.

Sources:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5414170.pdf
https://alutiiqmuseum.org/collection/index.php/Detail/word/676
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypore
https://microbiologysociety.org/why-microbiology-matters/what-is-microbiology/fungi.html

Hares were used mainly for their fur, such as line shoes and robes in Alaska. They were also used as a food source but mainly used if food was scarce. Hare skulls and feet were seen as good luck charms; their value depended on their culture and the abundance of them in the area. Some believed that hare fur if burned, would cause rain.

My experiences with hares are minimal as I only see them from afar because they usually run away at any movement. I could only get these photos of hares because they were eating, and I stayed far away from them. My camera was on maximum zoom when I took the close-up shot. Anyway, most hares I see are in the town of Wasilla; they usually are in the ditch on the side of the road. They typically stay in the dich, eating or heading back in the woods. I once petted a hare at the fair. That was the closest I've ever got to one.

The biology of hares is fascinating as they are herbivores, meaning they eat plants for their nutrients. That also means there are prey, so they get eaten by other animals called carnivores. They are also known for their ability to reproduce; this caused overpopulation in some areas, lacking a proper predator to thin their numbers. They are small, have short hair, and have long front teeth. They don't burrow, but they use natural shelters to rest. They also use their powerful back legs for running and jumping. The ability of the hares to survive such harsh conditions is truly unique.

I don't know what the hares were doing there or where they came from, but one thing is for sure: they didn't seem domesticated. They were eye-balling me the whole time I took their photos and were ready to take off immediately. Maybe they escaped and have been living off the land ever since.

References:
https://www.britannica.com/animal/hare-mammal
http://www.alaskannature.com/rabbits.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_hare