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This male Verdin is building a nest. With nothing more than a beak and perseverance, he will build a tight secure shelter for his young to be raised in.

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In Bisbee, Arizona, we straddled a small train seat mounted on an open car. With a screech, the small but powerful electric engine pulled our tour group into a mineshaft of the Queen Mine. In its 100-year history which officially ended in 1975, this mine produced eight billion pounds of copper and hollowed out the core of the Mule Mountains, with over 5,000 miles of rail track inside.

The Queen Mine was a reminder that, as humans, we reign supreme as changers of this world. With our tools and technology, we have proven that there is very little that we cannot change should we desire to do so.

A week later, I witnessed a very different engineering story. A petite yellow-headed bird (a Verdin) was industriously constructing a nest in the fork of a cholla cactus. On each of dozens of flights to the nest, this male brought a stick or a piece of fluff. Then he would spend a few minutes arranging this newest addition and rearranging others that already formed a covered chamber with a tiny hole just large enough to admit him.

Once complete, the nest, built by a pair of birds that together would tip the scales at half an ounce, will repel rain and will last for several years.

Bird nests are engineering marvels when you consider that they are built without tools, hands, or even opposing thumbs, or anything more than naturally produced cements. They range from hummingbird nests the size of a quarter glued together with spider webbing, to eagle nests that may weigh up to several tons. They may be made of sticks or mud or grasses and built with a skill that belies the cerebral capacity often assigned to birds.

Other animals also modify their worlds to suit them. Of these, the beaver is perhaps the most famous, building dams so strong it takes a backhoe or dynamite to remove them. One of the largest is twice the length of the Hoover dam and can be seen from space. In the process, they create ponds and lodges in which to live and dramatically influence watersheds.

On another occasion, we watched a pocket gopher, a rarely seen mammal that lives full time underground, as it pushed soil it had dug from its’ tunnel system into a heap on the surface. As a group, fossorial mammals, those that dig holes and dens underground, can also modify this world in a big way. Their systems of tunnels are often extensive and serve to improve water percolation, soil aeration, fertilization and cycling (bringing deep soil up to the surface). Like the Queen Mine, this work is mostly hidden from view.

Even invertebrates get into the building act. There are few things in nature more intricate, delicate and strong than a beautiful wasp nest. Although they are only used one season, this creation of wood and wasp spit can last for several years.

Spider webs come in a dizzying array of patterns and strengths. This silk that spiders manufacture is stronger, pound for pound than steel cable. I once found a large spiderweb in Central America that was anchored with threads as strong as fishing line.

From a 500-square-foot 26-foot deep ant colony in Brazil to termite mound skyscrapers that dwarf a giraffe in Africa, social animals may set the record for complex construction. They solve problems like air flow and temperature to accommodate their large colonies.

The intelligence animals demonstrate when they build, without implements, blueprints or electricity, is astounding. Human engineers are still learning from these “simple” creatures.

 

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Donate part of your tax return to support wildlife in Idaho!

On the second page of the Idaho Individual Tax form 40 you have the opportunity to donate to the “Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund”.

Check-off this box on your next return or ask your tax preparer to mark the Nongame check-off on your behalf. You can donate any amount you wish, it all helps to support the wildlife you love.

If you are not from Idaho, check with your own state wildlife agency about how you can help. Many states have a similar program.

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Help Idaho Wildlife

When we traveled across the state in October 2017, most of the vehicles we saw using the wildlife management areas did not have wildlife plates. Buying wildlife plates is a great way for non-hunters and hunters alike to support wildlife-based recreation like birding.

C'mon folks, let's help Idaho's wildlife by proudly buying and displaying a wildlife license plate on each of our vehicles! 

See below for information on Idaho plates. Most states have wildlife plates so if you live outside Idaho, check with your state's wildlife department or vehicle licensing division for availability of state wildlife plates where you live. 

And tell them that you heard about it from Nature-track.com!

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Wildlife License Plates

Idaho Wildlife license plates provide essential funding that benefits the great diversity of native plants and wildlife that are not hunted, fished or trapped—over 10,000 species or 98% of Idaho’s species diversity. Game species that share the same habitats (such as elk, deer, antelope, sage-grouse, salmon, trout) also benefit from these specialty plates.

No state tax dollars are provided for wildlife diversity, conservation education and recreation programs. Neither are any revenues from the sale of hunting or fishing licenses spent on nongame species. Instead, these species depend on direct donations, federal grants, fundraising initiatives—and the Idaho Wildlife license plates.

Both my vehicles have Bluebird Plates. I prefer the bluebird because the nongame program gets 70 percent of the money from bluebird plates, but only 60 percent of the money from elk and trout plates - 10 percent of the money from elk plates supports wildlife disease monitoring and testing programs (to benefit the livestock industry) and 10 percent from cutthroat plates supports non-motorized boat access.

Incidentally, in 2014, the Idaho Legislature denied the Department of Fish and Game the ability to add new plates or even to change the name of the elk and cutthroat plates (very specific) to wildlife and fish plates, a move that would have allowed for changing images occasionally and generating more revenue. It would seem that they believe that we Idahoans don't want a well funded wildlife program.

I think it is time we let the Legislature know that Idahoan support wildlife funding and that we would like to see these generic plates come to fruition.