Harry W. Greene - Tracks and Shadows: Field Biology as Art

THE STEPHEN BECHTEL FUND

IMPRINT IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The Stephen Bechtel Fund has established this imprint to promote understanding and conservation of our natural environment.

Tracks and Shadows

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Stephen Bechtel Fund.

Tracks and Shadows

FIELD BIOLOGY AS ART

Harry W. Greene

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

BERKELEYLOS ANGELESLONDON

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

University of California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

2013 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Greene, Harry W., 1945.

Tracks and shadows : field biology as art / Harry W. Greene.

pagescm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-520-23275-4 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-520-95673-5 (ebook)

1. Greene, Harry W., 19452. BiologistsUnited StatesBiography.3. Nature.

QH31.G732013

570.92dc23

[B]2013020395

Manufactured in the United States of America

22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Natures Natural, a fiber that contains 30% post-consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z 39.48-1992 ( R 1997) ( Permanence of Paper ).

For Kelly, my beautiful and fearless companion...

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Natural history is woefully underfunded, despite timeless value, so I begin by thanking five farsighted individuals, with hopes others will follow their lead. Annie Alexander, who founded the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, was a sugar fortune heiress, explorer, big-game hunter, specimen collector, and visionary. From 1978 to 1998 her endowment provided core support for my research and teaching. Between 1997 and 2009, thanks to Canadian philanthropists Allan Stone and Susan Gibsons Lichen Foundationwithout proposals or reports!I visited far-flung locales, replaced worn-out equipment, advanced a controversial conservation initiative, felt rewarded for a heavy teaching load, and sponsored a Mexican student studying his native fauna. Allan and Susan became dear friends too, offering the sort of nonjudgmental advice one cherishes all the more as years go by. Last but not least, Dick and Joanne Bartletts Thinking Like a Mountain Foundation provided a beautiful Chihuahuan Desert setting for writing, and our conversations as well as their books (Bartlett and Krieger 1988; Bartlett and Williamson 1995) sustained my enthusiasm for Aldo Leopolds vision of a wild future.

Friends old and new provided information on everything from youthful escapades to snake biology, along with reviewing chapters, facilitating my travels, and broadening my worldview. With apologies to anyone forgotten and for not specifying individual contributions, I thank Ed Acua, Kraig Adler, Sofia Agudelo, Graham Alexander, Richard Allen, Ronn Altig, Melissa Amarello, John Anderson, Tom Anton, Brian Aquadro, Sir David Attenborough, Josiah Austin, Valer Austin, Randy Babb, Bruce Babbitt, Mary Bailey, Warner Bailey, Gary Baldwin, Lorraine Baldwin, Liz Balko, Dave Barker, Tony Barnosky, Steve Barten, Puja Batra, Aaron Bauer, Joel Berger, Bob Bezy, Chigiy Binell, Bernd Blossey, Christine Bogdanowitz, Steve Bogdanowitz, Sarah Boone, Dee Bowen, Carolyn Boyd, Beth Braker, Cinthia Brasileiro, Chris Brochu, Butch Brodie III, Dan Brooks, Jim Brown, Gordon Burghardt, Young Cage, Jonathan Campbell, John Carothers, Chuck Carpenter, Geoff Carpenter, David Cerasale, Dee Ann Chamberlain, Lauren Chan, Mark Chow, Jon Christensen, David Clark, Deborah Clark, Don Clark, Susan Clayton, Katie Colbert, Jay Cole, Tim Cole, Rob Colwell, Richard Conniff, Bob Corley, Margie Crisp, David Cundall, Chris Cuomo, Ralph Cutter, Shannon Davies, Mac Davis, Gage Dayton, Paul Dayton, Dan Decker, Arya Degenhardt, Alex Deufel, Tom Devitt, Tish Diffenbaugh, Josh Donlan, Mo Donnelly, Bob Drewes, Hugh Drummond, Bill Duellman, Beverly Dugan, Rob Dunn, Sandy Echternacht, Cody Edwards, Tom Eisner, Steve Emlen, Jim Estes, Chris Feldman, Lee Fitzgerald, Courtney Fitzpatrick, John Fitzpatrick, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Tom Fleischner, Michael Fogden, Patricia Fogden, Susan Fogden, Mercedes Foster, Laurence Frank, Carl Franklin, Caroline Fraser, Joe Furman, Marilia Gaiarsa, Gabe Gartner, Tom Gavin, Monica Geber, Cameron Ghalambor, Graeme Gibson, Susan Gibson, Larry Gilbert, Chris Giorni, Warner Glenn, Wendy Glenn, Matt Goode, George Gorman, Carol Gould, Marco Granzinolli, Nancy Greig, Mike Grundler, Celio Haddad, Kim Haines-Eitzen, Laurie Hall, Winnie Hallwachs, Mary Ann Handel, Jill Hanna, Bob Hansen, Jonathan Hanson, Roseann Hanson, Billie Hardy, David Hardy Sr., Matt Hare, Jim (snake venom) Harrison, Rick Harrison, Larry Hatteberg, Alden Hayes, Karen Hayes, Tom Headland, Tracy Heath, Eileen Hebets, Linda Hedges, Bob Henderson, Christie Henry, Hal Herzog, Troy Hibbits, Mary Lou Higgins, Ann Hillis, David Hillis, Justin Hite, Iris Holmes, Andy Holycross, Ron Hoy, Ray Huey, Mary Hufty, Lynne Isbell, Kate Jackson, Elliott Jacobson, Fabin Jaksic, Dan Janzen, Chris Jenkins, Jay Johnson, Bob Jones, Tom Jones, Jan Kalina, Yula Kapetanakos, Peter Kareiva, John Karges, Nancy Karraker, Nate Kley, Mimi Koehl, Walt Koenig, Alex Krohn, Travis LaDuc, Bill Lamar, Manuel Leal, Jeff Lemm, Estella Leopold, Harvey Lillywhite, Irby Lovette, Claudia Luke, Holly Lutz, Don Lyman, Sherry Machado, Steve Mackessy, Katie Mackinnon, Midge Marchaterra, Bryan Maritz, Otavio Marques, Emma Marris, Laura Martin, Paul Martin, Tom Martin, Marcio Martins, Ken McCloud, Robert McCurdy, Roy McDiarmid, Bill McGrew, Mike McRae, Katie Meier, Gerold Merker, Ardell Mitchell, Mark Moffett, Bill Montgomery, Patricia Morellato, Jim Morin, Josh Morse, Jen Moslemi, Caterina Myers, Shahid Naeem, Cristiano Nogueira, Erika Nowak, Kira Od, Pete Oxford, Craig Packer, Barbara Page, Chris Parkinson, Gabriela Parra, Hank Paulson, Wendy Paulson, Greg Pauly, John Pearse, Gina Pecararo, Bobbi Peckarsky, Tony Phelps, Bryan Piazza, Louis Porras, Cynthia Prado, Jill Pruetz, Bill Pyburn, Karen Pyburn, Wanda Pyburn, George Rabb, Sarah Rabkin, Rob Raguso, Phil Ralidis, Bob Reed, Stephanie Remmington, Van Remsen, Art Rentfro, Roger Repp, Alan Resetar, Jon Richmond, Ruth Rigler, Jess Rivas, Jeanne Robertson, Carmen Rojas, Dick Root, Jessica Rothman, Dan Rubenstein, Dustin Rubenstein, Becca Safran, Manuel Santana, Anna Savage, Alan Savitzky, Ricardo Sawaya, Ivan Sazima, Michael Schaer, George Schaller, Chris Schneider, Gordon Schuett, Alexis Schuler, Kurt Schwenk, Jim Shaw, Wade Sherbrooke, Rick Shine, Jake Shrum, Elizabeth Shull, Jess Sigala, Jack Sites, Dave Skelly, Art Smith, Polly Smith-Blackwell, Gary Snyder, Alejandro Solrzano, Jed Sparks, Josh Stafford, Barbara Stein, Sam Stephenson, Ann Stingle, Will Stolzenburg, Allan Stone, Jay Storz, Mary Sunderland, Mel Sunquist, Hilary Swain, Jim Tantillo, Emily Taylor, Lonn Taylor, Nat Taylor, Stan Temple, Tereza Thom, Steve Tilley, Kristine Tollestrup, Barney Tomberlin, Joe Truett, David Tutt, Guillermo Velo-Antn, Jens Vindum, Ted Vitali, Rob Voss, Corine Vriesendorp, Marvalee Wake, David Wake, Mary Jane West-Eberhard, Josh Whorley, Kristen Wiley, Johnny Williams, Pam Williams, Kevin Wiseman, Wolfgang Wster, Janet Wylde, Anne Yoder, Bruce Young, Fernando Zara, Bob Zink, and George Zug.