Outdoors

TheReview Wednesday, May 13,1992 — A16

The Desert

Quick warning gives time to avoid rattlesnake

SIDEWINDER

Today we had a ball. Breakfast
at 5:30 a.m., then up along a
severely eroded wash to see what
we could find.

The cool of the moming was in
our strides and the rich aroma of
cassia and lupine in our nostrils.

The sand beneath our feet was
patterned with the tracks and trails
of thousands of lizards that had
been foraging and gambolling
much of the night.

Dark, crested phainopeplas
flashed the white semaphores in
their dark wings as they flew from
smokebush to smokebush, while
whitecrowned sparrows were ever-
ywhere.

A brilliant Scott’s oriole
perched on the topmost strand of
an octillo and poured forth his
meadowlark-like song. Then a pair
of Gambel’s quail sped across the
wash as though on well-greased
wheels.

A slim roadrunner followed,
coursing low, breaking the speed
limit by half.

We separated for a bit, working
opposite sides of the wash. Further
on, Mary turned to rejoin me. We
were scarcely 10 feet apart when
she sang out, “Watch out for the
big snake!”

“Where?” I said, stopping in
my tracks.

“Two steps ahead of you,” she
said. “See the rattles and four
black bands on his tail.”

The snake was a pale, handsome
red diamond-back, the subtle
colors blending with the sand and
a few dead leaves windrowed by
erosion.

We watched him slip slowly and
unobtrusively under the cover of a
sugarbush about to burst into full
bloom at the edge of the wash.

“Thanks for your keen eye-
sight,” I said. ““You know he
reminded me of those two big
western diamondbacks that I
almost tangled with when we were
searching for the California Con-
dor a few years ago.”

“You were lucky that day,”
Mary said. “I’ve read that they

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CY HAMPSON photo

pack a great volume of venom.”

“You're right. I didn’t see them
both coiled up within inches of my
foot as I stooped to photograph
that beautiful red Lychnis.”

“Yes, and they both had their

heads up and only started to rattle
when you were focusing,’ Mary
said.

“Right. And the next 20 minutes
were the longest of my life. I still
break out in a sweat when I think
of kneeling there motionless until
they ceased rattling, flattened out,
and slowly slipped away. It was a
gorgeous red Lynchnis, though.”

Up from the edge of the wash,
we flushed a white-winged dove
from its ground nest under a

cholla. The two glossy white eggs
glowed even in the partial shade.

A little further on, Mary flushed
a handsome black-tailed gnat-
catcher from its nest in an indigo
bush. The nest contained two well-
developed chicks.

We suddenly both spotted a
predatory wasp with a caterpillar
which she had paralyzed. She had
straddled her victim lengthwise
and was hurrying across the sand
with it clutched between her fore-
limbs while she used the other
four for locomotion. We followed
at a short distance.

The wasp kept her direction and,
after proceeding for 69 yards, pop-
ped down a neat round hole which
she had evidently excavated ear-
lier. The caterpillar was dragged
quickly below, the wasp remaining
with it only long enough to lay an
egg beside it

Egg in place, the wasp immedi-
ately backed out of the hole and
began to gather coarse grains of
sand with which she quickly
plugged the shaft. Each bit of sand
was tamped in place, the wasp
entering with each addition and
leaving to gather more.

Finally, she brushed the imme-
diate area with strokes of her
slender legs until all evidence of
disturbance was obliterated.

The paralyzed caterpillar would
provide sufficient fresh meat for
the young wasp soon to hatch.

We were intrigued. The wasp
remembered the exact location of
its excavation and returned to it
unerringly with the caterpillar,
proceeding at ground level.

Yet the victim had undoubtedly
been spotted while the wasp was
coursing the area on wing. Did the
wasp navigate in a way similar to
bird navigation? How was the

s

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information stored in its nervous
system?

What was the pattern of evolu-
tion which enabled the wasp to
immobilize the caterpillar by pre-
cisely injecting the venom which
would paralyze it?

It would be interesting to know
how all the elements of the wasp’s
behavior had evolved, ensuring the
survival of this species of podolo-
nia.

The blazing sun, unfortunately,
dictated that it was time to return
to the motorhome for a cool drink
in the shade of the awning.

DEBORAH GRAY

CONDO RESALES
TOWNHOUSES
NEW PROJECTS

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652-5171

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INVITATION TO TENDER

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Sidney, 2440 Sidney Avenue, Sidney, B. C. up to 3:00 p.m. local
time on Wednesday, May 20th 1992. Maintenance schedules,
conditions of tender and tender forms may be obtained from the
above address.

M. Townsend, Director of
Engineering and Planning Services

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