Mountain Times - Volume 49, Number 35 - Aug.26-Sept.1, 2020

Columns
24 • The Mountain Times • Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020
Cruisin’ through the mountains
I could feel my braid begin to whip around
in all directions behind me as we took off from
the stop, leaving the dirt drive and heading
out onto the pavement. My right hip dropped
toward the road as my left side body squinched
in an effort to stay upright. Slowly, the power
behind the throttle began its roar as I fought
with gravity, wrapping my arms tighter around
the rider in front of me. My core muscles instinctively
engaged and my braid began to beat
faster, caught up in the wind of the open road.
As we come out of the first turn, my body began
to settle in and I rolled back into my little seat on
the rear of the motorcycle.
The living light of bioluminescent
organisms like fireflies, anglerfish,
and marine plankton is legendary.
The dazzling light shows put on by
synchronous fireflies in Great Smoky
Mountains National Park are so
popular that park managers have had
to institute a
lottery system
for viewing
them. An entire
recreation
industry has
grown up
The Outside
Story
By Brett Amy
Thelen
around kayaking
through
glowing surf
from Florida
to Washington.
And a
few years
Livin’ the
Dream
By Merisa
Sherman
Amphibians Aglow
ago, I even saw someone dressed as
a deep-sea anglerfish at a Halloween
concert – complete with glowstick lure
dangling from her forehead.
Now, there’s a different glow making
waves in the scientific community:
biofluorescence. Where bioluminescence
is produced by a chemical
reaction and results in light that is
immediately visible to the human eye,
biofluorescence is the absorption of
light by chemical compounds known
as “fluorophores” at one wavelength
(typically blue or ultraviolet) and reemission
at another (often blue, green,
or red). The exact mechanisms behind
biofluorescence vary by species and
are not always known, but pigments
containing fluorophores have been
documented in snail slime, damselfly
wings, and even penguin feathers.
Many animals can see ultraviolet (UV)
light, and therefore the biofluorescent
glow. Humans, however, must use
special tools – like blue lights and optical
filters – to perceive it.
Although scientists documented
UV fluorescence in plants as long
ago as 1845, vertebrate fluorescence
is a relatively novel field of research,
with new discoveries happening all
the time. In 2019, biologists learned
that all three North American flying
squirrel species glow bright pink in response
to UV light. They hypothesized
that fluorescence could be a form of
camouflage; flying squirrels use the
same habitat at the same time of night
as barred, barn, and great horned owls
– all of whom also fluoresce pink – so
the glow may help squirrels be seen as
fellow predators instead of prey.
In early 2020, Minnesota biologists
Jennifer Lamb and Matthew Davis
published the first comprehensive
study of UV and blue light biofluorescence
in amphibians. All 32 species
they tested – including five frogs
and four salamanders native to New
England – fluoresced in some way,
although glow intensity, color, and
pattern varied widely.
It is perhaps unsurprising that the
spotted salamander’s eponymous
spots fluoresced brightly, as did other
salamanders exhibiting bold patterns
and hues. However, even amphibians
without distinctive markings glowed,
sometimes in unexpected ways. Take,
for example, the marbled salamander,
whose teeth and toe bones fluoresced
under UV light like a neon green x-
ray. Its cloaca – the opening through
which both waste (urine) and reproductive
material (spermatophores
for males, eggs for females) passes –
gleamed brightest of all.
This spring, eager to sneak my
We were off. And rolling.
From one bead of the tire to the other, the
great iron horse swayed along the windy turns
of yet another Vermont road. You could almost
imagine the wheelbase extending as you sink
in the deepest part of the turn and then popping
you out at the end, so similar to the feel of
a deep slalom turn on skis. As you finish one
turn, the gravitational forces release and let you
roll the bike over to the next. It’s so beautiful
and calming, although I’m still not sure how
something can feel so like being in a slalom race
while simultaneously being like a newborn
babe being lulled to sleep in one of those side to
Livin’ the dream > 25
own peek into the secret psychedelic
lives of my neighborhood amphibians,
I bought a handheld UV light
and headed out to a nearby pond on a
rainy night. One of the first thunderstorms
of the season had just swept
through, and scores of amphibians
were taking advantage of the wet
ground and swampy air to make their
way into and out of the water.
I shined my light on several species
as they paused pond side, starting
with an American toad. With the
exception of small fluorescent specks
radiating from the bony ridges atop its
head, the toad was woefully devoid of
glimmer. The bullfrog, spring peeper,
and leopard frog, however, did not
disappoint. When bathed in UV light,
the eyes of all three species emerged
from the darkness as gleaming bluegreen
orbs.
Why the glow? No one really
knows, at least not yet, although the
new study suggests some intriguing
possibilities. In moving between
aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems,
amphibians experience complex
light environments: light shining
through water, for instance, or
dappled by leaves on its way to the
forest floor. Many amphibians are
also active at night or twilight, when
blue and UV light are more prevalent,
and have eye structures that are
particularly sensitive to blue light.
It’s possible, then, that biofluorescence
helps amphibians find one
another in low- or changing-light
environments, with cloacal fluorescence
potentially playing a role in
courtship.
It’s a whole new world, and we’re
lucky just to bask in its mysterious
glow.
Brett Amy Thelen is Science Director
at the Harris Center for Conservation
Education in Hancock, New Hampshire.The
illustration for this column
was drawn by Adelaide Tyrol. The
Outside Story is assigned and edited by
Northern Woodlands magazine and
sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology
Fund of New Hampshire Charitable
Foundation: nhcf.org.
Time to buy spring
bulbs
You may not be ready to think about spring bulbs when
fall hasn’t arrived yet, but now is the time to do just that!
Finding the bulbs you want amidst the pandemic could be
a challenge. It’s a good idea to begin the quest now especially
if you want a choice of color and
early/mid/late season varieties.
Your local garden centers will
have the most popular bulbs
namely, daffodils, tulips and
hyacinths. But you may need to do
some catalog or internet shopping
to find varieties of these flowers
with bloom times that span over
Looking
Forward
By Mary Ellen Shaw
the course of a month.
So why do bulbs need to be
planted in the fall when most
gardening chores are coming to an
end? Most of the spring-flowering
bulbs require a period of “chilling” or cold dormancy before
they will begin to grow and bloom. In Vermont this happens
naturally every year. So just plant the bulbs in the fall and
they will get the required cold treatment. If you want to
experiment with some unusual bulbs be sure to select ones
that are hardy to Zone 3 or 4. I have found that protected areas
allow flowers to grow that won’t succeed in open areas.
The root growth of the bulbs starts in the fall and then the
bulbs rest throughout the winter. In spring when the warm
temperatures arrive the blooming process begins and our
How much will you
need for retirement?
Money
Matters
By Kevin Theissen
Looking forward > 28
“Will I outlive my retirement money?”
That’s one of the top fears for people who are starting
to prepare for their retirement years.
So I have to tilt my head a bit
when I see headlines that say,
“Here’s how much money Americans
think they need to retire
comfortably.”
$1.9 million is the number,
according to a nationwide survey
of 1,000 employed 401(k) participants
by a well-known financial
services company. In 2019, the
same survey reported the number
was $1.7 million. But this year’s
pandemic increased the total by
$200,000.
The figure is $1.9 million, a realistic figure for retirement?
It’s hard to say. The survey didn’t ask participants
how they arrived at that figure or what information they
used to draw that conclusion.
Determining how much money you need in retirement
is a process. It shouldn’t be a number that you pull out
of thin air. The process should include looking at your
current financial situation and developing an approach
based on your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. The
process should take into consideration all your potential
sources of retirement income, and also may project what
your income would look like each year in retirement. A
significant figure like $1.9 million does little good if you’re
uncertain what it means for your retirement years.
Ultimately, your ideal retirement is based on your
expectations of maintaining your standard of living
“forever” and then passing on something significant to
your family and friends. So, develop a retirement strategy
designed to help you pursue the retirement you deserve.
Kevin Theissen, is the owner of HWC Financial.