GO OUTDOORS! nature event planned for the Hill Country; Avian intelligence and high school attitudes

In loving memory of our dear deer Genevieve,

June 22, 1997 - February 2, 2005.

She gave us the great blessing

of her love and made the years so good.

Bebe & Sissy Fenstermaker

Spring is coming even though the cold, grey days seem to never end. Ahead will be days of wildflowers, agarita fragrance, mountain laurels covered in violet bloom, sunshine and migrating spring birds. There will be little calves arriving who will go bucking and tearing around their indulgent mothers. One gets hungry for spring.

We are preparing for GO OUTDOORS!, a nature event dreamed up by our Nature Tourism Committee and sponsored by the Boerne Chamber of Commerce and dedicated area sponsors. It offers wonderful opportunities to get out into the open Hill Country springtime and go bird watching, hiking, kayaking, river rafting, see a cave, hear a nature talk, go fishing, biking, or fly a kite. Our offering includes outings to suit all tastes and is scheduled for March 18 and 19, the week of Spring Break. Public and private lands will be open, many by special arrangement, in the Boerne, Texas area. There will be guided and unguided outings and reservations are required at some sites. Fees have been kept to a minimum so that families are encouraged to come. Our brochures are out and the site information is also available on the Chamber of Commerce's website at www.boerne.org (click on Nature Tourism).

Our participants will be:

Bexar County: Maverick Ranch-Fromme Farm -- bird watching; Sparkling Springs Nature Lodge -- nature walk; Friedrich Wilderness Park -- hiking.

Kendall County: Cibolo Nature Center -- kite flying; Cave Without a Name -- cave tour; Joshua Creek Ranch -- fishing; Tapatio Springs -- mountain bicycling; Britton's Bicycle Shop -- bicycling; Guadalupe River State Park/Honey Creek -- hiking; Bergheim Campground -- river rafting and kayaking; Old Tunnel -- nature talks on insects, geology, birds, and plants. Some events will take place on both days; several are one-day-only.

Our plan is to make this a yearly event and we would love to see our friends from Webb County and the surrounding area.

Bebe Fenstermaker

The article “Minds of Their Own: Birds Gain Respect” by Sandra Blakeslee appeared in the New York Times in early February. It explained why we might want to cease using “birdbrain” as a term of ridicule. Scientists have found similarities in some of the behavior of crows and parrots to be as intelligent as that of chimpanzees. A consortium of 29 scientists from six different countries, meeting over a seven-year period, says that “the avian brain is as complex, flexible, and inventive as any mammalian brain.” According to the group, practically all the information found in anatomy textbooks on the avian brain is wrong. This international group is developing “new, more accurate names for structures in both avian and mammalian brains.” Scientists do agree that birds are smart; however, those that study avian intelligence disagree on how they got that way. Ms. Blakeslee's article discusses the main differences of scientific opinion.

Certain bird species are known to be able to fashion complex tools for foraging purposes. Carrion crows in Japan have been observed placing walnuts in the paths of oncoming vehicles. Once the shells have been cracked the birds will retrieve them and pick out the meat. I have witnessed grackles placing pecans in puddles of water to soften the shell. When later they retrieve the nut it is easily cracked with their beaks. They will also drop pieces of dry dog food into shallow water, later retrieving it.

“Not unlike mammals, some birds are smarter than others, according to Dr. Erich D. Jarvis, a neuroscientist at Duke University. Given their range of behaviors, they are extraordinarily flexible in their intelligence quotients. ‘They're right up there with hominids,' he says.”

I recently read an article off the Internet that was quite disturbing. In a recent survey of high school attitudes, from around the country, by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the First Amendment did not fare so well. When asked if they thought about the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, only 27 percent of the students said they did, while 50 percent each of the teachers and administrators groups asked said they did. What I found particularly chilling was the fact that “more than one in three high school students said it goes ‘too far' in the rights it guarantees.” Imagine, the cornerstone to our way of life which guarantees us the freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly goes “too far!” The survey also found that the students surveyed were “more restrictive in their views than their elders.” The survey did find there was “a lack of knowledge of U.S. civics and history among young people.” Many schools have had to drop their media activities due to a lack of money. Therefore, the students do not have an “opportunity to practice our basic freedoms.”

Sissy Fenstermaker