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Show WASATCH MOUNTAIN TIMES Reciprocate With Nature Be Kind to Wild By Jack Wright illions of years ago, during the Cretaceous period, a genetic variation in a flowering plant resulted in a small bit of sweet pulp growing addendum to its seed. An ancient herbivore then chanced upon this pulp and, after some initial hesitation, ate it. The fruit was then digested, but the seed which was upon it, being cased in an indigestible protein, merely passed through the digestive tract, dropping upon the ground in some distant meadow amid a feast (for a seed) of natural fertilizer Hence, began the evolutionary history of the wild berry. In time the berry proved a good thing for all concerned: the animals got fed and the seeds got spread. You probably know all this already, but I refresh your memory for a reason. The berries of the Wasatch — in particular the thimbleberry, the wild raspberry and the currant — are not being eaten. The vast majority of the wild berries are wasted, they dry up and their high energy sugars decay to nothing. Berries number of bears in the Wasatch has decreased dramatically since the wonders of civilization have bareknuckled their way into Utah. Thirteen thousand years ago bears may have ambled up the canyons following the retreating glaciers and sowing wild raspberry seeds as they went, but now, as far as the berries go, the bears have disappeared. Which brings me to the dimin- ishing point of this topic. As I mentioned, I usually take my fill of berries in season in the Wasatch. I particularly like the thimbleberry. A nice ripe one, placed on the tongue and then pushed against the palate, seems to buds with melt, sweet, flooding the rich flavors. taste Yet, I feel guilty for eating these berries. Unlike the bear, I do not sow those seeds prosperously among the meadows and cirques. I feel like a kind of thief, an interloper. Ss: I do this: off of each plant whereupon I eat, I take one berry and carry it a few yards up the trail and toss it to a promising patch of earth. Thus, I consciously do what the bear does unawares - I recipro- cate with the natural world. pith the This behavior may strike you as ridiculous. By itself it may be so, but ground, sowing itself at the roots of the mother plant or perhaps charm- taken in the larger sphere of evolu- ing The process of reciprocity is a good and necessary thing, one to which we humans owe a great deal The conscious casting of the seed is an acknowledgment of this. It is a The desiccated berry, now and seed, merely drops to its way into the cheek pouch of a squirrel which can, of course, digest seed and all. I find this profligate waste puzzling. Oh, I eat berries. Every fall I wander about the mountains stuffing myself on them; but I can’t possibly eat all there is to eat. But I am an irrelevant animal. Humans have not long been part of the sixty-five-million-year history of the Wasatch Mountains; and so we are tionary time, recognition only so long I think that it is not. nature as we give gives back to LOTS OF us Lupine, Aspen, Poppy, Sod, Seeds to her. Kindness towards berries is both scientifically and spiritually sound, or so I will believe until someone proves me wrong. @ Daisy, White Cherry, Juniper, insignifi- cant to the perennially re-birthing berries. Why don't the animals, the natural denizens, take advantage of this nutritious foodstuff? And as a corollary, how did these plants come to spread so far afield along difficult and rocky terrain if their seeds were not borne by wandering animals? I think the answer may lie with the bears. You say there are no bears in the canyons hereabout. You are almost correct. In Utah the last grizzly was slain in 1930, but the black bear is still present, even in the Wasatch. Richard Williams, U.S. Forest Service, Salt Lake City, says that a black bear was struck by a car in Lambs Canyon only two years ago. Eke tk Advertising for Wasatch KNOWLEDGE, Fir, Maple, Spruce, Canadian Honeysuckle,@ Sedum, Shovels, Delphinium, Mulch, Coneflower, Hollyhock, df Lilac, Red IDEAS, Willow, Columbine, Lawn Furniture, Flax, Petunia, arrow, Snow-in-Summer, Soil Pep, Wild Flower Carpet, Craod Apple, Geranium, Salvia, # SPRINKLER PARTS The Mountain Experience, Top Soil, Rakes, Dogs And Much More... Experienced Sales People Park City Nursery 649-1363 H . CALL 801-649-8046 HWY 224, across from the Blue Roof Market That bit of information aside, the Continued on next page PAGE 13 fie: |