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Snow Bugs
Snow bug. Imagine a cloud full of these. Sorry about the focus. 99.10.09/ Temperature: 10C/ Weather: Clear and sunny/Wind Direction: NW
Start:Horokesi, Biratori
Destination: Nibutani, Biratori
Latitude: 42 37 42 N Longitude: 142 08 55 E
Distance Traveled: 12 kmToday I strode along with the flow of Saru River, the widest river I've seen yet. It snaked down the valley carving figure s's in the landscape. The olive color gradually turns a sandy gray as the river widens and approaches the mammoth Nibutani Dam.
A small white blob with light gray wings landed on my shirt. It was a puffy and white just like a miniature cotton ball. Snow bugs, as these snowflake like bugs are called, are a signal of the coming of winter here in Hokkaido.
Seeing just one of these bugs may not have been enough for Japan's ancestors to name them "snow bugs." The clouds of them that appear in late fall are probably where the name comes from. Looking just off to the side of the road you can see what appear to be floating flakes of snow lingering along the forest line. Not only one or two but a whole shower of them float in mid-air like a light snow. This must be where the name comes from.
"Usually when the snow bugs come out, it is time to get ready for the winter. Once they're out, snow can be expected at any time," said Mr. Meguro, a gentlemen I spoke with earlier in the week. This would explain all of the last minute pre-winter work I've seen recently. Farmers are busy harvesting the last of the potatoes, carrots, and spinach, drying beans, and preparing their fields for winter. "We take the snow bugs as a cue to get ready for the winter," said one woman.
Why do snow bugs fly in late fall? According to Mr. Sakino, a nature guide here in Hokkaido, the bugs live off of a minimum of two different plants. Changing with the seasons the many different types of snow bugs change the type of plants they live off of. For example the "white fir root large cotton bug" lives on the back side of yachidamo leaves in the spring. In the summer the bugs move under ground near the roots of white fir. When fall comes, all of the bugs return to their original spring habitats. "This is what you see now," said Mr. Sakino pointing at the hovering snow insects.
Who knows how many people know scientific reasons for snow bugs forecasting winter's arrival. What is certain is that some people still take nature's signs as signals to get ready for winter. It gives them enough to time to finish the harvest and prepare for the long winter. Reading the signs of nature people here have been able to prepare for and live through the changing seasons.
Are there any similar signs that nature gives you in your areas?
Greg
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