Bouncing Bet

Dear Lilliputian ,

Do you see the flower photo up above ? It is called Bouncing Bet . Don't you think that is a funny name for a flower that really doesn't bounce . I would have called it Pink & White because if you look closely at the photo . . . this plant has flowers that are pink and on the very same plant it will have white flowers . It also has a few other names that people like to call it  . . .

Soapwort , Goodbye Summer , and my favorite . . . Crow Soap . I wonder if Crows use it to wash their handsome little faces ?

Did you know that Bouncing Bet's  leaves and flowers magically becomes soap . It just looks like a very ordinary flower , but if you know how . . . you can wash your hands with this flower instead of the soap in your bathroom . Not only does it wash your hands very nicely . . . but the suds become a pretty green . . . Maybe the fairies use the leaves or flower petals as a little tiny wash cloth ?

I am not the only person to know that this flowering plant can turn into soap . All through history people all over the world have used Bouncing Bet to wash wool , to bathe sheep before they are sheared , and also people who liked to make felt out of sheep's wool used Bouncing Bet to relax the wool fibers when making wool felt .

 Bouncing Bet was not always growing in New England where you and I live . . . but our Pilgrim ancestors brought seeds over from Europe on boats to plant so they could grow it here in Massachusetts to use as soap . And . . . because they planted Bouncing Bet in their gardens hundreds of years ago . . . we now have it growing in fields and all along road sides in New England . 

If you would like to make some green soap suds . . . pick some leaves and flowers from the Bouncing Bet plant and put the leaves and flowers in a bowl of warm water for a minute or two . 

Then pick up a handful of wet leaves and flowers and rub them together like they are a bar of soap in your hands . It takes a few minutes . . . but not long .

Well , I hope you have some Bouncing Bet growing near you so you can try this fairy soap . 

Make sure you scrub your hands nice and clean with your lovely flower soap . 

Speaking of fairies . . . you might like a picutre book called Thumbelina by Hans Christian Anderson and this one was illustrated by a friend of mine . . . Lauren Mills . 

 Or , if you would like a longer book , Mistress Marsham's Repose by T. H. White it is all about Lilliputians , who are very much like fairies but they don't have magicalness about them . In this story there is also a little girl who gets to know the Lilliputians and protects them from a mean ol' nanny and gardener . It might be a story someone can read to you on long Summer afternoons . 

Well , until next time ,
Wildbee

Once in a Blue Moon

Dear Lilliputian ,

In about a week on July 31st ,  in the sky will rise , what is called a Blue Moon . Will it be blue . . . probably not .  But , when people mention a Blue Moon they are usually talking about the saying " It happened once in a Blue Moon " . When some one says " It happens once in a Blue Moon . " . . . they mean it doesn't happen very often . . . for instance . . . I rarely ever see an Owl . . . so I could say , " I see an Owl once in a Blue Moon " . What is a Blue Moon ? Well , when you are a young child you may not realize that the Moon appears to be growing smaller or growing larger all month long . It can be just a sliver of a Moon , or a half Moon , and of course the full Moon like in the photo above . Usually we get to see a full Moon only once a month . But every now and again we see a full Moon in the beginning of the month and another full moon at the end of the same month . This second Moon is what is called a Blue Moon . About three years ago , 2012 ,  there was a month that had two full Moons . Now on the 31st of this month there will be a Blue Moon . And after this one we will not see another one until the year 2018 , three years from now . Lets say you are six years old . . . that means that when you were three years old there was a Blue Moon , and after this one in July there won't be another one until you are nine years old . 

So you can see they don't happen very often and this is why I think they are special .

There is something very special about a night with a full moon . It is quiet , and mysterious , and a little magical .

When my children were young there was a Blue Moon in the Winter . To celebrate the Blue Moon we gathered up our sleds and some friends and headed to the top of Church Hill where we could watch the Blue Moon rise up over a mountain near by while sitting on our sleds .  As soon as the   Moon's face was up in the sky we all went sledding in the light of the Blue Moon . 

One of the reasons we did this was because now we can say that " We went sledding once in a Blue Moon ".  I am writing to you about this because a Blue Moon is going to happen this Summer when there is no school and I thought that maybe you and your parents or grandparents can plan something special . . . Watch the Moon rise by the ocean and dance around as it comes up at  8:04 pm . Maybe blow bubbles as the moon rises because they are the same shape as the Moon . If you know where there is a nice view of where the Moon rises . . . maybe bring some chairs and some bottles of Lemonade and sing some of your favorite songs as loud as you can and sip the Lemonade as you watch the Moon rise . Summer is such a fun time of year why not plan something special for the Blue Moon rising and then you can say " I did ___________ once in a Blue Moon  " .

Two very beautiful children's picture books are Wait til the Moon is Full by Margaret Wise Brown , which I mentioned in the last letter , and Owl Moon by Jane Yolen .

Maybe you could read these books as the Blue Moon rises . Oh yes . . . don't forget the bug spray .

Until next time ,

Wildbee

Did you know there is an ice cream called Blue Moon Ice Cream . . . 

Raccoon

Dear Lilliputian,

Well , as you know , this is a Raccoon . But did you know that the Raccoon is a close relative of the bear family . The Raccoon doesn't look much like a bear . . . but then you and I are relatives and we don't look much like each other . This little creature is smarter than your average cat . It also has 51 sounds that it can make . Some of the sounds are chattering , tweeting , whimpering , purring , whining , snarling , growling , hissing , and the Raccoon can even scream . They also are not very picky when it comes to eating . They eat . . . acorns , leaves , grasshoppers , crickets , worms , frogs , clams , turtles , turtle's eggs , snakes , fish , squirrels , grapes , berries , apples , nuts and eggs , just to name a few . Oh and don't forget Chickens !

Raccoons have very nice little hands . Their hands are a little like ours because they have five fingers and that makes it so they can do rather clever things with their hands . Like , unlock doors , open latches on cages or doors , untie shoe laces , and much , much more . Their hands are very sensitive . . . and scientists today think that is why they are always getting their hands wet and also their food wet . It looks like they are washing their food or hands . . .but scientists think that they do this to heighten their sense of touch . In other words if they are struggling to open a clam shell for their lunch . . . they get their hands wet so they may be able to feel the shell better and be able to open the shell a little easier .

There are a lot of Raccoons that live in Massachusetts where you and I live . . . Once apon a time there was also a President of the United States that lived in this state of ours . His name was President Calvin Coolidge . When he was President he had a pet Raccoon that lived at the White house with him and Mrs . Grace Coolidge . They named their little pet Rebecca . Rebecca didn't think much of the fine big mansion that the President lived in  . . .  but she did love his bath tub . If he put a few inches of water in his tub and bar of soap . . . Rebecca would play for a good hour splashing and slipping while she chased the soap around the tub . Above is a photograph of Mrs . Grace Coolidge holding Rebecca . 

I love any book about a full moon and I like it is even better when it is a book about a full moon with Raccoons in it . This is a fun book to read . . . you should see if it is at your local library . 

Until next time ,

Wildbee

Squirrels

Dear Lilliputian,

This is a photo of a Grey Squirrel . I believe that every Lilliputian that reads this has a Squirrel or two as a neighbor .  In fact almost everyone does . Squirrels live all over the world. In the map down below it shows in yellow where Squirrels live . The tan - brown areas are where they don't live .  I think it is interesting that Australia and Greenland are the only countries that don't have Squirrels . Can you point to where we live on this map , and can you guess where Australia and Greenland are ?

I was reading about Squirrels and one of the things I read was about how Squirrel's bury their food . They collect mostly acorns and seeds and they dig little holes to bury them in . They do this mostly in the fall to make sure that they have food put aside for the winter . You and I put our food in the cabinets , drawers, and refrigerators , and because Squirrels don't have cabinets , drawers or refrigerators they dig a little hole and put their food in there . . . Then they bury it . . . sort of like you and and I shut the cabinet door or close the drawer .   Now the Squirrel has a bit of secret trick that he plays on other animals , mainly other Squirrels , and it is that they also " fake " bury their acorns . The Squirrel knows how important its buried food supply is going to be this cold , snowy winter and it doesn't want any other animal to steal his food supply .  When the Squirrel thinks someone is watching him . . . he digs a fake hole and pretends to put an acorn or two into the little hole and then he quickly covers it up . When the Squirrel thief digs and finds out that there are no acorns buried in the " fake " holes . . . he will eventually stop spying on the other Squirrel . Have you ever had to hide a toy or some Halloween candy from a brother or sister . . . ? Well , that is just what the Squirrel is doing .
Don't you think they are very clever ?

I don't know if you enjoy Maple syrup on your pan cakes , but I do know that Squirrels enjoy Maple sap . They will use their sharp little teeth to gnaw a little hole into the Maple tree . When the sap leaks out the Squirrel leaves it to sort of dry on the side of the tree .  The Squirrel later returns and he licks the tree where the sap has dried and has become a bit like our Maple Syrup . Yum !
Scientists have just started noticing that Squirrels like Maple sap , but there is a story still told about an Iroquois Indian child that lived a long time ago that noticed a Squirrel making a small hole in the bark of a Maple tree to let the sap leak out and then the Squirrel left the sap to dry and when the Iroquois child saw the Squirrel return he watched again and saw that the Squirrel came back to lick the Maple sap on the tree . The child decided to try it . He made a little hole with his knife and then returned later to lick the spot where he too discovered a sweet treat .  If this story is true about how the Northeastern American Iroquois Indians started collecting Maple sap to make Maple syrup , and  later taught the Pilgrims to do the same , then that is why you have Maple syrup on your pancakes today . Don't you think that

the next time you see a squirrel gathering seeds or acorns in your backyard  . . . you might want to say " Thank you " .

A book you may enjoy this summer is a short story by Beatrix Potter titled The Tale  of Squirrel Nutkin .

I have always wondered . . . was the author of The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin being funny when she called this story a Tale . . . seeing that one of the beautiful things about a Squirrel is it's Tail . . . ?

Until next time ,
Wildbee

Evening Lychnis

Dear Lilliputians , 

Here is another one of those flowers that you might pass by and never know how interesting it really is . This is a flower that really only likes Moths . I bet you didn't know that flowers have likes and dislikes . This flower does not really like Bees or Butterflies to come and visit , and this pretty flower does not like Ants or Flies to come to visit . You see when an insect or bug comes to visit a flower . . . they are coming because . . . can you guess ? Yes , that is correct , most flowers have a wee bit of nectar way down inside the very center of the flower and this nectar is like insect candy .  The Evening Lychnis only wants to share the nectar with Moths . So this flower does not open its petals early every morning like most flowers . . . this flower opens up its petals at night . The reason it opens at night time is because that is when the Moths wake up and go out to get something to eat . Moths aren't usually around during the day . . . that is when they are sleeping . So just as the Moth is getting up the Evening Lychnis is opening its petals . This flower is white so that the Moths can better see it when it is dark . Let me ask you something . . . have you ever smelled a flower ? Some flowers smell so sweet and the Evening Lychnis is one of them . . . but if you walk by it during the day time and you bend down to smell it . . . you will smell very little or nothing at all because this flower only releases its perfume around 8:00 at night untill about 3:00 in the morning when it is still very dark . The smell helps the Moths to find its way to this evening beauty . 

In this photo you are looking into the very center of the flower . Do you see those curly sort of things right in the center ? Those are Stamen . . . they will grow during the first day until they stick out of the flower . . . But by the second day the Stamen curl backwards and lay down on the petals like they are in the photo below . So next time you walk by this flower thinking it is just standing there doing nothing ,  it is really growing Stamen , and hiding its sweet smell . 

One more way the flower fools other insects to think that it has no nectar is it curls up its petals and looks sort of dead . You can see in the photo above that the petals have started to curl up . Another thing that this flower has done  to keep Ants and Flies from taking its nectar is it has grown sticky hair .  Do you see how hairy it is . I think it needs a shave . Also if you look closely you  may see a few bugs that were trying to get to the nectar but couldn't because they got stuck . Remember you can click on the photos to make them bigger .

So tonight as you are going to sleep remember the Evening Lychnis is just waking up . And I just want you to know that even though this flower really only likes Moths . . . it is not an unkind flower . . . It will usually keep its petal from curling up for a few hours every morning in case there is a hungry Bee or Butterfly passing by. If there is any nectar left to sip the Bee or Butterfly are welcome to it . Now remember , if you are outside playing and you see a patch of Evening Lychnis . . . remember it has been up all night feeding hungry Moths so play quietly while it is sleeping .

There is one nature writer that I like because I like the main character of his books . . . Crinkleroot is his name . Here is a quote from Crinkleroot .

“Hello. My name is Crinkleroot. I was born in a tree and raised by bees! I can speak caterpillar, moth, and butterfly, all at the same time. And I know every wild critter in the great outdoors”   

And here is his book Crinkleroot's Guide to knowing Butterflies and Moths by Jim Arnosky . I think you will like the Crinkleroot books too .

Did you know that next week starts National Moth Week ( July 18 - 26 )

Until next time ,

Wildbee