Subject: [Tweeters] Blackberries, Birds and Bears
Date: Sep 8 07:03:54 2005
From: Joy Markgraf - joymarkgraf at gorge.net


Hi Tweeters;
The discussion about blackberries has been very interesting so I
thought I would join in. To me blackberry patches are very special
places (habitat) and are always full of surprises. Yesterday I heard
the sweetest bird song coming from the middle of a blackberry patch and
tried locating the songster, looking from every angle, but could not
find it. What a wonder that such beautiful music could come out of this
tangled world! Not wanting to disturb it I will never know its identity
but I will always remember its song.

This summer we have a bear sharing our backyard attracted in part by
the blackberries. Every morning I go down to get my bowl of
blackberries for breakfast and see that it has been there first. We
have two different strategies for getting the berries so we are both
happy. I like to harvest the clumps around the edges and he likes to
dive right into the middle, wallowing around flattening all the
brambles. He manages to scarf up an incredible amount of fruit
indicated by the size of the bear piles he leaves on the trail! Natures
clever way of dispersing seeds for future blackberry patches. If anyone
wants to see a photo let me know.
Joy Stickney-Markgraf
near White Salmon WA
email: joymarkgraf at gorge.net