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The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Jules Rivera seems to have a thing for bats. They keep showing up in her stories and Sunday nature talks! As you might recall from mid-August, Cherry was roped into helping Violet Cheshire figure out and get rid of whatever was causing weird screeching sounds inside the octagonal music hall for an upcoming music concert. The plot here follows a similar story from a few years ago. That may become more apparent as you read on. Upon investigating the hall, Cherry discovered there were bats and bat babies in the loft. So Cherry told Violet that they could not be disturbed until the babies were able to leave on their own. There is even a law to back Cherry up. Violet did not like it, not one little bit, because her concert was coming up soon. Apparently, Violet huffed and puffed, but left them untouched. Then.

This past week, as Cherry was weeding the grounds of the Sunny Soleil Society, who should pop up, but Honest Ernest, decked out in his default yellow work suit, sporting a pesticide tank on his back. After insulting Cherry, Ernest announced he was there to get rid of the bats. Cherry read him in on the law, but Honest Ernest brushed it aside because of his devotion to Violet. He tramped on to the music hall—he is a man on a mission!—as Cherry vainly attempted to stop him. Ernest entered the building and mounted a ladder to reach the bats. There, he taunted the bats and told them to prepare to meet their doom. But the result was a bat swarm that knocked Honest Ernest off the ladder, his face now a battlefield of bites and scratches. Cherry told Ernest it was time to get to the ER. Again!

Now, it is certainly plausible that this storyline could recur every few years, though I would have thought they would have bat-proofed the music hall after the first situation. But at no time in this story is there a hint from the characters that this situation more or less repeats what happened earlier. In fact, they all act as if it never did. It would have been great, for example, if one of the characters broke the fourth wall at some point (like George Burns used to do in his TV show) and admit that they are aware of the prior story. Sorry! Well, try to keep this plot in mind, because we are due for two more weeks of Mark and his cave rescue adventure. You remember that one, right? Cricket Bro entered a restricted mine and got stuck in a collapsed floor. Mark was called in to help …

Is that raccoon scat spelling out Mark Trail in the title panel!? Unintended irony, perhaps. Well, this is a nice example of how to throw together a topic using the least amount of research possible. A quick Google search or scan of Wikipedia, and you’re done, except for the drawing. Is Jimothy famous in his Seattle neighborhood for years, as Mark reports? That’s not so obvious. Jimothy only became a phenom in July 2026. The raccoon may have been seen in 2025, but some wildlife experts are doubtful and think Jimothy was born early in 2026. The prior raccoon seen may have been the mother. I reckon the good citizens of that neighborhood in Seattle can decide for themselves.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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We had an action-packed week, for sure. Wait, I’m looking at my calendar. Sorry! As for Mark Trail, well, the cave crisis continued. The week began as Mark and Cherry traded “married jokes” at home, only to be interrupted by a phone call from Diana Daggers, which sent Mark to Cave Rescue Battle Stations. Also, a moment of science-fiction possibility surfaced on Tuesday, only to be ignored thereafter. You can check out that strip and my discussion for details.

Mark arrived at the cave, dressed and outfitted for what he thought would be a simple rescue, pulling somebody up from some hole they must have fallen into. Instead, when he saw the actual situation at hand (Cricket Bro being stuck in a collapsed part of the cave floor), Mark was immediately stymied! Why? Mark explained to everybody that the situation was likely due to a weakened limestone floor because of water damage from below. And it required special tools he didn’t have or bring. The Bottom Line: Amateur Hour was over and it was time to call in the real cave rescue experts.

But those “experts” turned out to be Ranger Shaw and some purple people. Instead of asking how Cricket Bro was doing or if he felt as if the floor was giving way, Cave rescue expert Ranger Shaw berated him for ignoring the danger sign he posted. Mark got in his licks, as well. But then, Cricket Bro suddenly fell through the floor and disappeared into the darkness of an underground river.

Just kidding. Sorry to say that Cricket Bro is still stuck in the cave floor. But any actual drama you might expect (in another context) is missing here, as Rivera predictably leaned into adventure strip parody.  Anyway, that’s the week in Mark Trail.

Jules Rivera carries on the tradition (at least going back to James Allen) of often linking the Sunday topic to the current storyline. In fact, this is the second Sunday cave talk posted for this story, though the first one focused more on the wildlife found in caves.

The title panel here is certainly unusual, due in part to the color scheme. I’m guessing that the strip’s title is built up from the water drops Mark mentioned that form stalactites.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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The Two Bro’s (they had a collective name at one time, but I forgot it) and Diana Daggers continue their illegal descent into Peligroso Cave, in or near Lost Forest (remember, it had been sealed by Ranger Shaw because of flooding danger). Well, Diana hung back out of a sense of self-preservation, which angered Cricket Bro at what he considered her cowardice. Little did he know …!

There was the usual bickering going from both sides of the cave. Brother Jadsen decided he would provide close-up video with his phone, while Diana shot her video from the mouth of the cave. As Cricket Bro did a spot commercial for his Cricket Bars and then bragged about his cave prowess, the cave floor suddenly opened up, causing him to fall half-way through. His foot got caught in something that prevented him from lifting himself out. While Jadsen tried to calm Cricket Bro, Diana did an online search for local cave rescue resources (at least she was near the entrance, so she had a signal). But then, who popped up in the search results, but Mark Trail!

Unlike Mark’s cave escape episode (Arachnid Ho!), which ran for over six months, this looks like it’s going to be a “short story” adventure. It only began on August 3rd and it’s already time to bring Mark in to make the rescue. Well, I think it there has to be something more than Cricket Bro getting his ankle stuck. So I think Jules Rivera will have to up the ante by introducing something a lot more dramatic, like Jadsen also falling through the floor, or maybe the cave to start flooding from water escaping up through the flooring that gave way, trapping Cricket Bro. If that was to happen, we might even see Diana, still tethered to her safety rope, attempting to go down and pull the idiots back up, while waiting for Mark to arrive. Several rescue scenarios come to mind, right? Will any come to reality?

At first, I thought Mark had discovered an animal that was not on anybody’s endangered animals list. However, it turns out they are on lists in Ohio, Mississippi, Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, and Alabama. However, there is hope: Aligators, red fox, bald eagles, and white-tailed deer thrive!

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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It’s been a quiet week here in Lake Woebegon … uh, skip that. I got sidetracked. It’s recycle week here in Mark Trail. In her attempt to be the Complete Eco Cartoonist, Jules Rivera is recycling one of her earlier stories, rather than cutting down more virgin plotlines. Look, if Rivera can keep recycling opponents, why not stories, as well? Elrod did it, too!

We returned this past week to Lost Forest, where we found Cherry doing spade work at the Sunny Soleil Society. Violet Cheshire approached her with a request. Violet was concerned with strange shrieks coming from the music hall where she plans on holding another music festival sometime soon. They discovered that bats are in the building once again! While Cherry seemed to recall the similar event from a few years ago, it’s not clear that Violet did. In fact, that earlier event was never specifically brought up for discussion. For my own part, I was sure this lead-up was just one of Rivera’s jokes on her readers. I was wrong.

When Cherry investigated the music hall, she discovered that a bat population was housed in the upper area and now contained a bunch of bat parents and their babies. Violet wanted them removed immediately, but Cherry pointed out that the law forbids them doing so until the youngins are capable of going out on their own. This sent Violet into conniptions at the thought she might have to reschedule the concert. Well, it’s a valid concern, especially if Violet has already sent out invitations, printed posters, and uploaded notices on Fakebook and BikBok. But we may have to wait a few weeks to learn more, if Rivera holds to the normal story ratio of two weeks of Mark to one week of Cherry. Perhaps Cherry should approach King Features for her own comic strip!

Mark is going “all in” on caves! But why is Mark standing in front of water? Not all caves have underground streams. Perhaps this is a visual reminder of Cricket Bro’s current illegal cave visit that Mark is about to get sucked into. Good thing Mark has the proper gear!

Say, does Mark buy homes on the side? He reminds me of a billboard I see. (panel 2)

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This week was a contest between personal values and professional ethics. At times, that can be a traumatic experience, and it was so for Diana Daggers in this past week’s strips.

Cricket Bro, brother Crypto Bro, and Diana were on location at the Peligroso Cave, currently closed because of the threat of flooding. Cricket Bro needed to visit the cave to fulfill his own agenda of providing thrills to his online followers in order to sell more Cricket Power Bars. Diana tried to talk Cricket Bro out of it, declaring it was too dangerous to enter right now. But he insisted on exploring, and Diana must come to video the event, else she would not get paid. The ethical debate was set.

Diana went over the numbers and realized she needed the money badly, but also believed this was a really stupid thing to do. Given who she was with, she should not have been surprised. In fact, signing up for anything Cricket Bro wanted to do is pretty stupid. I observed that Kelly Welly, who signed up to assist the two Bros in what turned out to be some kind of AI scam in New York, was not part of this group. Hence, Diana Daggers. Anyway, Diana had to weigh the possibility of personal danger against the near certainty of financial disaster. It was enough to make her put aside her own safety for the financial reward. Against her better judgement, she agreed to go into the cave with the two brothers.

There are things she might have prepared for, to mitigate the danger, such as bringing along safety equipment. Well, they do have backpacks, so it’s possible they have some of that.  The week ended with them cutting down the caution tape and entering the cave. And speaking of things associated with caves …

Here we are, once again, with bats. This is not the first time Rivera has devoted a page to them. With all of the other issues in our environment, I’d think that she could find other things to discuss. Like rabies.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Mark is back in Lost Forest, where nothing was said about Happy, catfishing, or Rusty’s reign as the Raccoon King. Instead, the week started with Mark watching—and visibly reacting to—videos of cave explorers getting into trouble. Cherry was concerned that Mark might be having flashbacks to his own perilous cave adventure, and that was certainly true. However, Mark offered the excuse that watching these cave disaster videos helped keep him ready to provide rescue services in case somebody happened to get stuck in a nearby cave. Well,  you can never tell! Let’s see:

There you are, taking a leisurely hike through the woods, enjoying the smells, the sounds of twittering birds, and the quiet rustle of rabbits and deer moving through the trees. It’s a beautiful morning and you could stay here all day … when your reverie is suddenly interrupted by the muffled cries of several people yelling “Help! We’re trapped in a cave and can’t get up!” “Egads!” you exclaim to yourself. “They must be trapped in that nearby cave! Good thing I watched those videos and happened to be wearing my steel lantern hat and carrying a hundred feet of rope looped over my shoulder. It’s time to get to work!”

Speaking of convenient timing, Cherry added that Ranger Shaw just happened to be putting up “CAVE CLOSED!” signs at the hitherto never-before-mentioned Peligroso Cave (located somewhere around Lost Forest), because it is Flood Season. A coincidence, you say? Jules Rivera is just getting started, folks!

While Cherry and Mark were talking about cave disasters, the strip cut to another location where Cricket Bro, brother Crypto Bro, and hired videographer Diana Daggers were hiking, decked out in their corporate yellow cave-exploring attire. To nobody’s surprise, they are at Lost Forest to explore the Peligroso Cave! Of the thousands of caves throughout the country, Cricket Bro just happened to select that cave to explore. And during the flooding season, no less.  I sure hope that Cricket Bro pays Mark well for his predictable rescue job when the time comes, because Mark certainly hasn’t been bringing home the bacon for a while.

“Caves are inherently dangerous and not worth risking your life to explore. But here is how to prepare for your visit.” Now that is one clear message! However, I do like Mark’s comment, “You are not an exception.” That could be a daily mantra for all of us. As usual, the pun in the last panel falls flat.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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We were back at Happy’s house this past week, as Mark and Happy relaxed on his deck, clutching their coffee cups. Mark provided an update to Happy on what happened after they left the sanctuary. To wit, Niecy stayed on site to oversee the treatment and disposition of the gorillas. Somebody has to do the scutwork in Mark Trail, because it’s not usually Mark.

Mark commiserated most of the week over the illicit gorilla trade. By Friday, Mark was expressing sympathy for Happy’s matrimonial grief, but Happy didn’t seem that broken up. So Mark decided to head back to Lost Forest. Saturday was something of a surprise. Apparently, Happy couldn’t wait for Markey to go home. As Mark drove away in his green station wagon, Happy got back on his phone and resumed his catfishing pursuits, now with another “young lady” named Starlina. Clearly, Happy had her already lined up while he was pursuing Dreama. Maybe Happy is the real problem here.

Sure, dinosaurs have always been a popular topic. But are they appropriate for a strip that focuses on preserving nature and animal life in the present?

Jules Rivera avoided a typical “overview” and instead,  focused on the recent finds of feathered dinosaurs. The Title panel looks rushed, but I appreciate Rivera composing the strip’s name with bones and “feathers”(?). Rivera brings up the Cassowary, one of the largest bird species in the world, and one that will put a really bad hurt on you if you venture too closely. There are only a few places left where they can be found in the wild. I located an interesting BBC short (see below) concerning the Northern Cassowary found in Australia’s rain forest, which is being threatened by an invasive animal species. Care to guess what it is!? Interestingly, Cassowarys are considered (along with ostriches) to be the most dangerous bird in the world.

Here is the BBC video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb1bbIyF9OU&t=170s  The Cassowary and their endangered status would make an excellent Sunday topic.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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It’s been Drama Week in Mark Trail! In case you don’t recall (after spending a week with Rusty the Raccoon King), the Trail-Getz wedding ceremony began to fall apart like the First Little Pig’s house of straw when a gorilla suddenly collapsed (a “young female western lowland gorilla” according to Mark). Mark called for the ceremony to halt as he ran to investigate. Gail kept yelling to keep the ceremony going while Happy wavered between his desire to continue and his longtime concern for animals. The fact that Gail wasn’t cooperating should have been a big clue.

Moving on to this past week, the ambulance Mark called for arrived. Happy finally put animal welfare above his personal ambition (who would have guessed!?) and left an irate Gail standing at the altar as he ran over to assist. A police car also rolled up at this point (who called him?), which initiated a conversation with Happy and a request to talk with Gail.

Mark—apparently not yet helping the attendants—was standing near Niecy and wondering where Gail and Guyer had gotten to. Sometimes Mark is slow on the uptake, but not Gail and Guyer, who are experienced con artists and knew it was time to split. So they sped off in the “wedding vehicle” (complete with tin cans tied to the rear). Mark saw them fleeing and wanted to chase after them. I thought this was odd, given that he did not try to stop the wedding or call the cops on Gail beforehand. But Niecy reminded Mark that his biodiesel station wagon had no chance in hell of catching up. Therefore, he turned his attention to helping with the gorillas.

We have at least another week for this story. It will be interesting to see how this story plays out. Before Rivera started, this story might simply have cut back to Mark being at home in Lost Forest, summarizing the expurgated details to Cherry. As this strip is about enjoying and protecting nature and animals, we should expect to see the gorillas being treated at the animal hospital (educational!) and observe Gail and Guyer being led off in handcuffs (justice!).

Yes, most all sharks must keep moving to obtain oxygen, giving rise to the observation that sharks do not sleep. Apparently, most sharks go into some kind of near-sleep stasis, while moving much more slowly. But some sharks are able to remain immobile, at least for a time. A 2022 Smithsonian article cited a study that demonstrated that the Draughtsboard Shark is one species that can remain stationary and enter a sleep state. Some sharks can remain motionless or near motionless when resting, such as the whitetip reef shark, the Caribbean reef shark, the nurse shark, the wobbegong, and the lemon shark. This has to do with a different biological function that forces water through the gills so oxygen can be extracted.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chatx

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This week turned into a search-and-rescue mission, if we want to be generous with our interpretation. Robbie, Ian, and Ernie went hiking through the woods to try and find Rusty to apologize for shaming him by not sticking up for him when Robbie got awarded for a photo that Rusty took. Still, Ian and Ernie supposedly hadn’t realized their treachery until overhearing Cherry politely reaming out Scoutmaster Ranger Shaw for Robbie’s deceit and Ranger Shaw’s complicity.

The boys found Rusty in a clearing with Rusty in some kind of overlord position surrounded by a group (or “gaze”) of raccoons. As the kids began to apologize, Rusty kept his disdain for them visible. At this point, Jules Rivera added some commentary about the raccoons becoming agitated, though it was difficult to tell, owing to the crowded panels. But the boys grabbed Rusty from inside the circle of raccoons, which then ran off. One of the rescuers turned out to be Robbie, which left Rusty perplexed and Robbie making excuses. Well, it’s kids. What can you say?

So if there really was some kind of raccoon rebellion going on, we’ll just have to go with it. Rivera could have given more panel space to make it more obvious. But any actual danger was largely absent and only implied. Again, it’s the symbolism over the reality, as a few raccoons hissing at us human readers must suffice for the impression of danger. Though Ian and Ernie apologized for their earlier behavior, Robbie did not. Maybe there will be a few follow-up strips in a few weeks to close out the adventure.

The chicken makes for an unusual Sunday topic, but it has its wild side, as well. Actually, the time and path of the chicken crossing the ocean to get into the Americas is still debated. They could have come into South America via Polynesian sailors and settlers long before the Europeans showed up. Domestication of the chicken has been observed in archaeological finds in China that go back to around 6000 BCE. There actually are large groups of feral chickens in Florida, America’s favorite dumping ground for exotic pets and formerly domesticated animals. But the chickens have been left in the wild since the early days of the Spanish explorers (i.e, conquistadores) and are becoming a larger nuisance these days. I’m surprised that the Burmese Pythons, alligators, Nile Monitor Lizards, and other predators (mostly imported and released) running around Florida are not doing a better job of keeping the feral chicken population under control.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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If you’re coming in late to the story, you’ve at least arrived during the Action Sequence. Mark and his dad, Happy, were close to duking it out over Happy’s insistence on marrying Gail Getz, an Internet Catfisher and corrupt manager of the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary. But Happy won the argument, leading to their return trip to the gorilla sanctuary where Happy and Gail will hold their wedding ceremony. This will enable Gail to legally steal the rest of Happy’s retirement savings and presumably leave him holding the bag; that is, the bankrupt gorilla sanctuary. (That part’s just a guess.)

Anyway, as this ceremony began, one of the gorillas suddenly keeled over, unconscious (confirming Mark’s suspicions about improper care). Mark called a halt to the ceremony as he jumped barbed wire fencing to see to the great ape. True to form, Gail was not interested in the gorilla, but demanded the ceremony continue, like right now! However, Happy got confused and worried, making Gail even more angry and panicky. Personally, I don’t see what the issue was: If Gail thought this through, she could have mollified Mark’s and Happy’s suspicions by tending to the gorilla immediately, showing she really does care. After the crisis passed, they could all return to the wedding, where Happy and Mark would be thinking that Gail must be a righteous person, after all. Moral:  If you’re gonna run a “con”, you have to stay in character and see it through.

Of course, that is not what happened. Gail got even more panicked, while Mark called a veterinarian. I predict that once a vet shows up, Gail and Guyer will realize the jig is up and clear out, leaving Happy standing at the altar, still not sure what happened.

These amphibious mammals can grow up to 4 feet long, including the tail. They are voracious predators and would definitely not make a good pet for Junior or Missy. Also, they do not limit their ramblings to rivers.

Fun facts: Males do not associate with females, except during mating. Then they’re back with their fellow male river otter pals, leaving the females to raise the newborns. Perhaps this is why they are part of the weasel family (mustelids). Okay, that’s not really why they are part of the weasel family, but it was too obvious a joke to pass up.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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All during this past week, we were led to believe that Mark Trail had driven back from the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary on his own to confer with Niecy on his next steps to take. Mind you, he could have made this simpler by taking her with him and Happy. But the needs of the plot deemed otherwise.

So, this past week, Niecy dug up more dirty laundry on Gail and Guyler while Mark spent most of the week tearing his hair, wringing his hands, and invoking the wrath of Thor. Or something like that. At least, Mark is once again mainly concerned about his dad’s safety and possible impending marriage to the swindler, Gail Getz. Mark simply doesn’t know what to do, other than apparently leaving him at the Gorilla Sanctuary in the hands of Dreama (Gail Getz).

But all is not what it seems. Jules Rivera carefully kept hidden all week that Mark actually did bring Happy back home with him. Score some points to Mark for getting him away from Gail. So we discovered this on Saturday, when Happy suddenly popped into the work room where Mark and Niecy were situated, dapperly dressed (as Niecy noted) in an outfit that might have come from the Willy Wonka Clothing Emporium. His excitement about the wedding did not salve Mark’s worries, and the two were about to come to blows.

An interesting take on the 4th, as Jules Rivera promotes the wild turkey, what we know historically as being the favored bird of Benjamin Franklin. The old story was that Franklin proposed this bird as a better avian example for the country’s Great Seal than the golden eagle. However, it seems that his only known remark on this topic was a letter to his daughter. Interestingly, it was the United States that became the first modern nation to adopt a national bird, a seemingly mundane action that soon caught on with nations around the world. There were historical precedents, which the Founders were well aware of. Rome (a never-ending source of inspiration for the US) used an eagle as a “standard” for their military legions; but they were not the first to do so. Napoleon adapted the Roman eagle standard for his armies.

A real bird of courage? I don’t know if it is courage or arrogance, but they certainly seem to be some of the most stubborn, if not most nonchallant wild birds. For example, they have no apparent fear of dropping down onto a busy street to just stand there; or casually promenade down the road. Honk and yell all you want; they just don’t care.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This past week we turned from Mark Trail’s efforts to protect Happy from being scammed by the owner of a Florida-based gorilla sanctuary to focus on Cherry’s satisfying weeding session at the Trail cabin (if this was the prior version of the comic strip, we’d call this the Davis cabin, since it was owned by Cherry’s father, Doc Davis. Curiously, he spends most of his time somewhere else in Jules Rivera’s reboot).

Cherry’s weedy satisfaction was interrupted by the arrival of Ranger Shaw and Rusty’s scouting “pals”, Ian, Ernie, and Robbie. They wanted to talk with Rusty to learn why he wasn’t coming to scout meetings. Cherry told the boys to go to play somewhere. She then confronted Shaw and confirmed Robbie’s badge-earning eagle photo was actually taken by Rusty. As you may recall Ranger Shaw denied Rusty’s claim at the scout meeting where Robbie got his badge. Ernie and Ian further humiliated Rusty by saying nothing in his defense.

Ranger Shaw expressed shock and embarrassment by Cherry’s testimony. Did he mean it? I don’t know, but he certainly has a history of questionable actions. A letter of apology signed by Ranger Shaw and the boys and delivered to Rusty would square things, Cherry decided. Well, I think they’re getting off too easy, especially Ranger Shaw. AFAIC, he should resign, but that isn’t likely. This just looks to me like more of Cherry’s drift towards complacency and irrelevance.

Meanwhile, the boys had been secretly eavesdropping. Ernie and Ian felt bad enough to want to immediately go find Rusty and apologize. Unsurprisingly, Robbie continued to deny he stole Rusty’s eagle photo. Life is such a drama at that age. Well, that was the week!

The title displays a nice, old-fashioned look, almost calligraphic, suggested by the poses of the two lizards. I read that brown anoles may actually eat young green anoles, given the opportunity. Neither type is venomous or harmful to humans. Both are kept as pets, but we are all better off letting them eat insects and other bugs.

What’s with the purple-barked trees? They can’t be Manzinitas, because they don’t grow in that climate and soil. I thought it could be a Natchez Crape Myrtle tree, but the trunk looks way too substantial. Then I thought it might be a Gumbo Limbo tree, which sometimes has a reddish sheen, but the bark looks different. Anybody know?

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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The underlying issue of the current Mark Trail story is, once again, fraud. It’s a frequent (and increasingly boring) motive of Mark Trail villains. Elder citizen Happy Trail has been smitten by an online catfisher who turned out to be another elder citizen named Gail. She runs a gorilla sanctuary and has already received several cash gifts from Happy. Aside from the sanctuary’s convenient location in Florida (for the sake of the story, as Happy also lives in Florida), it is a plausible location for the sanctuary.

Mark and Happy drove to the sanctuary to investigate. But Happy was really more interested in proposing marriage to Gail, which he did almost immediately upon arriving. This surprised everybody and upset Mark’s questioning of Gail. Mark tried to put the brakes on the proposal, but Gail took advantage of Happy’s naiveté to push her own advantage. She had her son, Guyler, “show Mark around the sanctuary”, so she could work, undisturbed, on Happy. For reasons that only a story plot could appreciate, Mark agreed to be led away! Now, who is naïve?

As they walked around the site, Guyler revealed to Mark that the sanctuary was bleeding cash and nearly bankrupt. Thus, they needed donors and thus, their fraudulent fundraising tactic. Mark seemed to buy into the story, but I have my doubts. Guyler admitted they needed lots of money, which suggests the kind of funding you get from a foundation or a rich benefactor. They are not the types of resources you locate running low-end Internet scams. So, I think Guyler is running a scam on Mark to gain his sympathy and approval by appearing to secretly confess to their dire financial situation.

I sure hate mosquitoes, including flies, ticks, and gnats. I grew up in the south, where all of those pests are quite common. I thought living in a northern state would be cooler and less likely to be as infested. Well, it sure gets cooler, but otherwise, I was so wrong!

Well, who doesn’t hate mosquitoes, except animals that eat them and companies that sell anti-mosquito products? Anyway, if you are using insect repellents as Mark suggests, the best choices are products containing EPA-approved DEET or Picaridin. I’ve read that oil of lemon eucalyptus (CDC approved) is also really good for discouraging mosquitoes and ticks, but it’s not for children under 4. I use DEET, but have never tried OLE. I think I’ll have to try it out!

Cutting the lawn just before an outdoor event is also helpful, as it minimizes safe spaces for mosquitos to rest. A somewhat breezy day is one of the best natural protections against mosquitoes, because they are not very efficient flying in wind. Consider fans!

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Mark and Happy drove to the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary to see if it existed, if Dreama was a real person who actually worked there, who Gail is, and where Happy’s money was. Gail has a son, Guyler, employed as her assistant at the sanctuary. Guyler seems to be something of a nebbish.

In private, we discovered that Gail was a conniving schemer, certain she could grab even more money from the naïve, bumbling Happy Trail, if only his son, Mark, did not interfere. “If only” is not a good strategy, but Gail was determined to succeed.

After arriving at the sanctuary, Mark immediately got distracted by the gorilla pens and started peppering questions at Gail and Guyler about the living conditions and quality of the enclosures. Now, I wonder why he took this approach, rather than starting right in on Happy’s money. But it turned out that his non-stop, annoying questions cajoled Gail into confessing she is the fake Dreama.

Was Mark’s non-stop, annoying questioning part of his plan? If he thought it would keep Gail on the defensive long enough to get her to come clean about Happy’s money, he found out otherwise. Happy obliterated the direction of the conversation by impulsively proposing marriage to Gail. This sudden action shocked everybody. And I do mean everybody! Perhaps Mark forgot to go over his plan with Happy before arriving at the sanctuary. Maybe they should have brought Niecy along, as I recommended last week, to keep Happy preoccupied. Well, what will Mark do now? Tune in tomorrow!

Well, a hodgepodge of factoids for today, as Mark starts off with two disconnected facts, one being a question. And he finishes his discourse with his usual weak joke. But Mark overlooked other major influences on gorilla endangerment, such as poaching, disease, and other forms of human encroachment.

Everybody write to Jules Rivera to get Bill Ellis to send Mark back to Africa to investigate gorilla poaching. That could be a good story and might even provide a foundation for reintroducing Dirty Dyer.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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If you thought Mark’s interrogation of his father and the woman pretending to be Dreama was grating, Jules Rivera decided to give us a double-header. Over the dinner table—against my advice, mind you—Cherry tried to have a talk about Rusty’s impromptu self-pity walk, after avoiding his scout meeting. Over a nice dinner, Cherry went on and on about Rusty standing tall and talking to his friends to sort out the issues. Rusty was still angry that his friends did not stick up for him when Robbie presented Rusty’s nature photo to the scoutmaster (his dad) as his own work, resulting in Rusty getting talked down to by Scoutmaster (Ranger) Shaw.

Rusty was not open to Cherry’s advice, claiming it would make him look weak and not solve any problems. I think he was wrong, but then, he’s just eleven, right? However, Rusty got more obstinate, finally abandoning the dinner and storming off outside.

While moping outside in the dark, Rusty saw another raccoon, which he took to be Rocky, his raccoon friend from the walk. Rivera’s text gave us the impression that this really is Rocky, which could not be true, since the troop meeting was some distance away. As Rusty fed the raccoon, another one showed up. “More friends!” Where this story is heading, I don’t know. Does Rusty get attacked and bitten? Does Cherry come out with a broom or a bat and scare off the raccoons? We may have to wait another two or three weeks to find out.

Well, hooray for screen captures and graphics editing tools! Too bad there were no better images of Mark available, so they had to be drawn free-hand. This strip might have a better air of authenticity if Rivera tried to equalize the drawing styles of Mark and the mountain lions to look like they came from the same hand. We can only stand back and enjoy all of the detail in the panels.

If I were to hazard an observation, it would that Jules Rivera is likely channeling Jack Elrod, as far as the images of Mark are concerned (especially panels 6 and 7). But I am disappointed that Mark suggests that we let the mountain lion escape if we encounter one on a hike. I don’t know about you, but I thought it would be fun to just grab it, give it a good hug, and take it home for a pet. I mean, one can only appreciate cute kittens for so long. And what could be a better mouser for your house than a mountain lion?

Okay, so I’m a bit sarcastic today.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Mark’s current adventure certainly has some twists in it, notably the realization that not only has Dreama been catfishing Happy, but that Happy has been catfishing her! The major difference here is that Happy is the only one sending money. Dreama wants money, but Happy wants a relationship.I’m not sure how that compatibility thing is going to work out.

It also turns out that both Happy and Dreama were sending fake AI photos to each other. Mark was upset about the environmental impact of AI, but not concerned about Happy’s interest in what was supposed to be a 28-year old woman. I suspect (now) that Mark knew all along that this person pretending to be Dreama was not really a 28-year old woman. For form’s sake, I hope he makes that point clear.

Through a process that only works in movies and comic strips, Niecy and Mark were actually able to track down Dreama at her gorilla conservation sanctuary. When Mark reached Dreama on the phone, the fabricated profiles of both Dreama and Happy quickly fell apart as the two confessed their deceptions to each other. Mark was not so impressed, but pressed Gail Getz—the owner of the sanctuary and the fake Dreama—on what was going on with all of the money Happy sent her.  I suspect a road trip to the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary is coming up.

Well, Mark might be upset with Happy, but at least we can be happy that this adventure does not (so far) involve any of Mark’s usual troublemakers!

I had the devil of a time convincing my father that feeding table scraps to a raccoon on the side of his yard was a bad idea. And soon enough, its friends and families began to show up. Mark is a bit vague, or at least temporizing, about interacting with these varmints. If there is anything Mark Trail should be saying about wild animals, it is to constantly state that they are wild animals and must be treated as such. They are not pets, they are not Disney characters, and they can hurt you.  And I’m thinking of those boneheads in parks that want selfies with bison, bears, or even deer. But that’s not the whole point. Not only can wild animals attack humans or spread disease, their reliance on human intervention (think pigeons in the park) makes them less capable of surviving on their own. And that is bad for wild animals. If you need animal interaction, adopt a pet at an animal shelter! They’ll thank you forever. Unless it’s a cat.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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We haven’t really seen much in the way of “Cherry” stories lately, and the few that have taken place tend to be small-scale stories that get rolled into Mark’s current adventure. I do fear that Jules Rivera may be moving away from trying to balance two main stories at the same time and switch to shorter episodes for Cherry (as we see with Rusty). This could also help explain what I see as a continual dilution of Cherry’s independent personality. Am I wrong?

This past week saw the arrival of Mark at his dad’s place down in the sunshine/orange juice/illegal animals state. In case you forgot, Happy Trail has apparently been getting victimized (“catfished”) by an online scammer and merrily sending her loads of money, no questions asked. Mark’s childhood friend and Happy’s neighbor, Niecy Rogers, had been unable to stop Happy. I think that’s the background.

Mark arrived to find both Happy and Niecy  awaiting him. It took no time at all for Happy to start confessing that not only is he a gullible doofus, but that he has been catfishing his 28 year old girlfriend, Dreama, by sending her fake photos of himself. Matters took a turn for the worse when Niecy bitch-slapped Happy by confirming that Dreama was also catfishing him with her own fake photos!

Neither Mark nor Niecy has yet to confront Happy with why an old man is trying to make time with a 28-year old woman. The conventional answer is he just wants to see if he still has enough of him left for a last hurrah. Or maybe it’s only that Happy is lonely and is looking for more of a platonic relationship. Okay, let’s go with that excuse for now.

The next question is:  Who is Dreama? She (or He) could be anybody, anywhere. The normal chance of recovering Happy’s money is zilch to zilch–infinity. And it’s just as likely that the catfisher is somebody who knows Happy; so options are still on the table.

Poor walrus! Part of the family, but not invited to the party. Maybe it’s because the walrus has gotten a bad rap after that oyster-eating trick on the beach with the Carpenter. But it’s not as bad a rap as Mark Trail has, who found a pair of shades to wink over as he fouled the page with another one of his atrocious, unfunny puns.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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We got to experience an All Rusty Week. It began with Cherry dropping the lad off at his scout meeting in Lost Forest. We immediately noticed Rusty’s uniform was completely different from his previous scout meeting, where the uniform was clearly based on the olive-colored Boy Scouts (Scouting America) uniform. This week, he wore old-school Cub Scout blues. Why the change? Perhaps Rusty’s Woods Scouts troop enjoys a more diverse fashion closet than its Real World counterparts. That, in itself, is a bit strange, since several of the principal characters in Mark Trail rarely, if ever, change their clothing choices. Sure, that is part of the character’s branding. But I’m digressing …

After getting dropped off, Rusty immediately skipped out on his Woods Scouts meeting and went on a walk through the woods to deal with some internal conflicts and emotions. Rusty was still angry at Robbie for claiming Rusty’s nature photo as his, which resulted in Robbie getting a merit badge from the scoutmaster (Robbie’s dad!). Sure, who has never been screwed over at some point? Thus, Rusty went off on his own to work things out.

One thing I noticed in these panels was how different the forest looked during Rusty’s excursion. The trees and bushes looked strange, almost nightmarish at times. The forest portended a mysterious or suspenseful event awaited the lad as he walked along the curving dirt road, lost in his thoughts.

Then a sudden sound from behind interrupted Rusty’s thoughts. What could it be? Was this the dramatic moment I thought would happen? Nah, it was just a  raccoon. But Rusty immediately put aside his angst and had a sit-down with the raccoon. Rusty went into a “Christopher Robin meets Pooh” fantasy, giving the raccoon some of his sandwich, assigning it a name (“Rocky”, of course), and having a friendly conversation. Just then Rusty got interrupted again, this time by a phone call from Cherry, wondering where the hell he was. From this, we learned Rusty’s middle name is Justice. But it didn’t look like he was going to get any justice from Cherry when she came to pick him up. The strip ended the week with Rusty hoping to justify his behavior by claiming animals are just better companions than people.

Not one of Rivera’s better efforts, I’m afraid. And Mark’s attempts at humor also fall flat, which is hardly a surprise. When I see that stuff, I’m thinking Rivera is just being self-indulgent and not putting this valuable space to better use. In addition, these Sunday pages are supposed to be her favorite, but the art looks more like her dailies. I’m getting crusty, I think!

And Rivera omitted one important fact: The bird’s name, bobwhite, is an onomatopoeic translation of its unique whistle-like call. The quail has other calls, but this one is its most famous and distinctive. I enjoyed hearing it while growing up. You can’t mistake it for another bird, though a mockingbird might imitate the call. Here is an example of the bobwhite call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CguBVbaJiU

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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We spent most of the week before learning that Happy Trail had fallen victim to a popular Internet scam known as catfishing. It was no surprise to see that Jules Rivera devoted most of this past week to having Mark explain it all to Cherry. So Mark packed all of his household goods (it seemed) to drive down to Florida and save dad from giving away all of his retirement money to a phony girlfriend named Dreama.

Okay, this may not have the immediate appeal to suspense that we might find in saving a manatee from costume-wearing kidnappers, or attending an AI Conference in New York City, where Mark represented the anti-progressive, anti-AI luddites. But this new story about catfishing is definitely more in the realm of the ugly reality normal people face in a world filled with liars, corrupters, charlatans, and other crooks who ought to be locked up for a minimum of fifty years. So, how will Rivera handle this story? Stay tuned, adventure fans!

Jules Rivera may have avoided any direct observation of “Mothers’ Day” (which some people refer to as another Hallmark Holiday), but she countered that by giving some face time to Cherry in today’s nature chat. And the content is clearly presented, with no stupid jokes or puns. That, in itself, is cause for celebration! However, Mark’s explanation seems confusing to me. Bees transferring pollen from one daisy to another (panel 4) is not cross-pollination (as I understand it), but simply an example of pollination. So, I did some more digging. Remember, I am not a horticulturalist or botanist, though I play one on the Internet. Here is what I found out, but feel free to correct me.

Cross-pollination is the process where pollen from one plant or flower pollinates another plant or flower of a different variety within the same species. For example, Courtland apples require cross-pollination from compatible apple varieties such as Honey Crisp, Fuji, and Granny Smith. That is also why apple orchards have trees of several apple varieties. I also learned that some apple varieties such as Jonagold, must cross-pollinate from two different variety trees, because they are self-sterile and will not produce fruit on their own. The genetic term for that type of tree is triploid. Seedless watermelons and bananas are also triploid fruits.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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There is at least one thing we can say about Jules Rivera’s take on Mark Trail (the strip and the person):  Mark has become a more complex character with a more exposed home life. The earlier incarnations of Mark were fairly simple and clear-cut. Mark’s character had about as much depth as other good-guy characters in the 1950s-1960s, be it on television, radio, or film. That is, Mark had noble virtues and an unwavering sense of justice. But the “private life” of Mark Trail was minimized in order to focus on Mark’s environment-based adventures.

In the hands of Jules Rivera, Mark Trail got a more complicated personality, an expanded home life, and an extended family, leading to complications in ways that Jack Elrod, Ed Dodd, and James Allen rarely bothered to explore.

Thus, this past week we learned that Mark’s dad, Happy Trail, is currently under the spell of an Internet romance scam known as catfishing. Niecy Roger, a neighbor of Happy and friend of Mark, phoned him from her home in Florida to update Mark. Of course, Happy won’t listen to Niecy or her father (Jolly), so she pled with Mark to come down and save his father before he sends all of his retirement savings to the anonymous online crook. And this came just as Mark was hoping to enjoy some down time, too!

Rivera’s tendency to get cute in these Sunday nature chats can diminish and limit what information she presents. So the double-wide panel with Mark reacting to “hypnotic” stripes gives more emphasis on a small point, and possibly the wrong conclusion: The tail is certainly used to confuse or distract predators, though I don’t think “hypnotic” is the correct interpretation. The tail could be offered as a sacrifice that a predator might mistake for the body. An interesting fact is that ringtails (which tend to be loners) can be domesticated and were once used by miners to help keep vermin out of mines and shacks. Maybe not a great house pet these days. I also learned that ringtails change their home every few days to avoid predators tracking them.