How I Got Started as a Naturalist

When I was about 3 or 4 years old, I pretty much had my eyes glued to the ground when I was outside.  I was pretty good at pattern recognition so I knew when I found something out of the ordinary.  For example, in the days before Chem-lawn, my dad kept a meticulous half acre lot, but it was loaded with things like white clover and dandelion, mostly because the house was built on former cow pasture, so wild seeds were always nearby.  I remember spotting feathery leafy plants mixed into the grass at the edge of the driveway, which I would come to understand later in life that these were yarrow and wild carrot.  Similarly, after a winter of having a driveway sanded and shoveled, I would later find leftover quartz pebbles in the springtime, because I thought they were pretty.  This was the kind of child that needed to be taken to a Natural History museum immediately.  Parents, take note.

At the end of our street was a vacant lot that was designated as "open space".  It wasn't quite large enough to put a house on it, so they left it to go wild.  Us kids would ride our Big Wheels down to this lot and of course, we explored like crazy even though we never had a name for what we were doing.  I can still list the kinds of wildflowers that were growing like crazy in that field:

• oxeye daisy
• black-eyed susans
• goldenrod
• purple clover
• purple thistles
• cow vetch
• butter & eggs

... among many others.

Oxeye Dasies are not native to North America, but they are easy to grow.

It was in that field that I caught my first butterflies.  I think I had a glass jar full of them!  Regrettably, I learned the hard way that you needed to poke holes in the lid so that they could breathe, but that's another story altogether.  Hindsight tells me these were probably skippers of some sort.  They were dusty orange, and I tried to tell my mother they were all sleeping.

Not a Skipper, but probably a (Silver-Borderd) Fritillary

The back portion of our own lot, like most on that side of the street, were left wooded.  I didn't spend much time on tree identification, but I can tell you with certainty that we had several species of violets, ferns, and berries in that bit of space.  If we were ever issued the command to "go play outside," this was never a problem for me, at least, unless I didn't know how to identify poison ivy, which I couldn't.  After years of suffering, calamine lotion, and steroid shots, Cub Scouts fixed this permanently for me.  

Marsh Violets, similar to ones found behind our old house.

But until that point, the other mishap story that I love to tell is that my mother eventually learned that she always needed to check my pockets before doing the laundry.  I remember one time at a family gathering, she gave a list of what she'd find... pebbles, rocks, even live caterpillars!  I think the bits of broken crayons that made it to the dryer (and consequently, all over everyone else's clothes) fixed this for both of us.

So what's the takeaway here?  I think anyone, at any age, can cultivate curiosity, and with that, the observations will come.  Skills like plant identification need not be intimidating, as they are a natural consequence of traipsing through the woods and meadows.  You don't need epic wilderness to get started.  All you need is your own back yard or nearby park, and your eyes and ears.  How this plays out for you is your story.  Don't be afraid of mistakes.  Lord knows, I wasn't.

I eventually got my wish to visit a natural history museum.  More on that later.

I later went on to a successful career in Scouting.  Much, much more on that later.

And as an adult, I check my pockets more carefully now before doing the wash.

What is a Naturalist anyway?

 So let's start with defining what I mean by "a naturalist."  The term is not to be confused with a "naturist" who likes to run around with no clothes on.  I mean, if this is how you want to pursue the study of nature, by all means, please do so and I'll invest in the mosquito repellent industry!

Simply put, a naturalist is one who studies nature.  Some Google searches will take you to definitions that talk about degree requirements for becoming a professional naturalist.  This is fine too, although most of us seasoned adults have chosen our respective careers and aren't going back to school any time soon.  If you should decide on a mid-life career change after reading this blog, again, more power to you!  Some younger people who are just starting may wish to focus their academics on environmental sciences, and that would be awesome.

People like you and me are either amateur naturalists, or in my case, accidental naturalists (I made that last part up; don't Google it).  Don't be misled by the term "amateur," because a lot of science today is performed by citizen scientists.  Should you decide to go that route, I applaud you for your efforts, and I'll see you out there someday! But meanwile, many of us go to nature to seek peace and to recharge our batteries.  You can do this, and do it with a purpose.

Skeeter the legendary accidental naturalist

So what does an amateur naturalist do?  First and foremost, we spend time observing nature.  Genrally speaking, we will also record our findings.  With these two basic ideas in mind, there are limitless options on how you can do these things, based on your level of curiosity and skills.  For example:

• You could photograph wildflowers
• You could go birdhunting
• You could start an artistic nature journal
• You could go hiking and log what species you see
• You could plant a butterfly garden
• You could become a rockhound
• You can make dioramas with moss and plastic dinosaurs!
• Entomology is always fun, photo-wise or mounting-wise
• Amateur skywatching is never out of the question...

You get the idea...

There are many ways to have fun as a naturalist.

What kind of equipment do you need?  At a bare minimum, you need your eyes and ears.  That's it.  But gear sometimes makes a hobby more fun.  What you'll need depends on what you want to do.  For those looking for a more definitive list, I'll give you my own list of things I take with me into the field on any given day:

• A camera (usually my cell phone)
• A notebook and pencil
• A field guide or two
• A canteen of water
• A snack
• Insect repellant
• Extra socks
• A bag or rucksack to put it all in
• And an awesome hat (on my head)

I mean, you've gotta have a really cool hat.

What's in your bag?  And how cool is your hat?

Getting started is easy.  To paraphrase what I saw on another site earlier... start now by looking out your window.  BOOM, you're a naturalist.

Let's Go On An Adventure

 I am not sure where this obsession first started.  I mean, I was never a huge Indiana Jones fan, but I always liked to be outside.  Maybe the foundations were laid when I was a lad, suddenly designated as the Troop Historian and I was suddenly aware that I had to pay attention to everything going on around me.  Maybe it was just that I liked to identify things around me with the help of a half dozen Golden Guides.

But then one day, decades later, a friend of mine proposed that we "go on dinosaur safari."  And then, an idea was born.  It sorta manifested with a little still life I made, that looked like this:

I don't know what this meant, or where we were going, but the idea of heading off on an adventure, real or imagined, suddenly struck a chord with me.  I mean, who doesn't love dinosaurs?  How many of us used to pretend when we were kids that we were explorers, romping around in woods and meadows, picking up crystal-like rocks or catching fireflies?  There was magic in a new discovery, waiting around every corner, every tree.  And then we grew up.

Well I'm here to tell you that whether you're six or sixty, you can still approach the world with that same sense of wonder that a kid has.  I mean, sometimes we all need to get out into nature for a little bit and forget about the burdens of the day, right?  Sometimes you just need a moment to slow down, to look, and to listen to nature... and there's so many ways to do this.  

And sometimes you need an awesome hat when you're doing this.  

My name is Skeeter, and I'm probably the most unfamous naturalist that you've never heard of.  Welcome to my new blog.  Come with me.  Let's go on adventure.  We just might see some dinosaurs!