Desert termites — unlike their house-eating cousins — these ones are really beneficial

Terminix - Pest Control Commercial

Say the name of certain types of animals, birds, reptiles, plants etc around folks, and you will most assuredly get a negative response. Say the word “rattlesnake” while out on a hike, or say “shark” while swimming in the ocean, or maybe say “bees” while with a friend who is allergic to them and you are guaranteed to hear some carefully selected choice words or expressions. But what do you think comes to mind if you say the word termite ??? Generally folks automatically think of “house-devouring insect monsters” as referenced in that Terminix Ad link posted above.

Formosan Termite

This Termte here on the right is the dreaded non-native invasive Formosan Termite which was most likely brought over on a Cargo ship arriving from Asia to Louisiana. It's a tropical Termite, so it thrives down there in the humid wet south and has been extremely destructive to the New Orleans historical district. Sadly, this same pest has arrived in Riverside County, California back in 2020 and is there to stay in SoCal. (READ HERE)  There are other species that attack houses and other buildings. However, they are just a part of nature and are major components in the Earth's recycling system. Without them much debris would take longer to break down. But like so many other species they get demonized because they become an inconvenient lifeform which has become out of balance as a result of human ignorant.  For example, often times their access to our human infrastructure is made more easily available because of human error. Let's  just take the subterranean Termites as an example who come up through the ground into our homes. The presence of moisture is the primary driver as far as acting as a magnet for such critters. They need and yes require moisture. Watching many home improvement shows where a purchased house has an area of Termite damage unseen before the purchase,  the main reason after investigation was the presence of water either from a leaky pipe where water made it's way to the ground saturating it or bad water drainage in the landscape which allows rainwater to move towards the house and it's foundation which attracted the pests. I get it, nobody wants Termites, but they do what they do and as a result of human mismanagement of our planet's ecosystems they get out of control. But let's move on and accept they just do what they do.

However, just as all sharks are not man-eaters and rattlesnakes aren't really looking for a confrontation, not all termites are out to consume human civilization's structures. One type of termite that is more interested in the dead woody materials of plants resides here in our southwestern regions, and that type is the appropriately named Desert EncrusterTermite. This is one termite species you don’t need to worry about, and is a very important component of Southwest's  ecology. This Desert Termite (Gnathamitermes perplexus) and it's homes are something I always saw as a kid hiking up Rattlesnake Mountain in El Cajon, California in spring after winter rains where they created dried mud tubes covering last year's dried woody stems of the non-native invasive black Mustard. They're different from other building damaging termites in that they don't enter or eat chunks of wood. They are definitely beneficial. I remember in High School Biology class we learned that most termites have protozoa in their stomachs which help them digest the cellulose in wood. In other words without the protozoa, they'd starve on wood. Same with us and our multiple species of beneficial gut bacteria. Our stomach would never be able to process foods we eat. But with Desert Encruster Termites, instead of Protozoa, have bacteria which are capable of fixing nitrogen in the soil. So they actually perform an important  service of fertilizing the soil

These Desert Encruster Termites can be seen to have built their layers of mud on the bases of Saguaros Cactus or even in urban areas where palm trees will have mud plastered at the based of their trunks. This is interesting, because in the desert if a Saguaro dies, no amount of natural fungus will breakdown the tissues and converting cellulose back to soil nutrients and the reason is lack of moisture for the fungus to survive in the dry hot arid environment. However, Desert Encruster Termites can do this task very effectively.

The Desert Termites also plaster mud cylinders over dry grass or twigs on the ground, particularly after a rain. Over time they eat the grasses or twigs, leaving a hollow tube of dried mud. I remember these hollow tubes up on Rattlesnake Mountain when I was a kid. Back then it seemed like there were millions of these mud tubes everywhere. Especially around dead Mustard and Wild Radish which become very woody and don't break down as fast as other plants like the native perennials. These termites are an important link in adding nutrition to desert soils and certainly in reducing fuel for fire. Without these termites, many woody non-natives  would leave behind dense mats of materials which would eventually chock natives out more than they already do. Also, by tunneling in and moving soil, they aerate it, making it better for plants to grow their root networks in 

The funny thing about clients who contact pest control companies about Desert Termites is they complain about their lawns being attacked. Last time I visited El Cajon, California, where I grew up, I noticed numerous landscapes dried and dead, especially lawns. Why ??? Because of drought which has made water availability more of a dire challenge and the insane water rates charge by almost all water companies now. If the water fees don't get them, they sewer fees which are based on amount of water purchased are also extreme. It doesn't matter that over 50% of your water use is in the landscape and garden. They don't care. But the result is people have stopped irrigating much of their landscape, especially the lawns. As a result lawns have dry patches and people may have noticed how Termites have made their mud coverings. But these are the Desert Termites and they DO NOT attack living tissue, they want dead materials. Take note of what Pest Control Companies say about calls for exterminating pests in their landscapes. Here are two well known names and there are more with similar takes on the Desert Encruster Termites.

Image from Wiki-Commons - Sonoran Desert, Arizona

What the Pest Control Say About Desert Encruster Termites

"If needed, your pest management or lawn professional is the best person to identify desert termites to ensure the termites on your property are not one of the serious, wood-damaging subterranean termite species. Correct identification is critical since desert termites are likely to benefit, rather than harm, rangelands, crops or turf.

In addition, desert termites rarely damage structures on the homeowner’s property. Therefore, desert termite control in turf grass is not recommended. Instead, practice normal lawn care by using sufficient amounts of water and fertilizer, which usually overcomes any turf-related problems caused by desert termite feeding"

ORKIN: DESERT TERMITE FACTS & INFORMATION

Desert Termite Behavior and Habitat

"What desert termites do best is what termites do naturally in the wild. They break down dead plant material into usable nutrients that replenish depleted soil. Additionally, desert termite nesting habits can improve soil and increase water retention. Overall, desert termites benefit desert ecosystems and are considered keystone species in the Chihuahuan Desert"

TRULY NOLEN: DESERT TERMITES

========================================
So What Is the Solution If You Find Desert Termites in your Lawn ??? 😲

Image by Abbie David

Well, first off don't panic. Don't call a Pest Control Company or make an unwaranted visit  to Home Depot or Lowes Home Improvement for your favoured toxic science-based cocktail. As the ORKIN website recommended above:

"Instead, practice normal lawn care by using sufficient amounts of water and fertilizer, which usually overcomes any turf-related problems caused by desert termite feeding."

"The works of Jehovah are great; They are studied by all those finding pleasure in them" - Psalm 111:2 

Now go out and enjoy your hike 🤠

Judging a Book by it's Cover: How Mankind & Nature have both gotten the shaft from the beginning

On that note regarding nature, first of all you need to know that for successful detailed observation of Nature it does NOT require a Scientific Lens. You do NOT need to be Credentialed. You do NOT need Alphabet Soup Intitials behind your name on some business card. Same thing when it comes to making judgements about people, you don't need to be a psychologist. The old saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover," is a metaphorical phrase that means one shouldn't prejudge the worth or value of something (or persons) by its outward appearance alone. In other words people will often not take the time to open a book to find out it's true contents if the cover & title do not have that eye candy appeal. Humans have done this for centuries and the result has brought us our present world of disunity & intense hatred which has further resulted unintended consequences of our present planet's degraded natural world. Yup, we are at a crossroads of where our planet's natural world is collapsing at an ever increasing rate because living things are being judged for the same reasons that people throughout history judged by other people from the very beginning. As imperfect human beings we all do it. We can't help it. We're predominantly visual creatures. Much like the advertisement on any product's wrapper in which consumables are packaged, this appeal to the eye not only powerfully affects what interests us, but also how we react when we open and view the contents we find inside. Scary isn't it ? 😟

Here's where often Nature falls Flat in the Eye Candy Appeal Department

The Hidden Life of Trees - Peter Wohlleben

Years ago in the early 1970s while in High School, I became intrigued with how various plant ecosystems functioned aside from all those narratives stated in all the science-based textbooks in my Ornamental Horticulture class. What I noticed was that people basically chose plants based on looks, colour, fragrance, food source, money making ventures, etc. Still there were 1000s of others out there that I reasoned must serve some type of useful function & purpose within the environment. Below here I stumbled upon a list somebody jotted down about important qualities for people to cultivate which they considered necessary for getting at the truth about how the natural world really works. Mainly it takes a lot of patience and careful observation in arriving at the truth which may even may lead one to alter their previous worldview on matters regarding Nature.

Illustration - Keri Smith

The one thing you have to appreciate is that Nature has basically been successful for countless 10s of 1000s of years, long before the 1950s Green Revolution where scientists insisted mankind could be saved from itself if they only gave unquestioning obedience and allegience to the prevailing Scientific Orthodoxy. Most of my Agricultural & Ornamental Horticultual textbooks back in the early 1970s were heavily influenced and inspired by the well known agro-chemical 1950s green revolution introduced by the former industrial munitions manufacturing corporate giants of World War II (both Allies & Axis Powers), now using those same bomb making chemicals for peace time agricultural business interests who claimed they only wanted to feed the world. Think I'm kidding ??? Look at this memory lane video from this 1977 Chevron commercial where they reminded us of just how harsh and unforgiving nature really was and without the help if industrial science to save us from an unforgiving planet, we had no chance.

Most of that technology was based on gross ignorance of how Nature actually works out in the wild. Pause and consider, for countless 10s of 1000s of years our planet's natural world operated like a well oiled finely tuned machine. What happened later was a little thing called human ignorance & arrogance (you can also throw in greed). Amazingly what Chevron did was use a soft warm reassuring voice of a well known actor & voice-over artist named, Mason Adams. You may remember Mason Adams was the Character Actor that starred on the TV Show "Lou Grant'. He was also the famous voice of those Smuckers Jams and Jelly TV commercials. Remember, "With a name like Smuckers, it has to taste good" ??? And people believed it and responded by throwing their hard earned money at what was advertised. He was also the famous voice behind that 73 AMC Matador Dealer Film or 64 Buick Wildcat Commercial. Indeed, so comfortable and reassuring was Mason Adams' voice, that back in the 1950s/60s that same warm Mason Adams' voice could get you to believe that Chesterfield Cigarettes were good for you and millions followed that lead much to the unintended consequences of bad health and early death. It's all marketing folks and Science has been good at marketing junk for decades and now we have Climate Change as a result. Most of the green people won't admit that of course, but it's true. Bad Science led us all here. Let's fast forward and visit another subject known as "Plant Blindness."

Plant Blindness: Why Scientists Who Know Nature Are Becoming an Endangered Species

Image by Martin Cothran

Back in September of 2018 of last year, the Memoria Press published an article by Martin Cothran dealing with the subject of plant blindness. The article was interesting in that it revealed far too many college students taking plant science courses are incapable of actual identification of plants (trees, shrubs, etc). But instead these students are studying plants from a commercialized applications perspective. Nobody, really seems interested in the plants and how they function and what purpose they serve within any ecosystem anymore. Like the illustration on the right, today's average student has those racehorse blinkers on which prevent them from having a peripheral view. One of the best quotes in that article was this one below:

"Not only are there fewer university botany programs, but those who graduate from them may not be well versed in plant identification. The cutting edge of plant science, which has commercial applications, is molecular. Students and universities are following the significant money." 

One of the most demonized Chaparral Plants in California - Chamise (Adenostoma fasticulatum)

Photo - Gabi McLean (Eaton Canyon)

In the historic past, many ancient peoples were very familiar with a great variety of plants. Many Native Americans for example well knew which plants they could derive potions, pultices, and/or poisons, and eventually most European would have learned and recognised these same plants for food, medicine, etc. By comparison, research has shown that most modern day people can’t even name more than a few wild flowers. This is sad because it means people no longer take the time and patience to find out what good and beneficial qualities many plants serve either for us or their value and purpose within any ecosystem. Of course there’s a name which has been created for this inability to notice or recognise plants in one’s own environment, it's called “plant blindness.” Most of Earth's population resides in major large cities and urban centers, so generally speaking most city dwellers over time have been separated from nature. So there is very strong  disconnect between humans and the environment, and we’re basically blind to the natural world around us. This is further exacerbated by the fact that humans spend less time outdoors in favour of their addiction to electronic devices. 

Fathers are supposed to take the lead

Without giving a long list of the so-called ugly plant examples where people have judged certain plants worthless based solely on outward appearances, let's just take one classic example from California where I am from, Adenostoma fasciculatum (Chamise or Greasewood). This plant is often admittedly rugged and rangy looking, hence not even on a choice list of garden ornamentals. The second common name given to this plant, "Greasewood," is meant as a derogatory term describing it's explosive flare up in the event of wildfires because of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present within it's woody stems. Of course what many people forget is that most all plants do burn ferociously under the right insanely windy weather conditions. Look at the tropical Amazon rainforests.  Who would have thought wet humid tropical plants would easily go up in smoke so ferociously ??? Many also consider Chamise to be competitive towards other more desirable plants even considering it invasive in it's own native habitat, often because it dominates the wild landscape where it is native. In other words none of the desirable plants can get a foothold because of Greasewood's presence. This is totally false of course and I have my own personal experience with the plant to testify to that.

Image - Mine 2015

First, from a purely observational viewpoint, I've seen California Holly, Parry Pinyon, Coulter & Jeffrey Pines including both Cuyamaca & Tecate Cypress on steep southern slope exposures in direct sunlight exposure thrive where the plant community is dominated by Chamise. I found that curious and odd decades ago when I first noticed this in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs, California, because I also at one time viewed Chamise as an aggressor. But apparently it's not an aggressor as much as a facilitator of other plants ability to survive. One other remarkable thing about Chamise is that it will grow where most other plants will not. It has an incredibly deep root system (several meters deep). This is important for erosion control. Chamise's deep root systems will penetrate fractured rock and facilitate hydraulic life & redistristribution of water to other plants during the summer hot months and pump excess water into subsoils during the rainy season to be used later and shared with other plants if conditions are right. AND during acceptionally wet period events, this normally Endo-Mycorhizal host plant will become Ecto-Mycorrhizal by sending out chemical messages through it's root exudates to alert ectomycorrhizal fungi to colonize it's roots which will in turn help all oak and pine seedlings to pioneer and colonize into chaparral plant communities where they did not exist previously. The seeds themselves being incredibly heavy were placed there by the common ScrubJay. Same with it's relative the Redshank or Ribbonwood (Adenostoma sparsifolium) chaparral shrub. Major changes in one's worldview is drastically needed here.

A little thing called "Plant Blindness" all begins with Man's judgement of fellow Man

The majority of mankind are traveling on a broad and spaceous motorway where fast paced lifestyle, impatience and lack of being content dominate. Like literal motorways or freeways, these expressways were purposefully created to replace what was viewed as slow, outdated & old fashioned. Yet the old curvey and twisting two lane highway never offended the land. Rather they moved with the landscape, around obstacles rather than blasting through them. Yes, it was slower and took more time, but you got more out of the travel through adventure. Mankind in general needs to slow waaaay down and ditch the broad and spaceous Motorway and opt for the narrow and curving cramped one. We hear today about all these paradigm shifts and progressive movements, but in actuality these are nothing more than the same old recycling of failed ideas dressed up to look enlightened and sophisticated. Our world continues on a sharp decline. Getting back to that laundry list above on how to be a better explorer, let's just look at that first jotted down point. 

#1 Always be looking (notice the ground beneath your feet)

Photo is mine from 2013 (south of Julian, CA)

I love this first suggestion of always be looking at the ground beneath your feet as you walk or hike. It took some years before I really started doing this more and more. A lot of that habit came from slowing down, observing and later doing more research about things that interested me. The photo above is of a Pisolithus tinctorius truffle or mushroom I saw on a small game trail in the Chaparral brush habitat off Hwy 79 south of the town of Julian at the Desert Viewpoint Overlook. Had I not slowed down decades ago and taken time to gain experience and do research, the intuitiveness to spot what was hidden in plain sight, this truffle would have gone unnoticed. Like the average person on a hike, I probably would have passed over this truffle thinking it was nothing more than another stone. But lo & behold I was able collect a large sack of dried curred PT Mycorrhizal truffles whose chocolate spore powder I would use for injection into my landscape on host trees back down in El Cajon. Below here in the 2nd photo of the same truffle, but I've cleared away the debris from the truffle to reveal it's true nature in the second photograph as compared to image above where it's almost camoflaged.

Photo is mine from 2013 (south of Julian, CA)

image - Wikipedia

It took me a long time to develop deep appreciation for what some call the Dog Turd Fungus (Pisolithus tinctorius) you see above. I mean it's not the most photogenic of Mushrooms or truffles. Not as popular as the Christmas mushroom icon & Mario Bros Game energy mushroom known as Amanita muscaria or more commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita pictured to the right. This popular forest mushroom is known for it's distinctive eye candy appearance, known for bright bright red (sometimes bright yellow) with white spots, and for their hallucinogenic properties. Here in Sandinavia where I now live, the Saami & Siberian Shamans originally dressed up in Santa Claus type outfits & used this drug trip inducing mushroom to get in touch with the spirit world. Hence the reason for so many ancient myths continuing to live on.

But getting back to the uglier Pisolithus tinctorius truffle, it too has some remarkable qualities. Although not being as pretty as other mushrooms, it has amazing  purpose and function in forested ecosystems where they are found. In the High Desert Mountain ranges and Chaparral plant communities of California where I come from, a healthy plant community and forested ecosystem thrives where these fungi are present. Why ???

Image - UGA Pecan Extension (Lenny Wells)

Image -  Mike's Fab Shop

Shouldn't take a genius to see the advantages of a symbiotic fungi colonized on the root system of a specific host. PT Mycorrhizae will increase water and nutrient uptake for it's host tree by anywhere from 200% to 1000% depending on the health of the system. Of course in turn the tree feeds if sugars manufactured through photosynthesis. I've provided in the past when writing about this very subject with an illustration of the performance enhancing qualities of exhaust headers on a 1960s muscle car compared to the plain old stock factory exhaust system. Take the example of exhaust headers on this racing dragster in the photo on the right. They eliminate backpressure and increase horsepower with the industry’s finest selection of air-pushing, muscle-pumping performance exhaust headers compared to common factory showroom stock engine exhaust system. That's what the lowly Dog Turd fungus does for a Pine, Oak, Cottonwood, Eucalyptus or Pecan tree. Like our own gut bacteria, they can process and refine mineral nutrients from the surrounding soil which are locked up in a physical form not available to a tree on it's own. They can also send chemical messages into the tree to boost the immune system. I save money when installing an urban landscape or in habitat restoration by rejecting science-based synthetic chemicals for this natural option which has worked for countless 1000s of years. This is the same PT Mycorrhize I mentioned above which will colonize Chamise roots in exceptionally wet periods allowing forest trees to increase by pioneering into dense chaparral cover. When the fungal grid is present and pine nut or oak acorn germinates, it's taproot will immediately connect to the fungal grid establishing the trees and eventually replacing the chaparral 100s of years later. This understanding did not come over night and it certainly was not enhanced by the truffle's rather drab appearance. But seriously, if you saw at first glance this basket of Pisolithus tinctorius (dog turd) truffles, what would be your first impression minus all the knowledge we now possess as to their real worth ??? 😐

Pisolithus tinctorius photo by Tanya Riedel

Without all that knowledge of all these trees, shrubs and fungi you lose so much value for practical application in restoration work, landscape installation, etc. What is even more amazing is that even the credentialed people who champion the cause for Chaparral plant ecosystems don't even discuss this phenomena. Mainly it's mostly politics which offers no value in understanding our natural world. And yet researchers have written about it for decades, but to be fair, most environmental organizations push politics over education and that too is killing this planet. This very same thing works when it comes to judging people for their real worth by taking time and getting to know them, irrespective of their race, colour, ethicity, tribe, clan, culture, language, economic social background, etc.

Let's take some simple Illustrations from Familiar Situations that can actually Teach

Image - Pebble Shore Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana

Think back when you were a kid out on a camping trip or on a day picnic outing with family and friends along a lake or seashore. What was it that motivated you to chose the rocks you collected ? Was it the rock's colour, shape, size or pattern ? 😍 Whatever it was, it start with the natural eye candy visual of outward appearance. And as in the case of the photo above, there are so many options to choose from.

Image - The Rock Shed

But what about these stones in the photo above ??? Based on outward appearance, would any of you chosen any of these ??? You and I both know almost no one would ever collect such rocks when out on a hiking adventure, unless of course they had acquired knowledge of the true value of such rocks. And right there is the biggest problem. Actually taking the time and effort needed in getting to know the truth about any subject is looked upon as laborious and boring.

Animation - WikiHow

These rocks of course are called Geodes. Here is the Wikipedia explanation of what Geodes are.

"Geodes (derived from the Greek word "γεώδης" meaning "Earth like") are geological secondary formation within sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely circular rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded."

Since I come from the desert (volcanic) regions of the Southwestern USA, I learned about Geodes and hunted for them since I was a kid in the middle 1960s. That's because somebody older took the patience and time to teach my friends and I such things. I am very familiar with many different types, but only because I learned from someone else who was experienced and taught me about them. Of course when it comes to collecting nothing is certain, so you need to be patient by taking a rock hammer and chisel or rock saw and very carefully opening and looking inside to reveal the true contents of the rock or stone.

Image - kabeeragate.com

So what is inside ? Could be a number of beautiful colours and patterns. Every geode is unique and different. Many are hollow while others solid. But in most cases beautiful patterns and colours emerge. Hollow geodes have various beautiful crystal formations known as Amethyst. You may even recognize many of these types of rocks from your past when you saw beautiful bookends on someone's bookshelf, although you may not have known at that time they were called geodes or where they came from.

Photo - Marie Douce

The whole point of this post is to illustrate how all things can have real value and worth though not immediately revealed by it's outward appearance. Mankind's mistreatment of each other has also been a reflection on why they fail miserably to hold value on all things in the wild. Many things in Nature have suffered because they were not immediately eye pleasing or perhaps no monetary value could be found in them, hence this is where biodiversity suffers and monocultures are desired. The effects on the planet have been devestating as a result. So who's responsible for a young person's appreciation of nature and fellow human beings ??? Environmentalists ??? Social Justice Warriors ??? Churches ??? Government or Public Schools ???

It's a Parent's responsibility to instill appreciation for Nature at an early age. Not the State's, not the Public School's, not some militant non-profit radical environmentalist group. It's all on Parents.

Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (Credit: Getty)

It is important to get children involved with plants early, such as on nature walks, like the one shown here at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in the United Kingdom. There is a biblical example which illustrates this beautifully. You don't have to believe in the bible to get the point here. The nation of Israel wanted a King so that they could be like all the other nations around them. They in effect wanted to reject theocracy (God rule) in favour of democracy or human rule. The almost impossible task of choosing was given to the Prophet Samuel. Notice how that went at 1 Samuel 16:6-7:

6 As they came in and he saw E·liʹab, he said: “Surely here before Jehovah stands his anointed one.” 7 But Jehovah said to Samuel: “Do not pay attention to his appearance and how tall he is, for I have rejected him. For the way man sees is not the way God sees, because mere man sees what appears to the eyes, but Jehovah sees into the heart.”

Humans of course do not possess supernatural abilities when it comes to sizing up another person and determining who and what they are as far as worth as to character. We have to work harder at that, but that's the point, it takes time and energy on our part to get to know what qualities another person posesses as to their true value and worth or whether association with them should be rejected altogether. Ponder over this info the next time you make a judgement call towards another human being or something else out there in the natural world. 😉

Western Fence Lizards (Blue Bellies) -- Lyme Disease Control in Ticks ???

In 1998, a pioneering study led by UC Berkeley entomologist Robert Lane found that a protein in the Western fence lizard’s blood killed Borrelia bacteria, and as a result, Lyme-infected ticks that feed on the lizard’s blood are cleansed of the disease-causing pathogen.

Image - John Lindsey

Image - John Lindsey

As a kid I was always went nuts about catching both lizards and snakes. But lizards more often and different kinds of lizards. Amazing how even today as you look at the photo above, little boys are still attracted with catching and holding lizards. Sadly the modern world's time wasting electronic devices has captured the attention of most kids and generally being outdoors is in many cases not an option. Of course the most common lizard where I come from is the Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis). They are everywhere. We also called them Blue Bellies because of the deep pretty blue on their under bellies. But back in 2011 researchers discovered something even I never knew about the abundantly common Western Fence Lizard. They play an ecological role in hosting ticks at a small juvenile stage of the tick's life cycle. And ticks that feed off Western Fence Lizard blood acquire a protein which destroys the Borrelia bacteria which causes Lyme Disease. Here are some quotes from the article and I'll provide a link so you can read the entire research report.

"Western fence lizard’s blood killed Borrelia bacteria, and as a result, Lyme-infected ticks that feed on the lizard’s blood are cleansed of the disease-causing pathogen. Moreover, research has found that up to 90 percent of the juvenile ticks in this species feed on the Western fence lizard, which is prevalent throughout California and neighboring states."  

"The lizard is thus often credited for the relatively low incidence of Lyme disease in the Western United States. The new UC Berkeley-led study put that assumption to the test experimentally."

Photo - Gary Nafis

Interestingly, the researchers found that the Lizards accommodate ticks with a specialized fold in their neck called a “mite pocket.” Wow, I never knew that when I was a kid in the 60s and never knew to look for any ticks period. But remember, we're not talking about adult ticks, these are tinier ticks in the infancy stage of life known as nymphal stage. So in a nutshell, in 4 or 5 plots where those lizards were already being studied, many were removed from an area and substitute animals like woodrats and pocket mice were checked to see if they became the new host for the juvenile ticks.

"The researchers found that in plots where the lizards had been removed, ticks turned to the female woodrat as their next favorite host. On average, each female woodrat got an extra five ticks for company when the lizards disappeared.  However, the researchers found that 95 percent of the ticks that no longer had lizard blood to feast on failed to latch on to another host. 

“One of the goals of our study is to tease apart the role these lizards play in Lyme disease ecology,” says Swei, who is now a post-doctoral associate at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York. “It was assumed that these lizards played an important role in reducing Lyme disease risk. Our study shows that it’s more complicated than that.”  

Notwithstanding the results in this new study, Lane pointed out that the Western fence lizard are key to keeping infection rates down among adult ticks. “This study focused only on the risk from juvenile ticks, specifically those in the nymphal stage,” he said. “The earlier finding that adult ticks have lower infection rates because they feed predominantly on the Western fence lizard at the nymphal stage still holds.”  

“In attempting to decrease infectious disease risk, we need to remember the law of unexpected consequences,” said Sam Scheiner, program director in the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research through the joint NSF-NIH (National Institutes of Health) Ecology of Infectious Diseases Program. “This study demonstrates the complexity of infectious diseases.”

(Berkeley News)

Lizards in your yard are a really good thing

Image - Orange County Register

There was a great article in the Orange County Register in 2010 about the benefits of having various Lizard species living as residents within your garden and landscape. Amazing photo above where a Western Fence Lizard is gulping down a Jerusalem Cricket, which frankly to me looking at one up close, is one of the most sinister looking bugs I've never wanted to touch. Wicked looking jaw and mouth parts and stickery claws which clasp onto anything tightly. Hence I've always refused to touch one. But look at that lizard. No apparent fear there. Here's parts of the article:

"Settle down everybody. A backyard lizard invasion has not begun. OK, maybe it has, but no reason to panic. Alligator lizards, Western Fence lizards and even the occasional side-blotched lizard are feasting on summer bugs and living large reptilian lives in our residential back yards. Yay for lizards!" 

“Lizards are not poisonous, harmful or anything other than interesting,” said Steve Bennett, vector ecologist at Orange County Vector Control. “In fact, during the mating season it is fun to watch the males doing their push-ups to show off, or squabbling over girlfriends.”  

Lizards are considered beneficial companions consuming more than their share of crickets, cockroaches, ants, beetles and sometimes flies if they can catch them.  But most lizards are usually more prey than predator. “In the wild they don’t live more than a year or two,” Bennett said. “In captivity they can live much longer.”  

Cats, birds, even black widows will make a meal out of a lizard, especially when the lizards are young and small. To the gardener the lizard is a constant companion, sitting on rocks, scurrying under shrubs, getting out of the way when the garden hose goes on. Or not. Lizards don’t seem to mind the occasional squirt from the hose, perhaps because like other reptiles, lizards can’t control their body temperature. A cool sprinkle in August probably feels good.

(Orange County Register)

But getting back to these ticks. The adult ticks dangle on the tips of grass and other low-lying vegetation like shrubs in a host-seeking posture called “questing.” In this position, they spread their two front clawed limbs wide open and wait patiently for hours, or even days, for unsuspecting critter to brush by so they can dig their metal-like mouth parts into their host and gorge themselves on it's blood. Contrary to what some people may believe, ticks don’t jump or fly. And when it comes to keeping an eye out for ticks, at least the adult ticks can easily be seen, unlike ticks in the nymph or juvenile life stage, when the tick is about the size of a poppy seed and difficult to spot. Juveniles usually do not climb grass or shrubs while host-seeking. Instead, they lurk closer to the ground on top of leaf litter on the forest floor, a perfect location to attach to lizards. In fact, research has shown about 90 percent of hosts for tick nymphs are reptiles rather than small mammals or birds. This is truly amazing, because I never knew this before and would never have suspected lizards all this time offered such an amazing checks & balances service in the natural world.

BlueJay Barrens Blog: Steve Willson & Lone Star Ticks

Image - Steve Willson - May 2022

This article by Steve Willson came out May 3rd 2022. Dealing with the Lone Star Ticks and what they look like when first hatched from eggs. Extremely tiny and for most people would go unnoticed unless you were very sensitive.

https://bluejaybarrens.blogspot.com/2022/05/lone-star-ticks.html

Some Other Interesting Facts About Lyme Disease & Ticks (Take with a grain of Salt)

Opossums: Where Lyme disease goes to die

Where foxes thrive, Lyme disease doesn’t

PoughKeepsie Journal

Taal Levi, a researcher at Cary Institute

The interesting thing here is Coyotes will kill foxes, not for food, but as a competing predator. Where that happens there is a rise in Lyme disease because the Fox (Red & Grey) are small mammal (mice, rats, etc) predators which are often carriers & spreaders of the disease. While I don't like those Coyote hunting contests, there is nevertheless an incredible out of control overpopulation of Coyotes. Removal of Wolves a century ago brought this on. 

Poughkeepsie Journal Archive: Where foxes thrive, Lyme disease doesn't

"Taal Levi, a researcher at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, talks about Lyme disease and how ecology — specifically, the interplay between wildlife species — affects the spread of infectious disease. Mice are especially good carriers of Lyme disease because their immune systems don't fight off the pathogen and they don't groom ticks off their bodies. (unlike opossums that remove as much as 96 percent). Foxes are highly effective at killing mice - statistical data shows that as fox populations go down, the incidence of Lyme goes up."

Great Vimeo Video: Where foxes thrive, Lyme disease doesn’t

Image - Matthew Twombly (NPR)

Clearly there are literally millions of things about our planet's natural world that scientists flat out do not understand. What possitive role do ticks play in Nature ? Yeah I know, Ticks ? There are countless synthetics that industrial science has invented to rid us of what appear to be pests, without considering what role humans may have played in ecosystem imbalance and whether it could be reversed. Our entire human experience of life is one of either cooperation or competition with all the other living things on Earth. But when humans alter their environment, they also alter the behaviour of other living things. Take for example the Zika Virus & the mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Wasn't always a pest and in fact most mosquitoes weren't until people altered environments they shouldn't have. In fact scientists now know that mosquitoes didn't always attack or bother humans, rather the mosquito's specific targets were almost exclusively animals and even then they played a role in ecosystem management. But something changed and humans were the cause of that change. The reality is that all such parasites and aggressor pests grew out of a system that was originally designed to be completely sustainably cooperative but was suddenly transformed and turned into a competitive disarray.

Fabricating Unscientific Fables for Corporate Business Interests

Throughout history people have killed whatever annoyed or inconvenienced them, even other humans. Hence the practices of killing what we don't like or cause us to lose profit has only escalated with the invention of synthetic science-based pesticides. The ignorance on how nature really works became further distorted when a scientific label was attached to many living things about 150 years ago when something called "Argument from Poor Design" was fabricated to prop up a new worldview and given as a gift to mankind by Charles Darwin. Darwin never used science for all his examples of poor design, but rather he employed metaphysical and faith-based religious concepts to justify the new worldview. I get the idea of being turned off to much of Christendom's track record, etc, I do I get it. But to trash nature to justify an argument for another worldview ??? 😕

 

“Folks who ain’t got ideas of their own should be mighty careful whose they borrow…”

Old Cowboy Saying 

No truer words than that. Look throughout history at all the supposedly intellectual ideas and philosophies mandated as truth by this world's elites which later turned out to be purely based on gross human ignorance and incompetent understanding of how they think Nature really works and we've all been paying a high price ever since as a result. 

More Reading References on the Subject

Murray Suuer M.D. - "Lyme Disease and Lizards Los Angeles"

What do Tree Trimming & Solar Industries have in common ???

Most of the Experts behind those industries more often than not have no clue as to what they are really doing 😟

Image from May 2019 - Google Earth

Image from Sept 2005
Las Pilitas Native Plant Nursery

Well, it's Springtime in SoCal when Google Earth updated this street photo in May 2019. The trees (California Sycamores, Canary Island & Torrey Pines) behind the roofline of this house I grew up in all started out as six inch high seedlings in late 2005 when I planted them in September of that same year. The rapid growth of the Sycamores was facilitated by using a practice called, biomimicry, which is nothing more than replicating how nature under the right conditions causes deep rooted trees and shrubs, especially on ancient Bajadas or Alluvial Fans to thrive. This just happens to also be where most of SoCal's housing development is located. Many housing tracts in SoCal are located on former orange groves which were originally planted on alluvial fans at the foot of mountains. Alluvial Fans like floodplains are some of the most efficient geological formations for storing and holding massive amounts of water. Those Sycamore trees at my mum's place are no longer irrigated except during the rainy season. During summer, these water loving trees are tapped into the subsurface aquifer.

Image from summer of 2007

California Sycamores are almost two years old.

Image mine from 2011

The photo above from 2007 shows less than two year old Sycamore trees on a former floodplain or alluvial fan (see Lessons Learned from the Bajadas (Alluvial Fans)) Look how tall they are. Pay attention San Diego River restorationists. Decades ago I was curious how single solitary Sycamore trees thrived on rocky sandy boulder strewn floodplains where summer temps were always well over 100+ Fahrenheit (40+ celsius) far from any water course, let alone getting established in the first place. I found that heavy rainfall El Niño weather events with wetter than normal summer monsoon seasons were the reason. This can easily be replicated in any urban landscape. Generously deep root irrigate and after two years, simply taper off the available moisture gradually and force the rootsystems to go straight down. During the whole entire process keep a generous layer of mulch all around the trees extending several feet from the main trunk. Understand that all Sycamores, Fremont Cottonwoods, etc will go down 20' looking for moisture. They have built in mechansims for sensing and sniffing out available water. The photo on the right from 2011 shows well established very tall Sycamores with deep full shade on the ground below and deep cover of Sycamore leaves. They have a tremendous cooling effect where the back screen door is now left open and the prevailing westerly winds blow underneath the cool tree canopy and into the house and out the front door screen. The industrial air conditioner as seen in the top Google Earth photograph is rarely needed and saves electricity bill when not in service.

Fast forward to the past couple of years and sleezy slick Solar Panel salesmen are trying to convince my 87 year old Mother she needs to plaster solar panels all over her home's roof to save money and be considered more eco-green. What's more, a tree trimming company usually also shows up almost exactly the same time (Coincidence ???) as the solar panel salesman claiming for safety reasons she needs to top all her trees to the roofline, which will also make the Solar Panels more efficient at generating electricity. They feed her a line about how Sycamores are unstable and the giant tree limbs could break at any moment. So let's take the problem of Solar panels on her roof first.

Illustration - Healthy Family Newspaper

Image from SolarQuotes.com

First off, my mum's place has only one south facing roof slope and that is over the garage. The other roof slopes are both west and east facing as you can see in the photo at the top with the towering trees behind the house and therefore would be worthless as far as the ability to maximize electricity generation. No problem says the sleezy solar salesman, we can sell you solar tilt frames which will angle the panels to a more southerly exposure. Of course once again you would have to top those trees. Of course it'll look like nothing more than an eye sore industrial mess and curb appeal will be almost non-existent, but she'll certainly be 100% certifiable eco-green. Every single time my mother calls and says one of these home casing scumbags have told her she needs solar and tree topping, I get on the horn and make sure my siblings keep an eye out on what she does as far as decision making.

Large Trees will put the brakes on Heat Islands

The journal, AZ Central, had a nice article on things to know before installing Solar Panels on the roof. They had those 10 key considerations before deciding to install solar panells on your house roof. Here's #1 below this picture of what a Heat Island does. Note even in cold frigid climate like Sweden where I presently live now, there are heat island. In this case small trees are heated by the Sun and cause a temperature rise which melts the snow. Now imagine for a moment how much more insanely intense the heat is on a Solar Farm in the deserts of Arizona where temperatures at 40+ Celsius could be raised to 50+ Celsius. Now for all you European Scandinavians, just ponder that for a moment. 😵

1. Trees reduce output, savings 

Solar panels need direct sunlight, so homes heavily shaded by trees are not good candidates, officials from American Solar and Roofing and SunHarvest Solar say. 

Although some homeowners opt to cut down trees to accommodate solar panels, homeowners should consider whether the cooling shade the trees provide outweighs the benefits of solar panels.

AZCentral: Should you install solar on your home? 10 key considerations

Illustrations by Melissa McFeeters

Illustration - EnergySage

Image - EcoAltEnergy

Then there is the Wildfire Hazard almost no eco-group will Discuss

Image - Australian Solar Care

All manner of debris ends up under these panels and as Eco-Groups demand solar on roofs, they rarely touch on this hazard after lecturing people about spark (embers) arresters on attic vents, keeping rain gutters clear, etc. And it's not just fallen leaves, it's also birds and little animal critters who find them attractive to move debris under to build nesting sites.

Google Search = Leave Litter under Solar Panels 

Spring of May 2019 - Google Earth

Okay here it is again folks. Above photo is May 2019 of this year and photograph on right is house stucco renovation in the Fall of 2018. Note the height of the trees. The California Sycamores are on the left, Canary Island Pines in the middle and on the right is the Torrey Pine which finally matured enough to reach subsoil moisture and over the last couple of years has amazingly grown three or four foot a year. Both the tree trimming companies and Solar Panel installers want my mother to top all those trees (Sycamores & Pines) at roof level and install Solar Panels so she'll be eco-green and *cough-cough* save money. Problem is, since the trees have grown bigger, the backyard patio area has never been more pleasant, shady & cooler. It's like an Oasis. Cutting them down to size would completely elevate the backyard temperatures, plus added temp increase on the roof would rise by several degrees more because black solar panels create heat islands. In otherwords they create what they are meant to reverse, global warming. That giant industrial airconditioning unit with the trees is rarely used, but the sales pitch to my mother was that once the trees were removed, the *cough-cough* free energy from the Sun would be able to run the unit and the house would always be pleasant.

Image - Harvey Windows

The house was built in 1956, no insulation inside the outer walls and old technology crank windows. Fortunately the windows have all be replaced with dual pane windows which have also made a huge difference in cooling in summer and heating in winter. They also had insuation blown into the attic crawl space when none ever existed previously. The only things left with no insulation are the walls and underneath the floors. Below is an Astronaut Helmet coated with gold which is perfect in blocking out damaging radiation and the heat it creates. Common window glass allows sunlight to enter a room and heat up all objects creating more heat, hence the need to airconditioning. Low-E Windows with a thinner coating than the Astronaut visor embedded within the window allow light, but block the UV rays. There are a number of more aesthetically pleasing and energy efficient things people can do instead of putting bulky industrial infrastructure on your roof to run an airconditioner. Trees cool things off considerably and I appreciate this will chap the Solar Industry's attitude against those who chooose no Solar, but that's tough. There are a couple of important links below the Helmet.

Visor image by Steve Jurvetson from Menlo Park, USA

 Gold-Coated Visors Protected Apollo 11 Astronauts During First Moon Walk

Heat-reflecting low-E glass

Tree Trimming Nightmare examples with Sycamores

Image from Google Earth May 2019

An old high school friend of mine has a dad who own's this JB Mills Insurance Agency building and all the other office rentals within. This is on Broadway in El Cajon, California, just east of Ballantyne street. The photo on the right is from the Dentist office Advert of my high school buddy Randolph P. Mills and the building is where his office resides in. In the photo on the right you can clearly see the California Sycamore has been topped off which is the way tree companies like dealing with many large trees. It's fast and more convenient for them, just to chop, hack, packup and go on their merry way to the next job. For me, tree trimming was more of an art form when I did it. It was actually one of my favourite assignments. Lawn care was my nightmare. When you are done, the tree or shrub should not look like it's just been trimmed, but naturally sculpted to picturesque shape and form. This is the way nature works with trees, especially strong healthy Sycamores. But this irresponsible tree topping technique was started back in the late 1960s & early 1970s and has been practiced ever since. In the top photo you can see where water sprout branches have shot up like a rocket given the massive trunk and root infrastructure which will trigger an explosion of new growth in response to the attack. The USA in many cities and towns have above ground utility poles which must have their corridor right-of-ways maintained for clearance. Doesn't take much talent to chop-shop trees to keep corridors cleared, but the problem is this terrible practice has bled over into the maintaining all landscape trees in urban landscapes where utilities are nonexistent.

Cartoon Animations Below Illustrate the Problems with Tree Professionals

Sunset Terrace Apartments - Bradley Ave, El Cajon, California

Image - apartments.com

Image - rent.com

Nothings changed for the better in property management. The place above is a commercial apartment building next to the complex I worked at. In the beginning (2002) I remember the Sycamore trees were so huge and majestic looking, almost completely shaded the front of the entire apartment complex and the various carports in the back. Every other year since, they have hired the same tree company to cut back hard and top all these trees into an unnatural form. In the photo on the right here, you can see the untouched Sycamore on the left and a previous months topping and regrowth that same year. Tree companies have no care as to time of year they ravage your trees. Let's face it, they need work year round. This same company hacked the trees along the propertyline of both our properties because the SDG&E telephone-power poles ran along a storm drainage ditch in between both commercial residential complexes. One memorable tree grossly hacked and chopped to a 20' tall stump was a beautiful large spreading and tall Shamel Ash. The biggest problem with tree trimming in Summer heat is that trees naturally respond to injury with extremely rapid growth to replace what was lost. Because of such rapid tender growth, much of growth is succulent sweet and ripe for predation by pest insects, pathogens, powdery mildews, etc. The usual tannins and alkaloids which make most foliage bitter and distasteful to such pest have not yet been produced by the tree. So it's like a massive thanksgiving feast for the pests. This happened to the Shamel Ash which never ever recovered and had to be completely taken out. Some fault of course lies with the Homeowner or landscaper who makes a bad choice in nursery tree selection with no foresight taken into consideration of what future consequences may eventually exist, especially near and around power poles.

As usual, lessons are rarely learned in our times. You think things would improve with newer understanding but they don't. Both the chopping of trees and installation of massive solar infrastructure continue as mankind's only hope for reversing climate and weather degradation. But the same ignorance and lack of forethought is employed in using a technology which is still less than efficient for the amount of area footprint it requires which is still a major problem. Hardly any single environmental activist group will raise a whisper when forests are eliminated and trees chopped down because a massive solar farm will take the forest's place. But cut those same trees down for an industrial mining operation, oil exploration or natural gas fracking venture and as the saying goes, "There's usually all Hell to Pay." 

Update April 21, 2020 - Earth Day Youtube

UPDATE ABOUT YOUTUBE 

 Youtube has deleted the documentary in a sleezy censorship ploy along with other groups. Fortunately Vimeo has a copy.

SORRY - ANOTHER UPDATE - This time it's VIMEO

 Well once again the Though Police have made their prresence felt again and deleted the Planet of the Humans video just like Youtube for the same inconvenient truth reasons. Apparently you'll just have to pay and order the video from Michael Moore's group.

That documentary has thus far been a huge inconvenient truth for almost all environmental organizations and other green groups who refuse to actually discuss the findings. Here below is an after documentary discussion with Michael Moore, Jeff Gibbs & Ozzie Zehner.

Image from Basin and Range

How much longer will humans put their blind trust in this World's Credentialed Elites to problem solve ??? 😔

"Expectation postponed makes the heart sick."  

​—Prov. 13:12.