Chapter 6

The first quote by Scott Weidensaul in Chapter 6 that stood out to me was “This once the most widespread game animal in North America, from western Vermont and Massachusetts down through New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and in the mountains of Georgia, then west across the Plains to the Pacific.”. This sentence stood out to me because when I lived in Massachusetts we would go hiking a lot and one of the animals we would see was an elk. Every year they would get harder to find. It’s interesting to me that they used to be the most abundant game animal, I always thought that was deer.

http://nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/mammals/elk/page.htm

The second quote of Weidensauls I liked was “The last wolf in the Pennsylvania Appalachians was probably shot in 1892 in Clearfield County, a little south where I now sit in the spring time sun, although some people claim that the species grimly hung on until 1902, just nudging under the wire of the twentieth century before being snuffed out.”. This sentence caught my eye because I knew nothing about how wolves became endangered or how certain species are extinct. I know that there are wolf sanctuaries in Florida but I did not know that they were widely hunted in the Appalachian Mountains. I always thought that the hunters only cared about deer and game birds. Wolves are very intelligent creatures and it is sad to think about how some have gone extinct because of humans hunting them.

http://king-animal.blogspot.com/2012/07/wolf.html

The last sentence that stood out to me the most was “While the mushrooming tract housing cannot ultimately be good for them, many bears have adapted to their new neighbors, perhaps sensing the opportunities that human provide.”  This statement by Weidensaul is so true to me. I think that if humans are invading bear’s space by putting in houses the bears are obviously going to take advantage of what’s now in the area. I think it’s amazing that bears are so adaptable that this boom didn’t wipe them out. People think that bears are dangerous nuisance but they are just misunderstood. In my opinion they’re like giant dogs, if you leave food out they are going to come and find it and if you scare them, they’re going to defend themselves. The way bears are judged is truly saddening because bears are my favorite animal and they are treated so poorly.

http://bearlegend.com/bear-facts/grizzly-bear/





Weidensaul, S. (2016). Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing.

Chapter 5

The first quote on chapter 5 that stood out to me is “It wheeled a big black bird that looked more like a raptor than a crow, its closest relative.” (Widensaul). This sentence stood out to me because I feel ravens are a very misunderstood bird, the author even touches on the distaste some people had for them. I find it interesting that such a large stigma can surround something as simple as a bird. The famous poet Edgar Allen Poe even had a raven as the main part of one of his dark poems. The author talks about how the Europeans brought their hatred for them to the United States. I don’t find Ravens to be particularly beautiful but the description the author uses in the quote I cited accurately describes them.

https://kitundu.wordpress.com/tag/common-raven/

The second quote that jumped out at me was “I went bushwhacking once Baxter State Park in Maine, following a topo map and a compass through the woods.” (Weidensaul). The reason this one stood out to me because when I was growing up in Massachusetts my grandparents had a cabin in the mountains of Maine, and one of my favorite things to do was to explore in the woods with my sister and grandparents. Although I did not bushwhack, I would randomly pick leaves and twigs that I found interesting. The woods in Maine are one of my favorite places in nature.

http://jandj-b-wildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-maine-moose-and-maine-scenery.html

The final quote that I think stood out the absolute most was “after my morning of bird watching, I spent the rest of the day poking around the back roads and through quiet hallows, so that by late afternoon, as a result of serendipity rather than planning, I found myself in the mountains south of Blairsville, heading for Brasstown bald, at roughly forty-eight hundred feet the highest point in Georgia.” (Weidensaul). This stood out to me the most because Blairsville is where I stayed my first time in Georgia. This was one of my favorite trips with my family, like the author said he did in the quote we did a lot of bird watching, along with puttering the back roads of the area. The amount of different birds we saw in Georgia was magical and on the drive back home we slowly saw the different birds dwindle back to the species we were used to.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g34775-d1897344-Reviews-Copperhead_Lodge-Blairsville_Georgia.html


Weidensaul, S. (2016). Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing.

Chapter 3

The first quote that stood out to me was “The river, famous among kayakers and rafters, looked untouched-a white-water delight ripped to porcelain foam by the rapids and lined with tall tulip trees and maples.” (Weidensaul). This quote hit me in the heart when I read it because the author was talking about the Nantahala River and that is where I went White-water rafting for the first time with my family. That day was one of the most magical days of my life. The water was so crisp and clear; I was mesmerized by it. The white foam was my favorite part, hearing the sizzling sound as it settled back into the clear water. The nature around us was also remarkable, something you can only see in that area. I completely agree with the authors description in the sentence I quoted from the book.

http://pinterest.com/pin/422845852485348276

The second quote that stood out to me was “Like the red-cheeked salamander, it is restricted to this small corner of the Appalachians.” (Weidensaul). This sentence stood out to me just like any sentence that has to do with animals does for me, but more so than usual because salamanders hold a special place in my heart because when my sister moved out she let me get a salamander as a pet to keep at her house and I fell in love with the creature deeply. Though this was not the same type that the author speaks about in the book, I fully understand his excitement and fascination with salamanders. The most interesting thing I find is the uniqueness each different salamander has due to change in location on the planet.

http://www.californiaherps.com/noncal/misc/miscsalamanders/pages/p.jordani.html

The quote that really hit home for me in this chapter was “Gray squirrels, which have strong jaws and teeth, reduce a hickory shell to pieces, leaving edges scalloped with tooth marks.” (Weidensaul). The reason this one hit so close to home for me is because my sister and I rehab injured and abandoned baby squirrels with a local Florida wild life group. The way the author describes the way the shells look is so incredibly accurate. Although, we don’t get to see our squirrels shell nuts until they have had fur for a while it reminds me of such an amazing and unique talent they have.  One of the most incredible things to witness and think about is how all squirrels are wired to know how to eat and shell a substance as hard as a nut in a shell.

http://www.furrytalk.com/2010/10/15-adorable-baby-squirrels-cute-pictures/


Weidensaul, S. (2016). Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing.