The Louisiana Wilds

10/26/2024

In honor of LSU's opponent's rich football heritage, let's post images from that are more recent than Texas A&M's last national championship.

I will go first....

04/26/2024

For anyone who wants to understand the current Ivory-billed Woodpecker debate, DAVID LUNEAU's video is an excellent starting place. David's expertise and humor stand out in his presentation. Enjoy!

Public engagement and education are central to helping protect the Ivorybill and its deep woods habitat. Please like the video and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Many Thanks!!!

On April 28, 2005, the U.S. Department of Interior proclaimed that the magnificent Ivory-billed Woodpecker was NOT extinct…that it still existed in the Big W...

04/19/2024

𝗗𝗿. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻 personifies what we want to encourage: the enthusiasm, curiosity and humility of a life-long learner.

We were honored and tickled to have him as our first guest for our Zoom series. Enjoy...and please share with anyone who might be interested.

This video is a living tribute to the fascinating Louisiana icon, Dr. Charles Allen. Dr. Allen is a widely published botanist with a PhD from LSU.From his sm...

03/28/2024

Research question for my fellow woods-tromping humans. Does your brain process "Rattlesnake!" faster than it does other snakes, including other venomous snakes?

Rounding a tree in Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge (Madison Parish, Louisiana), last Saturday I encountered this beautiful, hefty, four-foot long Timber ("Canebrake") Rattlesnake.

What was odd was how quickly my amygdala (controls "fight or flight") bypassed my thought process. It seemed like almost a full second elapsed from "Stop walking! RATTLESNAKE!" (my amygdala "talking") until my cerebrum caught up to say "there is a snake which appears to be a rattlesnake, six feet in front of you, not really a threat, you're beyond its strike radius, move slowly and you can probably get some cool photos."

It occurred to me that that has been the sequence of events in all of my DOZENS of previous rattlesnake encounters in my life.
At least with me, it is a sequence reserved for rattlesnakes. I don't have that "amygdala hijack" with any other animals, including with venomous cottonmouth water moccasins.

Do other people have such specific reactions with rattlesnakes? Do you routinely experience the amygdala bypass with other animals, objects, people, situations, etc.?

BONUS QUESTION: for those of you old enough to have an opinion, do rattlesnakes in North Louisiana seem to "rattle" much less frequently than say thirty years ago? That has definitely been my experience. My guess is that only one in ten encounters these days result in ANY buzz at all from rattlesnakes. I am told that this is an adaptation to avoid predation from our ever-increasing wild hog population.

03/14/2024

𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 history lives on in Northeast Louisiana!

In 1944, wildlife agent 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗱 guided artist Don Eckleberry to sketch the famous "lone female" Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

This week, I had the honor and delight of walking through the same Singer Tract woods (now Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge) with some of 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗱'𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀: his grandson, Vic Laird, and wife, Paula; and their son, Jesse, and wife, Shannon, and their children, Brooklyn, Wesley, and Wade.

I was tickled to find that the "nature gene" has continued down through the Laird line. All of them were keenly aware of—and interested in—the woodland sights. Admittedly, the youngest, Wade Laird, slept through some of the time as we ventured through the same magnificent woods that his great great grandfather had protected 80 years before.

To show the continuity, compare James Tanner's 1939 photo of the same Lake Rainey Bald Cypress that is in the background from Monday's photo of the mighty Lairds on the Lake Rainey dock.

Based mostly on his 1930s study of Ivorybills in the Singer Tract, James Tanner wrote THE Ivorybill book, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙮-𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧, which was published in 1942. The 1939 photo is courtesy of the LSU Library Special Collections.

Hat tip for that goes to my incomparable-wildlife-describing friend of 50 years, 𝗞𝗲𝗹𝗯𝘆 𝗢𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘆. In the 1980s, Dr. Tanner gave to Kelby (then the manager of Tensas River NWR) the negatives of the 1930s photos. In turn, Kelby generously donated them to LSU.

As a result, the public can freely access these priceless photos through the Louisiana Digital Library:

https://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sc-tensas%3Acollection

02/15/2024

Thrilled to be hosting Dr. Gordon Wilson for a free, fun and interactive Zoom presentation TONIGHT at 7:00 Central.

Details on how to participate are in the comments to this post. We hope you, your family, and friends will join us.

Here's an example of Gordon's refreshing approach to nature.

Join in the glorious uproar of creation with The Riot and the Dance, a boisterous new nature documentary featuring a biologist who was once told he would nev...

01/08/2024

Reminder: No Zoom meeting tonight, January 8th.

12/27/2023

Join us THIS Saturday for the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count!

We are reviving this Count in one of the best birding spots in Louisiana. You don't have to commit to the entire day. 90 minutes after first light or the 90 minutes prior to dusk would be very helpful.

We can't promise the same Ivory-billed Woodpecker results, but this IS the 90th anniversary of George Lowery's Christmas Bird Count in the same woods:) For more information or to sign up, email me:
[email protected]

Please share this with anyone who might be interested. Holiday Cheers!!!

11/27/2023

No Zoom tonight.

Next two Zoom programs---always on Mondays @ 7:00 PM Central
- Mission Ivorybill Dec. 4th
"Ivory-billed Woodpecker Calls: Discovery of a New Pattern for Kents"
- The Louisiana Wilds Dec. 11th
"All About Christmas Bird Counts"

The Louisiana Wilds Zoom (wildlife/conservation) presentations are the 2nd and 4th Mondays. Mission Ivorybill Zoom programs are the 1st and 3rd Mondays. These free, interactive programs start at 7:00 PM Central.

𝗪𝗲 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟭𝟭/𝟮𝟳/𝟮𝟯, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱.

We will make up by having a 𝗗𝗢𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗬 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟮/𝟭𝟭/𝟮𝟯: 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀. In addition to information about CBCs, we will offer generally helpful birding tips.

11/27/2023

The Louisiana Wilds Zoom (wildlife/conservation) presentations are the 2nd and 4th Mondays. Mission Ivorybill Zoom programs are the 1st and 3rd Mondays. These free, interactive programs start at 7:00 PM Central.

𝗪𝗲 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟭𝟭/𝟮𝟳/𝟮𝟯, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱.

We will make up by having a 𝗗𝗢𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗬 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟮/𝟭𝟭/𝟮𝟯: 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀. In addition to information about CBCs, we will offer generally helpful birding tips.