Reading Pictures

Is There Nature Here?

The grass? No. It’s all planted hayfield grass from Europe. The line of trees on the horizon? Nope. Planted invaders in this former prairie. The one native species here is wearing warm clothes, carrying a camera, and expressing passionate appreciation for the prairie sunset. Yes, indeed, Homo sapiens is native to the Chicago Wilderness ecosystems, ever since the glacier pulled back and started the evolutionary clock rolling.

In fact, there’s more nature here because of this fellow, Dick Riner, and perhaps he should tell the rest of the story:

“Some people don’t like the winter. I see it as a whole different mindset. There’s absolute silence. Every little sound is magnified. You hear birds you’ve never heard before—like the harriers—an eerie sound from no direction, but I never hear it except when they’re near. Or maybe it’s some small animal calling in fear. Dead silence, and everything is magnified. Then the coyotes start to sing. It takes your breath away.

“I come out and sit still as long as I can without turning into a popsicle. One coyote circles me most every time. Not stalking, just curious. He’s a neat character. While I’m watching him, the harriers fly so close; I suppose it’s because I’m not watching them. One pounced on a vole within 20 or 30 feet of me. I watched him dismember it for supper, holding up my binoculars until my arms were ready to fall off.

“I invite everybody out. One time a cop was suspicious. Just where was I going? So I told him, ‘Let me show you’ and dragged him with me. At first he was like, ‘Don’t you have anything better to do?’ But we stood there for a minute. A short-eared owl and three harriers were hunting over the prairie; but the best was the clouds. Just beautiful. By the time he left, he was a convert.”

Dick Riner is describing the 375-acre restored portion of Bartel Grassland in southern Cook County, where Riner and a hundred other people dispersed hundreds of thousands of rare prairie seeds. Tens of thousands of native prairie plants now can be seen, if you look close, mostly just a couple of inches tall, scattered here and there in the hayfield grasses. The beautiful prairie species will win out in time, under the influence of controlled prairie fires. Is there nature here? Oh yes, the animals are thriving, and the plants are coming back.

Photo by John Denk. Words by Stephen Packard and Dick Riner. Habitat restoration by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, the Bartel Grassland Volunteers, and many partner organizations