Giving this weather a different label, torrid for example, instead of continuing to pronounce it’s not the heat but the humidity, adds a degree of unfamiliarity to what we are coping with these days. In some little way it becomes unfamiliar, out of mind, and maybe provides a touch of relief.

But there must be some plant, animal, fungus or alga built for these conditions many human loathe.

Yes, corn and crabgrass are two examples. Crabgrass raises its unwelcome leaves when the hot weather comes, as to with corn. These plants’ chemistry, physiology, and anatomy deal with it, in fact welcome it, to a degree.  They’re warm weather grasses. Bluegrass is not.

Slime molds seem to, too, growing in the cool and dark of night and drying up to reproduce in a pile of dust by noon or sooner. Some yellow slimes, the dog vomit molds, and a white, delicate type that puts a white necklace on blades of grass are evidence.

Animals can, and do, find shade, water, or cooling breeze and hunt or eat at night.

Our unfriends, common and giant ragweed like it, too, standing tall but not yet flowering. But who could tell with their grainy, green bunches of tiny flowers, but not to sneeze at. Literally, Ambrosia as ragweed is named, means food for gods.  Allergies became common later, after the name was applied.

It’s likely habitat, not weather directly, which continue to place two of Wisconsin’s grouse species in a spin. There will be no sharptail permits issued in any zone this year. Only 25 were called for last year and all in one zone.

Talk of cutting short the ruffed season by a month again is due to several factors, some not entirely biological.

Prairies, pollinators, and pesky insects seem to continue to be thriving.

While hard mast was given a yellow if not a green light a month ago, acorns, hickory nuts, and walnuts are now rated fair to poor for fall. As usual filberts (hazelnuts) are closer to good to excellent, and some gnawing mammals looking for a nut have already discovered this.

Brood assessments of ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasants, and wild turkeys may give us a green light, but some local gully washers and gully makers may have changed the formula.

Wolves, as well as coyotes, have jumped back in the depredation picture in the north.

Deer antlers continue to impress, as does fawn development and why not with this vegetation overload.

In the south, black raspberries are waning, while blackberries are still green.

Garden beans, particularly pole beans, onions, potato digging, and even leaf lettuce are helping to feed. Wisconsin sweetcorn still waits. Heat may still throw a wrench into pollination and early fruit development with some plants.

Sulphur fungi have yet to appear, but stinkhorns, like slime molds, aren’t waiting.

Torrid weather is partly responsible for a few autumn symptoms on fern leaves, woodbine leaflets, ghost plant emergence and assorted hitchhiker plant parts appearing where summer flowers were recently noticed.

— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.