The 2009 version of Bend’s Big Fat Tour this past weekend was epic as usual. I don’t really know that because I was a wimp and only did the two-day recreational ride rather than the three-day “Epic” (I had to work Friday – that’s my excuse). But I did see what riders looked like after completing all 148 miles of dirt and lava rock and I think the name was appropriate.

Now in its 15^th year, the BBFT is the brainchild of Paul Thomasberg, who constructs new routes each year designed to test the mettle of the toughest mountain bikers. This year, the weather forecast was downright horrendous, which would have added to the “epicness” for sure, but instead riders were blessed with three days of perfect trail and riding conditions.

Recently, the doors to the world were opened wider for 32 students from Molly Grove’s 6th-grade class at Pilot Butte Middle School as they explored the ecosystem of the Metolius River – thanks to the efforts of Salmon Watch, an education program within The Freshwater Trust’s Healthy Waters Institute.

James Bartlett, PGE fisheries biologist (AKA a “fish-squeezer”) was ready for the first group of students eager to learn more about the fish that ply the Metolius. About 100 yards upriver, Larry Morse, water quality specialist for the City of Redmond was preparing his tools for teaching the students about the chemistry and quality of the river waters.

There are a lot of people throughout Central Oregon who think it’s cool to tame mule deer so they can pet them. That, Oh Best Beloved, is one of the dumbest things anyone can do.

Then there’s the business of people baiting cougars by attracting deer to their back yards. That’s equally as dumb. I know one guy near Sisters who feeds carrots to mule deer by hand. Some day either the deer will beat his head in or perhaps a cougar will decide man meat is better than deer meat.

Leave game animals to be just that, Dear Readers—”game.” It’s unlawful to “bait” deer during hunting season anyway and in my book it’s just plain dumb to bait cougar at any time. But having said all that, there’s the business of feeding birds and our little Mountain Chickadee is trusting enough that it is often “tamed” and will come down to a human finger in hopes of finding a sunflower seed.

This is the time of year when birds and other wildlife unlucky enough to not have their normal colors become very noticeable, such as “leucisitic,” “albino” and “partial albino” forms. These unfortunate victims of a quirk of nature lack their natural colors that would normally protect them from the energy of our sun, keep them safe from inquisitive humans and predators, and be accepted as a member of their own social group.

Even the parents of their own young will sometimes shy away from their offspring if they’re too far off their normal appearance. Once an albino robin begins to appear “different,” the parents will eventually try to avoid it. The albino bird, on the other hand, doesn’t realize that it’s different and keeps trying to join the group. The two photos above are case in point. They are both “loaners,” a partial albino robin, and one that almost made it, but has black eyes, not the unpigmented red eyes of a “true albino.”

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home

Your house is on fire and your children are gone

All except one, and that’s Little Anne

For she has crept under the warming pan.

In Medieval England, farmers would set fire to old hop vines after the harvest in order to clear the fields for the next planting. The poem above was a warning to the ladybird beetles that were still crawling on the vines in search of aphids but it’s also a warning I heard as a kid when caught playing with those big, old kitchen matches.

Lady beetles are in the Order: Coleoptera: (wherein are all beetles), in the Family: Coccinellidae, and there are about 480 native species throughout North America. Many have colorful and descriptive names, such as: Convergent (for white lines that meet behind the head, sold most often for “pest-control”; Parenthesis (marks on the elytra—the wing covers on the abdomen); Two-spotted, Seven-spotted and Thirteen-spotted lady beetles, so named for the number of spots on the elytra.

If there is any one insect that helps to create something less than frantic fear in children for creepy-crawlies, it’s the lovable lady beetle. The other reason is that most people recognize lady beetles as friends to those who keep a kitchen garden or who love to grow honeysuckle without pestiferous aphids. In their lifetime, ladybird beetles devour tons of aphids, and that makes them our friend forever.

I can remember as a kid on the farm, my grandmother telling me that my fondest wish would be granted if a ladybird beetle landed on me and if I made a wish and then blew it “away back home.” When I hit 16, and Lila Grundy (who wore the most alluring lilac perfume) entered my life I was in search of lady beetles constantly...

Lady beetles start out their life as tiny eggs, about a tenth of a matchhead in size. The eggs hatch and a carnivorous larva bursts out, and with the ferocious appetite they have for anything smaller themselves, they do not stay tiny for long; within a week they have grown almost 100 percent their original size.

When the larva reaches maturity, the process of metamorphosis takes over and it builds a shell around itself, then begins changing from a larva to adult. To do this, the larva inside the shell breaks down into a biological soup, then the cells rearrange themselves and the adult lady beetle begins to form. And during this time, that “Spark of Life” remains somewhere in a cell.

From the moment the adult lady beetle crawls into the sunlight it’s eating something, usually whatever it bumps into - but it’s especially attracted to aphids. (It’s protected by their color and a sour-smelling oil secreted from the joints in its legs.) Over the millennia that lady beetles have been devouring aphids, I have a hunch there is some kind of sensory ability lady beetle larva and adults developed to locate aphids. I’ll also bet that it’s not a one-way street. Aphids are getting something out of it as well, but what? I don’t know, maybe more stealthy aphids? As Darwin taught us, “time will tell.”

In any event, in America, being a nation of “He who survives makes the most money,” entrepreneurs discovered there was money to be made selling lady beetles as “natural insect control.” And, boy oh boy, do they ever. Gardens Alive sells one package of “Sta-Home” Convergent Lady Beetles for $13.95, or three packages for $35.95.

That “Sta-Home” adjective is clever. Most of the time, when a package of store-bought lady beetles is released, they fly away immediately to help your neighbor. Sometimes it’s because it’s their “nature,” or they’ve been cooped up too long, or they were captured in Virginia and released in Oregon and have no idea what to do in such a strange environment.

In any event, if you’re thinking of buying beetles to eat your aphids, you might want to see what species they are and whether they can live around here. A call to the local OSU Extension office will set you on the right path and probably save you money.

If you go to Lowes website, they have a good page on natural insect control. Green Methods also has a great site (greenmethods.com/site/shop/buy-bugs), and provide proper instructions on how to keep lady beetles from “flying away home” after you’ve spent $20.99 for 4,500 of them.

A warning! Look out for anyone selling or giving away Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles. They have become a pest in many places and we don’t need them here.

In 1979 and 1980, the USDA (who should have known better) made several releases of Asian Lady Beetles throughout the eastern United States in an attempt to introduce them into North America. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams! It took a long time for them to establish themselves and spread, but by 1994, Asian Lady Beetles were found in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. They are now well established throughout North America, with frequent reports from the South, Northeast, Midwest and as far as our backyard.

Whatever you do in your garden, Oh Best Beloved, whether it be chemicals or natural control, please play it safe and call your local OSU Extension before you do it; you’ll save money and be kind to old Mother Nature. As I’ve said so often, She needs all the help She can get.