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Show The SecretCLife Of TheTorest LEARNING HOW TO LOOK Next time you're in a forest, look around more carefully. You'll be surprised sur-prised how much there is to see. because the leaves on the trees are not yet fully formed. Lift up a flat rock to see a sample of the abundant life of the forest floor. Among the dozens of creatures you may see are black, shiny pill bugs and sow bugs not bugs at all, but close relatives of off to your right or left, he s really looking at you. Rabbits' Rab-bits' eyes are on the side of their heads, and look off in opposite directions. That one eye staring at you can detect your slightest motion. To celebrate this life in the forest you may want to make a whistle. Pick up a small twig. Split it. Hollow out a section of both halves. Place a blade of grass between the two halves together. Then blow-vigorously. I f55P? THE ANGLEWING it one of the few butterflies you can see in early spring. Here he is sunning him-self him-self on a trillium flower. In the forest, life is everywhere every-where . . . above your head, beneath your feet, all around you. And the fascination that it holds is limited only by the time and curiosity for wonder that you bring to it. If you hear a sharp rat-a-tat-a-tat, try to follow it. You may see a woodpecker drilling to get at an insect larva burrowing beneath the bark. You can see more birds in spring by finding a sunlit clearing with berry bushes. Migrating birds frequently stop over in such spots. Most wildflowers appear in the woods in early spring. That's when there is moisture mois-ture in the ground, and sunlight sun-light can get down to them IN A DEAD LOG, forces that renew life are constantly con-stantly at work -bacteria, mosses and fungi break up dead organic matter, creat-ing creat-ing fertile forest soil. lobsters and crawfish which curl up like snail shells to conserve their body moisture. You'll see a lot of rabbits in the spring because they come out to eat the delicious young leaves. If you see one and he seems to be looking EVEN A TINY POND teems with fascinating creatures like the water strider skating around, and the whirligig beetle going madly in circles. This article was prepared by the St. Regis Paper Company, Com-pany, which together with the other members of the forest products industry is vitally concerned with maintaining main-taining the beauty and usefulness use-fulness of America's forests for the generations to come. |