Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • The Great Outdoors

Nature: Share Generously

  • August 25, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

by Leslie Anthony.

On a sunny August day a few years back, at the start of a canoe trip through Algonquin Park with my then 16-year-old daughter, Myles, we pulled into a portage at the head of a small lake. A few metres from shore, where a mob of sandy footprints merged into a grass-limned trail, several gartersnakes had woven into a neat pile. It was too early in the year for denning aggregations, and too late for springtime mating balls (where a gaggle of males zero in on the pheromones of a single female), so I guessed it to be a “parturition party”—where pregnant females gather together to bask. It’s a neat and little-known trick of thermoregulation for these cold-blooded creatures at northern latitudes, allowing the group to collectively raise their individual body temperatures and metabolisms, advancing embryonic development and, hence, the birthing process (gartersnakes bear live young). Myles, of course, was full of questions: Why here? Why just pregnant ones?

Burnt Island Lake, Algonquin Park.
Burnt Island Lake, Algonquin Park.

You can see similar synods on a Starbucks patio, but I wasn’t about to erect that analogy. Despite its dry detail, Myles listened to my explanation attentively and with apparent interest. As a city-dwelling, pop-culture-addled teenager about to slip from the parent-worship grasp of childhood, I considered this a good omen for some quality bonding on our trip.

Grubbing through forest and ponds with me is something Myles had done often, be it tagging along on journalistic assignments or adventuring together at the cottage. As proof, I have a library of photos in which a young girl of various ages displays a litany of frogs, salamanders, snakes and turtles. In early shots she seems torn between scrutinizing the creature and smiling at the camera, a mixture of fascination and the childish aim to please; as the catalogue advances she cradles the startled, bug-eyed critters with more concern, reflecting a growing passion for animals and appreciation of their fragility. In recent poses, however, I’d detected a noticeable tentativeness. Was it adolescent self-consciousness and the accompanying meme-ish female allergy to rot and ick and traumatized fingernails? Or just momentary uncertainty borne of the decreasing frequency of these opportunities? Whichever, I felt it was something passing, and that the scene at the portage had rekindled our rolling Chautauqua of the animal netherworld.

"AlgonquinColors". Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AlgonquinColors.jpg#mediaviewer/File:AlgonquinColors.jpg
“Algonquin Colours”. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons .

I also realized how happy I was to answer her questions (though she’d later stump me: “If you drop a frog in the middle of a lake, does it know which way to swim?”), to help her interpret. This process had, in no small measure, become part of my own enjoyment of nature.

It was also the reason, last April, that I was excited to take celebrated North Vancouver photographer Jordan Manley out to photograph reptiles in Pemberton, B.C. He’d taken to shooting wildlife in the past few years, seen the serpentine Instagrams I’d posted, and was eager to train his considerably more sophisticated lens on these fascinating, seldom-seen creatures. It was perfect weather for reptiles—warm and hazy—and within minutes I’d caught a brown-and-black checked wandering gartersnake, giving Jordan a close-up look at its dorsal and ventral colour patterns.

Jordan Manley and subject. LESLIE ANTHONY PHOTO.
Jordan Manley and subject. LESLIE ANTHONY PHOTO.

Using what Jordan referred to as my “reptile radar,” I found several other species, heartened to help someone glimpse creatures they would otherwise never see. Jordan’s interest (he had as many questions as Myles) was particularly welcome because so many of our mutual friends—despite being dedicated outdoorists—can point to an old growth forest but barely differentiate its trees; will profess spiritual affinity to megafauna like whales and bears and eagles but be unable to identify any creature smaller than a coyote. They happily ride mountain bikes in “awesome” places without being able to grok the ecosystem under their wheels or the animals potentially displaced. Most are liberated city dwellers who’ve taken to the mountains, yet embrace them as playgrounds first and raw nature as afterthought—a potential symptom of Nature Deficit Disorder.

The best thing about nature is that it doesn’t need to be created or cajoled into awesomeness.

 

Advanced as a clinical hypothesis by Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods (2005), NDD holds that humans, especially children, are spending less time outdoors, resulting in a wide range of problems. Louv points to how parents’ growing fear of the world keeps children inside on the computer rather than outdoors exploring; to the loss of natural surroundings in city neighborhoods; to parks and preserves with restricted access and “do not walk off trail” signs; to educators and environmentalists who tell kids to “look but don’t touch.” The upshot, as Louv writes, are children with limited respect for natural surroundings: “An increasing pace… of a rapid disengagement between children and direct experiences in nature… has profound implications, not only for the health of future generations but for the health of the Earth itself.”

"PaintedTurtleInLillyPads" by Matt Keevil - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PaintedTurtleInLillyPads.JPG#mediaviewer/File:PaintedTurtleInLillyPads.JPG
“Painted Turtle In Lily Pads”, by Matt Keevil. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Since we are nature as well, connection is key. And if people have less engagement with nature, then it can only be good to share as much as you can, whenever you can. The best thing about nature is that it doesn’t need to be created or cajoled into awesomeness. When you take someone out for a walk in the woods you only need to bring passion, wonder and knowledge—the rest is already out there.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Jordan Manley
  • Leslie Anthony
  • nature deficit disorder
  • nature photography
  • photography
  • Richard Louv Last Child in the Woods
Ned Morgan

Previous Article
  • The Great Outdoors

Protecting Canada’s Homewaters

  • August 20, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
Next Article
  • THE GEAR SHED

Lake Superior–ready Gear

  • August 25, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR

  • Sarah Bulford
  • May 16, 2022
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

Blower Pow and Disappearing Pants

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 26, 2022
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • The Great Outdoors

ML Launches Mushroom Life

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 1, 2022
View Post
  • Leslie Anthony
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • The Great Outdoors

Spring at Sun Peaks

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 8, 2022
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

New Normal at Tremblant

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 24, 2022
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • The Great Outdoors

Backcountry Skier John Baldwin Headlines VIMFF’s 2022 Best of British Columbia Night

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 22, 2022
View Post
  • FALL GEAR
  • SPRING GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • The Great Outdoors
  • WINTER GEAR

The Legend of San Poncho

  • Editor
  • December 9, 2021
735990496 1280x720
View Post
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Island of Plenty

  • Sarah Bulford
  • July 2, 2021

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • Relic-The-Beachcombers-Ben-Tour-illustration 1
    Requiem for a Relic
    • May 16, 2022
  • 2
    Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR
    • May 16, 2022
  • Dynafit-Sea-to-Summit-Delphi-harbor-revised 3
    Friday Flick: Skiing with the Gods of Delphi
    • May 13, 2022
  • 4
    For the Love of SUP
    • May 10, 2022
  • Full-Circle-Everest-The-North-Face-Nepal-prayer-flags 5
    Full Circle: First All-Black Team Attempts to Summit Everest
    • May 9, 2022
RECENT POSTS
  • Nick-Gottlieb-Pereval-Dzhuku-pass
    Touching the Mountains of Heaven
    • May 12, 2022
  • North-Shore-Betty-rummel_t_0110_BP
    Friday Flick: North Shore Betty
    • May 6, 2022
  • Was-It-Worth-It-Kermode-bear-mcallister_PR
    Was It Worth It? A Wilderness Warrior’s Long Trail Home
    • May 5, 2022
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
Reel Rock 16 is coming to #Squamish! There are two showings 👉 May 20th and June 1st at the Eagle Eye Theatre, Howe Sound Secondary School, in beautiful Squamish supported by @climbonsquamish! #Linkinbio to get your tickets! #climbing #film #filmfest #climbers #adventure #climbon #adventure #squamishbc #tickets
Finding that picture perfect moment with @sweenyj #mountainlifer
The winter that just keeps on given-er! 🤘#mountainlifer
FRIDAY FLICK 💥 This past March, speed mountaineer Benedikt Böhm @benediktboehm rocked a five-hour sea-to-summit expedition up Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Starting at sea level on his road bike at the village of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, he climbed up to an altitude of 2.414 metres. #linkinbio to watch the film!
I had no idea what to expect from this trip, neither from bikepacking, a fancy term for cycle touring and a sport I’d never done before, nor from Kyrgyzstan, a country most people cannot find on a map. Carl, who I’d only just met recently after moving to Canada—I’d flagged him down after backcountry skiing after seeing his Montana license plate—had invited me on this trip while on a mountain bike ride. I said no. A few weeks later I figured, “Why not?”
The @rab.equipment  dynamic Cirrus Flex is a soft, lightweight hybrid synthetic insulation for mountain-friendly layering. Keeping you warm and perfectly suited to journey in the mountains. #TheMountainPeople #WeAreRab
"@normhann and I lashed paddleboards to the roof of his truck and headed north along the Island Highway, towards Telegraph Cove. Norm had invited me to tag along on a commercial paddleboard group he would be guiding in the Broughton Archipelago. Despite a long history of SUP expeditions, I harboured some reservations."
To date, more than 6,000 people have summitted Everest, the highest point on Earth at 8,848.86 metres of elevation above sea level. And only a tiny handful of those climbers have been Black.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the rad moms out there! Here’s our Art Director & Head Designer @calypsodesign getting cozy with some sharks. #mountainlifer #mothersday
Making core memories on the trails ✨ #mountainlifer
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Reel Rock 16 is coming to #Squamish! There are two showings 👉 May 20th and June 1st at the Eagle Eye Theatre, Howe Sound Secondary School, in beautiful Squamish supported by @climbonsquamish! #Linkinbio to get your tickets! #climbing #film #filmfest #climbers #adventure #climbon #adventure #squamishbc #tickets
Finding that picture perfect moment with @sweenyj #mountainlifer
The winter that just keeps on given-er! 🤘#mountainlifer
FRIDAY FLICK 💥 This past March, speed mountaineer Benedikt Böhm @benediktboehm rocked a five-hour sea-to-summit expedition up Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Starting at sea level on his road bike at the village of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, he climbed up to an altitude of 2.414 metres. #linkinbio to watch the film!
I had no idea what to expect from this trip, neither from bikepacking, a fancy term for cycle touring and a sport I’d never done before, nor from Kyrgyzstan, a country most people cannot find on a map. Carl, who I’d only just met recently after moving to Canada—I’d flagged him down after backcountry skiing after seeing his Montana license plate—had invited me on this trip while on a mountain bike ride. I said no. A few weeks later I figured, “Why not?”
The @rab.equipment  dynamic Cirrus Flex is a soft, lightweight hybrid synthetic insulation for mountain-friendly layering. Keeping you warm and perfectly suited to journey in the mountains. #TheMountainPeople #WeAreRab
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.