Wild Wildlife: How to Distinguish a Naturalist from a Normal Person

Leaving the house, they:

A. Assess the temperature and decide whether they need a jacket.

B. Pause to chat with a neighbor.

C. Stop to photograph an interesting fungus that has sprouted up near a neighbor’s front steps.

When entering Rock Creek Park, they:

A. Bike or jog along the trail, pleased to be able to exercise outside.

B. Stroll along the trail, enjoying bird-calls and the play of light on leaves.

C. Identify types of trees and wish they’d brought their Sibley’s guide to better determine the species of a particularly tricky oak.

[note: the tree pictured is a beech,
not an oak, tricky or otherwise]

Upon seeing a heron, they:

A. Glance at it but keep moving.

B. Stop for a minute to admire it.

C. Stand stock-still for a good 15 minutes, trying to get a good picture of it plunging its head into the water as it catches fish.

Encountering a wide tree-stump covered with moss about 10 feet from the path, they:

A. Pass it without a second thought.

B. Think, “What a pretty stump.”

C. Tramp over to the stump to investigate and then spend another 10-15 minutes kneeling against decaying bark in order to take pictures of a group of ants maneuvering a dead worm over a leaf.

I think we can dispense with an answer key, don’t you?

{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}