The AgroEcosystem

Agriculture may be an anthropogenic conquest, but it is still ruled by the natural world. Here is a summary of my summer working in a citrus grove:

Yesterday, I watched a hog lie in a puddle of mud. She put her head under water and blew bubbles with her big snout. I saw a coyote trot through the trees hunting for small animals. I caught newly hatched turtles making their way from a nest in the grove to a water ditch.

Today I saw two birds doing a mating dance… or fighting over a bug. I watched a beetle drag a large grasshopper kill across the sand. I hear gators croak, buzzards cut the air with their wings, and flies speak. I’ve stared down a buck daring it to charge. I’ve played with a cottonmouth’s senses. I have seen dung beetles at work. I’ve seen red throats of lizards, armadillos burrowing, and entire fields of butterflies and wildflowers.

I’ve watched a hawk watching me. I’ve watched the buzzards form patterns in the air seeking the scent of carrion which is likely a hog dead from snake-bite. I have been bitten by fire-ants, mosquitoes, and spiders. I have startled, and been startled by, a buck 5 feet from my ATV. I have been bruised by an Eastern Lopper Grasshopper landing on my chest. I have watched a spider form it’s web and a antlion throw sand out of it’s perfect, circular death trap.

I have seen the clouds form every animal in Noah’s Ark. I have learned that raccoons have personalities, red robin’s are curious, and wild turkey gobble to each other. I have realized that cats and dogs have litters because only one or two with survive. I have realized that fox squirrels love humans, and pigmy rattlesnakes will find the slightest crack in your wall.
I have realized that even-though these trees provide us with food, they provide a vibrant habitat for many species.

I have noticed that irresponsible and ignorant growers can destroy these habitats. Most importantly, I have realized that many growers are not ignorant; they just need some sweat.