Life Finds a Way

"You're implying that a group composed entirely of female animals will...breed?"

"No, I'm simply saying that life...uh...finds a way."

Name that movie...
If you guessed Jurassic Park, you'd be correct. Dr. Ian Malcolm makes that comment as he is touring the inner workings of the lab inside the park. As the movie unfolds, we find out that he is correct in his theory. The scientists at Jurassic Park fill in the missing dinosaur DNA with frog DNA; unfortunately it is a species of frog that can change their sex if need be.

While camping this summer, a campsite host asked me if I had heard of the new breed of bear. He informed me that Polar Bears and Grizzly Bears were mating. In my head it made sense, I've heard the concern of the ice caps melting, which would force Polar Bears further and further south...and maybe running into a Grizzly..? It got me thinking, what if in a few hundred years, there will only be cross breeds of Polar Bears? I looked into it when I got home and sure enough it is rare, but these hybrids do exist in both captivity and the wild. It seems to me that these bears are making due with what's in front of them, even if it is normally unnatural for bears to mate outside of their species. The unofficial name of this bear is "Pizzly" if the father is a Polar Bear and "Grolar" if the father is a Grizzly. (wikipediea)

Another example of life finding its way are fire climax pines. These are types of pine trees like the Monterey Pine and the Pond Pine, that actually depend on forest fires to reproduce. Their seeds are stuck inside the cones for years until a forest fire kills the parent tree and the heat of the fire opens the cones, releasing the seeds. What an amazing adaptation. Mother Earth always knows how to adjust to the obstacles she is faced with everyday!

Our mountains suffered a forest fire a couple of summers ago. I had close friends who had to evacuate their homes. The fear of having to leave got to me a little bit, but we were lucky and only saw the smoke on our horizon. I am glad to say that some of the homes in Running Springs have been rebuilt. Unfortunately wild fires are something that you live with and have to expect when you are living in the forest. But now it is great to see the forest rebuilding itself, like it always has.

During these tough economic times, I am looking to life and nature as my guide..it will find its way, adapt, and rebuild itself.

Taken off of 3N16 in the San Bernardino National Forest. Signs of regrowth amongst a burnt forest!