What does a naturalist at heart do in the middle of a hot summer day. Go for a hike, camera in hand, and hike into natural settings just to see what can be seen. Careful observations are a key element of an inquisitive mind. There is always something new to find, to smell, to see, and to appreciate. And part of that appreciation of wild and wonderful things in nature is to learn how micro-components of life and death function in the real world.

I’ll have to admit that some of my observations of nature and natural events will fall into the “I could care less about those things” to lots of people. However it is part of the science background instilled in me, both by my own intense desire to learn, and the principles of internal workings of ecosystems fostered by four years of college studies in natural sciences. I like to find out how things really work in nature, not how people may want nature to ‘behave’ based on a misguided anthropomorphic hug-a-bunny attitudes.

We have all seen the large bird, the Turkey Vulture gracefully gliding about the summer sky, effortlessly cruising and circling over the land. It goes about its business of finding dead things to eat. We commonly come across the bird at roadways, road ditches, or perhaps edges of dried up pond shorelines. These birds find their way to a meal by sight and smell capabilities that are supremely more acute than our own. Once a dead item has been located, the process of recycling the dead animal begins. Bit by bit, the turkey vulture clean-up crews go about their mission as Mother Nature has dictated for them.

The process of decay of once living organisms is a must. For people who like to smell only nice things, this is not high on the list of something to come too close to. So we deal with what we know and avoid as much as possible those circumstances. But if decay, also known as recycling by Mother Nature, did not occur, this world would be hundreds of feet deep in oozy muck and filth. I don’t like that picture either.

The American Carrion Beetle has its job to do. Its sense of smell is tremendous for the odors of dead things. The beetle seeks out any animal, large or small, but mostly small, that has reached life’s end in forest woodlands or lake side meadows and edges. At Sand Lake, this beetle was in the vicinity of some small fish lying lifeless along a pathway. At first its all black back and all white head features was an attention getter. The head has a black spot on top. A few photographs later, I was on my way and leaving the beetle alone to attend to its tasks.

Back home at my natural history library and field guide books, a quick review found the critter dutifully depicted and named for me. And here is what I learned. The family of carrion beetles are seldom seen too far from fresh (to them) deceased vertebrates. Adult carrion beetles feed on maggots of flies also drawn to the dead animal, in addition to its flesh. There are about 30 species of carrion beetles. Today’s image shows the broad contrast in coloration of this insect. As it flies and will appear to resemble a bumble bee due to its large hard wing covers called elytra. Those hard covers are a bit shorter than its body so a bit of its tail end is exposed as a yellowish color.

When a carrion beetle finds a source for its meal, it also brings along some hitch-hikers in the form of mites. The mites eat at the source also, mate and lay their own eggs. When the adult carrion beetle leaves, the adult mites hop back on board for a free ride to the next food source. The beetles also use the opportunity to mate, lay their own eggs, and those larvae feed and burrow into the ground to pupate. Adult carrion beetles overwinter deep in the soil.

Nature’s recyclers are important. Even little insects, in this case a carrion beetle, have a job to do. I’m glad they get the job done.

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American Conservationists are represented by a wide spectrum of people who understand the interrelationships of wild habitats and wild animals that live there. A long time ago, Gifford Pinchot, chief of the U.S. Forest Service and one of the fathers of the American conservation movement, developed the now widely accepted definition of conservation as the ‘wise use of the Earth and its resources for the lasting good of men.” He went on to say the purpose of conservation was to produce “the greatest good for the greatest number for the longest time.” To achieve those broad goals, sound science was the recognized tool to apply toward this objective.

Conservationists are people who support and engage in this approach to natural resource management. Hunters and anglers and trappers endorse science to ask the right questions and find long term answers to management scenarios. That history is now over 100 years old. State natural resource agencies were established to address management needs for our nation’s fish and wildlife. They adopted laws and created programs to conserve public trust lands and habitats. Over time, a funding mechanism was established whereby a “user pays, public benefit” via wildlife and sport fish restoration programs. The source of the money to accomplish a broad range of tasks was an tax on ammunition, sporting firearms, fishing gear, archery products at the national level. At the state level, hunting, fishing and trapping license sales in addition to the state’s share of reimbursed federal wildlife taxes support about 80 percent of the funding of a state fish and wildlife agency.

The fact remains that hunting, fishing and trapping conducted in accord with legal, regulated practices are closely related to the successful setting of policies and financial support for all wildlife conservation. That is how the word conservationist has come to have such a profound positive meaning. One does not have to be exclusively a hunter, fisher or trapper to qualify. There are many ways all people can support true objectives for on-the-land programs for habitat protection, and by extension, the wildlife that lives in Americas vast landscapes from border to border and coast to coast. Conservationists in America have worked hard to create that title. Let us have a renewed appreciation for the work professional wildlife, fisheries, geologists, ecologists and other natural resource managers do for the benefit of people and wild things.

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CONSERVATION HISTORY can also be depicted by these data points. Last year alone $823 million was generated by the national Pittman-Robertson Fund, from hunting and fishing and recreational shooting related excise taxes. And $624 million was generated by the Dingell-Johnson/Wallop-Breaux Fund from fishing and boating related excise taxes. Since 1939, state fish and wildlife agencies have received over $56.9 billion from the above noted programs. In addition, sportsmen and women continue to support other conservation private organizations for their habitat initiatives.

Among these groups are names like Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Houston Safari Club, Safari Club International, National Wild Turkey Federation, National Rifle Association, Pope and Young Club, Boone and Crockett Club, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partners Tread Lightly, Whitetails Unlimited and many others.

Approximately 80 percent of the funding for state fish and wildlife agencies is paid for by sportsmen and women. So when you buy a license for hunting, fishing, trapping, boating or make membership dues payments to any of many good private wildlife related organizations, be proud of the way your money is being used for long term natural resource management.

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“The science of relationships is called ecology, but what we call it matters nothing. The question is, does the educated citizen know he is only a cog in an ecological mechanism?”

– Aldo Leopold

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Garry Brandenburg is a graduate of Iowa State University with BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology. He is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. Contact him at P.O. Box 96, Albion, IA 50005.