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Beyond Boarders ... come ski with me
My earliest memory of skiing is an old picture my parents use to have. In it, I am about three and a half feet tall, bundled up tight, wearing the world’s largest sweater, woolen socks pulled up past my knees, and wrapped in a never-ending scarf. My...
Fishing - The Ultimate Hobby
The Recreational Value of Fishing
Many people consider that fish are only a medium of survival, or
to some extent a food supply; yet there is another angle that is
little known. The manufacturing industry utilizes more than two
billion...
How to Select new Running Shoes
As a runner the most important piece of equipment you can have are your shoes.
This is the reason that runners spend a great deal of time checking out shoes, until they find the best running shoes for their feet, not only for the fit, but also...
The Graceful Sport Of Gymnastics
People love to watch gymnasts perform their fluid and athletic movements, making it one of the most loved sports in the world. Many youths join clubs dreaming of being the next Olympic gold medal winner. People sit eagerly in front of their TVs...
Wrapping Up Week 13 Who To Keep And Who To Let Go
As we are beginning week 14, let's go over some teams that I
think might not make the 2006 playoffs and should be thinking of
getting rid of the elements that got them the bottom spots
before the 2006 NFL Draft. Miami Dolphins: Ricky Williams is...
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It's an Alien World in Every River
When you look at a river, what do you see? A few flies on top? A fish or two?
Look closer.
Lay down on your chest at the side of the river and stare down into it. Look at a rock or a stick. Not very interesting? Keep looking.
Soon, you begin to notice things that don't seem to belong. Sticks don't come with little tubes of sand attached. What's that black bump? Oh, it's moving. It's... grazing? Every stream holds a tiny alien world, packed with creatures unlike anything we see on land.
Clinging mayfly and stonefly nymphs graze like tiny cattle on the algae and microscopic animals that cover every twig and rock. Sinister damselfly nymphs hunt them with a creepy, deliberate stalking posture reminiscent of both a prowling cheetah and killer robots from the future in some cheap sci-fi flick.
Caddisfly larvae build intricate houses of tiny stones and debris, which the tiny carpenters drag around with them like a shell. Colonies of them gather on various twigs and rocks, little housing subdivisions in a tiny underwater town.
Swimming mayfly nymphs, some of them shaped much like the slimy villain in the Alien movies, dart from place to place with the deftness of little minnows and take up station to catch food drifting by in the current. And below the ground, burrowing mayfly nymphs dig lairs with their powerful tusks from which they emerge only at night to prowl for food. All hope to avoid the gaping jaws of a big, ugly,
prowling dragonfly nymph.
Until now, it was hard to observe this underwater world without getting very cold and very wet. But a new website, Troutnut.com, has brought detailed photographs and videos of this intriguing world and its residents to the comfort of your computer desk.
The website was sparked by the sport of fly fishing, in which trout anglers craft realistic imitations of tiny stream creatures from an intimidating mess of fur and feathers, and present their imitations delicately, even artistically. For them, better pictures of the real thing mean better imitations and more trout. But Troutnut.com's quest for more and bigger trout has led to a glimpse at this alien world that anyone can enjoy.
So next time you're walking past a stream, stop to take a closer look. Or head over right now to http://www.troutnut.com. Either way, you'll be amazed.
About The Author
Jason Neuswanger is a Cornell University undergraduate student working toward a degree in math and, hopefully, a graduate degree in quantitative fisheries science. He is an avid fly fisherman and web designer whose latest creation is Troutnut.com.
jrn7@cornell.edu
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