Wild, Wild East - Part 4

The area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Great Plains is a transitional zone. Prior to the European invasion, much of it was maintained as tallgrass prairie by native peoples, who periodically set fires to keep forests from spreading westward.

Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) often forms the western edge of the forest. Schramm Park, Nebraska.

Now this land is mostly forested, but still dotted with hundreds of ancient mounds. Some of them are animal-shaped; a good place to see them is Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa.

Indian burial mounds near Canadian River, Oklahoma.

Birds of southern Midwest, left to right: scissor-tailed flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus), Eastern screech-owl (Otus asio), Mississippi kite (Elanus mississippiensis). Alebaster Caverns State Park, Oklahoma.

Many of the most beautiful flowers of the Midwest belong to aster family (Asteraceae). Bush coneflower (Echinacea paradoxa), Ozark Nat'l Forest, Arkansas.

The westernmost outposts of the Eastern flora and fauna are deep canyons that penetrate Llano Estacado, the elevated part of the Great Plains in Texas. Birds, trees and reptiles inside the canyons are mostly of Eastern origin.

Just in one genus, Echinacea, there are at least twenty colorful species. Purple coneflower (E. purpurea), Ozark Nat'l Forest, Arkansas.

Palo Duro Canyon in Texas.

But if you climb to the canyon rim, you find yourself in the West - with its cacti, pronghorn antelopes (Antilocapra americana), and other desert stuff. Such mixture creates a lot of diversity in small areas.

Tenodera mantis, Palo Duro.

Butterflies of the Midwest, left to right: Papilio multicaudata, P. philenor, Epargyreus clarus. Ozark Nat'l Forest, Arkansas.

Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lerva), introduced from Northern Africa, and fallow deer (Cervus dama), introduced from the Mediterranean, Fossil Rim, Texas

Diapheromera walking-sticks, Palo Duro.

Texas also has a lot of introduced species. Two large mammals - fallow deer and Barbary sheep - are more easy to see here than in their original range.

Fallow deer, Colorado Bend, Texas

Barbary sheep, Palo Duro Canyon, Texas

Red wolf (Canis rufus), Fossil Rim, Texas

Not all native mammals of the East are doing as good as the introduced ones. Red wolf (Canis rufus) has barely escaped extinction. Marine mink (Mustela ), Pennsylvanian bison (Bos bison pennsylvanicum), Eastern elk (Cervus elaphus americanus) and some others haven't been so lucky - they are as dead as dinosaurs, without even fossilized tracks left.

Apatosaurus tracks, Dinosaur Valley, Texas

White-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is one of the most widespread mammals in the East, but some races are now extinct or endangered. Hoosier National Forest, Indiana.

Tolype sp, Kansas.

Well, at least all insects are still there, a lot of them. Many butterflies, moths, and grasshoppers of the East look very tropical. Those huge creatures look totally out of place in the temperate forests and grasslands of the Midwest, and even more so in the Northeast, where giant dobsonflies (Corydalus) and cecropia moths (right) also occur.

Hyalophora sp., Kansas.

Halysidota caterpillar, Daniel Boon State Forest, Missouri.

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