I have been following Oregon Public Radio quite closely this week and was delighted to discover an NPR story about the Giant Tree Lobster (Dryococelus australis). Not that I am an expert on tree lobsters, mind you, but it was an irresistible story and I recommend it.
Dryococelus australis. Photo credit: Peter Halasz (Used under Creative Commons license)
I could have heard the Giant Tree Lobster story on Interlochen Public Radio, but I was busy following the news from my ancestral lands. There is more good news on that front, too. The remaining armed militants occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge surrendered peacefully yesterday. Hallelujah. I have two heroes in all of this mess: Harney County Sheriff David Ward and the OPB staff. (Unlike the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, I give awards for ensemble brilliance.)
I am resolved to stop grousing about the weather. Yesterday we had some lovely sunshine. In honor of the occasion Dale Reedy plowed my driveway again and I was able to go out to play.
More good news. I ran into Jim King in the produce aisle at the Eastport Market yesterday. He was just back from an agricultural conference and full of excitement about new developments in apples. He was also full of good stories about the old days in the orchards, which in the case of King Orchards is about 35 years ago. Some of the good stories are about the Old Guys who taught the King brothers what they’d learned in the even older days. (I will extract details and tell you finished stories in due course.)
That’s what I like about Antrim County. Change happens every day. There’s always something new to learn. And we always try to keep in mind how we got here.
Torch Lake Views 
P.j. grath
February 12, 2016
Hooray on the end of that ordeal — and on the apples — and the sunshine! Seeing sunshine here, too, which is a nice antidote to the agony of a new tablet device…. But no grousing, right?
Gerry
February 12, 2016
Wait, wait – no hooray for the Giant tree lobster? OK, I won’t grouse. Wind’s blowing here now, but maybe it will blow me some sunshine from across the Bay. Good luck with the new tablet. I am envious. But not grousing!
Martha
February 12, 2016
“Old days”…1980s. If you live long enough, everyone gets to say the same thing: “It seems like yesterday”.
If ya want sunshine, ya get subzeros. On the way to minus 25 here. But it’s sunny. Heavy sigh. Glad you got some sunshine, too.
Gerry
February 12, 2016
I looooove sunshine. We are having some, um, chilliness, too. We are laundering our long underwear.
tootlepedal
February 12, 2016
I am glad that the siege ended peacefully. I was a bit worried about death and glory.
Gerry
February 12, 2016
I think you were quite right to worry about that. I also think that the steady calm of the Harney County Sheriff was a wonderful thing. We could use more of that sort of behavior.
Craig Smith
February 13, 2016
Giant tree lobsters–mighty fine eatin’ for the pennies they cost. And those durned kids finally got off the lawn!
Gerry
February 13, 2016
I should send you the link to the foodie competition to create delicious dishes from invasive species. Crayfish. Crayfish were a good example. Also bullfrogs. Who knew?
uphilldowndale
February 13, 2016
I read the report of the end of the siege in our trusty news paper, I heaved a sigh of relief.
Gerry
February 13, 2016
I did, too. Now begins the long court process. It occurs to me to wonder how they’ll ever be able to seat a jury.
uphilldowndale
February 13, 2016
It is indeed a very romantic story of tree lobsters!
Gerry
February 13, 2016
I thought so too.
WOL
February 14, 2016
When the past is laced into the present, the future has a stable place to stand. I just made that up, but it says what I meant.
Gerry
February 14, 2016
And says it very well, too. I like what you made up.
Karma
February 14, 2016
Giant tree lobsters? Yikes! I will admit when I saw the headline of this blog post in my email I was rather confused. Is this a lobster that lives in a tree or lobster that lives in the sea but looks like a tree? Alas, the picture displayed at the start of this post did not clear up my conundrum. I clicked your link to discover neither of my thoughts were really correct, that in fact it is a large scary looking bug. Then again, my husband does refer to traditional lobsters as “cockroaches of the sea” so perhaps there is some connection here.
Gerry
February 14, 2016
But-but- they’re really nice scary looking bugs! Boy, I’m glad I didn’t save them for Valentine’s Day.
shoreacres
February 14, 2016
I took one look and thought, “Crawfish!” But, they clearly aren’t related to our mudbugs, if they live in trees. It’s a fascinating story — particularly the link between their food and reproduction. After all, even for humans, a nice dinner out on Valentine’s day often seems just the ticket.
The “giant tree” part of the description raised a memory. I know I’ve shared it, but perhaps not here. When I lived in Liberia, there were giant tree snails. They were quite large — sometimes the size of a softball, and sometimes a good bit larger. They were eaten, but they were tough. They had to be pounded first, to tenderize them.
I came home one afternoon to an off-balance washing machine. My creative houseboy had decided the paddles were a neat way to relieve himself of the need to pound snails. To my knowledge, he never did it again, but I can’t be sure.
Gerry
February 14, 2016
I think they look like crawfish, but our crawfish don’t live in trees either. Perhaps the Giant Tree Lobsters are simply a very advanced variation on the humble mudbug. Who knows – one day they might learn to fly.
I was very glad to have the story about Liberian tree snails, although they will probably be nightmare fodder sometime soon.