LISTS ARE LIKE
TROPHIES

Yes.

WHY BOTHER?

First of all, the best way to celebrate a good sighting, such as spotting a rare hawk or an endangered wildflower, is to list it! Once a good sighting is in the list, you can return to the list again and again and remind yourself that to accomplish this sighting you were perceptive enough, smart enough, and lucky enough to see something special. In other words, the listing will be exactly like a hunter's trophy.

Lists also help you learn. Let's say that one day word gets out that you know the local street trees, and the Scout leader up the street asks you to lead a field trip showing all the little Scouts how to identify  various species. Not to worry. Already you have street-tree lists reminding you of which species are to be expected. Moreover, your notes accompanying the lists remind you that Sugar Maple leaves have U-shaped sinuses, while Red and Silver Maples have V-shaped ones. And that Black Oaks are the ones with extraordinary "stellate," or branched, hairs on their lower leaf surfaces.

Beyond such incidental advantages to making lists,  probably the most important byproduct of list making occurs during the list-making process itself. For, in making the mental effort to organize your discoveries on paper or in computer files, you're obliged to organize your brain with regard to the subject at hand, and you remember what you've seen better.

You'll discover an additional service your lists provide when you join with other naturalists at meetings or on organized field trips, bring out your notes, and delicious discussions and debates arise about what you've listed!:

"You saw an Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad at the nature reserve? But I've wanted to see one of those for years! Did you hear it? Does it really bleat like a lamb?"

RULES FOR LIST-MAKING

Here are a couple of "rules" that should be followed if your lists are going to be important to you.

• Never list anything unless you are absolutely sure about the identification -- not even if you're just 99 percent sure. If you were a champion high-jumper, you'd feel bad every time you caught sight of any trophy acquired by cheating, perhaps by installing springs in your shoes. It's the same with our lists. Many will be the times when a much-sought species "gets away." But, that's OK. You can note someplace that "such-and-such got away." Just don't place it in your "official list."

• Carefully note the date and location of your list's compilation, and describe carefully the natural setting. This will help you see and learn the connections between species and the ecological niches they occupy.

Once you get some lists, don't forget to apply for our own famous Bug-Eaten Leaf Award!