we let our chickens out for a little bit every evening, and then watch them browse. we call it chick tv, and yes it is that entertaining. in their pursuit of tender greens and juicy bugs, the girls follow aimless looking paths very similar to the paths of these bark beetles, who were engaged in very much the same activity underneath the bark of a cottonwood tree. there must be something evolutionary about this kind of meandering. maybe a crooked path avoids ever eating too much of one (possibly dangerous) thing. or maybe wandering, even in the claustrophobic darkness between bark and cambium, is just so pleasurable that those who do it live longer and pass on more robust and joyful genes.

bark beetle traces on dead cottonwood limb

pike island, saint paul, minnesota