Author: Shravan Regret Iyer

The Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia is also home to Monacan Indian living history village. Monacan Indians are one of the eleven Native American tribes recognised by the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of 2018 the Monacan Indian Nation has approximately 2000 members. The Monacan Indians considered Natural Bridge as a sacred site and called it “The Bridge of God”. The rocks that composed the Natural Bridge are early Ordovician, about 500 million years old.

Their native language is a Siouan language. They lived in villages with palisades walls and their homes were dome-shaped structures of barks and reed mats. The Monacan tribe hunted deer and other small game.

Today, the Monacan tribes hold a yearly powwow in May where the members of the tribe meet, dance, sing, socialize and honour their culture and keep their rich culture alive.

Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’
Also visit @regretiyerproductions @shravanregretiyer & shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories from the natural world.
The Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia is also home to Monacan Indian living history village. Monacan Indians are one of the eleven Native American tribes recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of 2018 the Monacan Indian Nation has approximately 2000 members. The Monacan Indians considered Natural Bridge as a sacred site and called it “The Bridge of God”. The rocks that composed the Natural Bridge are early Ordovician, about 500 million years old.

Their native language is a Siouan language. They lived in villages with palisades walls and their homes were dome-shaped structures of barks and reed mats. The Monacan tribe hunted deer and other small game.

Today, the Monacan tribes hold a yearly powwow in May where the members of the tribe meet, dance, sing, socialize and honour their culture and keep their rich culture alive.

Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’
Also visit @regretiyerproductions @shravanregretiyer & shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories from the natural world.
The Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia is also home to Monacan Indian living history village. Monacan Indians are one of the eleven Native American tribes recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of 2018 the Monacan Indian Nation has approximately 2000 members. The Monacan Indians considered Natural Bridge as a sacred site and called it “The Bridge of God”. The rocks that composed the Natural Bridge are early Ordovician, about 500 million years old.

Their native language is a Siouan language. They lived in villages with palisades walls and their homes were dome-shaped structures of barks and reed mats. The Monacan tribe hunted deer and other small game.

Today, the Monacan tribes hold a yearly powwow in May where the members of the tribe meet, dance, sing, socialize and honour their culture and keep their rich culture alive.

Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’
Also visit @regretiyerproductions @shravanregretiyer & shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories from the natural world.
This is Natural Bridge — the remains of the roof of a cave or tunnel through which the Cedar Creek once flowed — in Virginia.
It is a 215-foot-high natural arch with a span of 90 feet.
Natural Bridge is designated as a National Historic Landmark in the USA.
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’
Also visit @regretiyerproductions @shravanregretiyer & shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories from the natural world.
The Queen Snake is a non-venomous and semi-aquatic snake species endemic to North America. The scientific name of Queen snake is Regina septemvittata and the word Regina in Latin means “queen”, hence the name.

Queen snakes are known to bask in shrubs that overhang the water allowing them to drop into the water if disturbed.

Crayfish is the primary food source for Queen snake and the abundance of crayfish in an area can regulate the presence or absence of these snakes. These species are dependent on high water quality to maintain a stable food source and they are particularly susceptible to water pollution. Rapid urbanization and other forms of developments such as channelization, siltation and damming of streams are impacting these species.

While their population is considered stable across North America, they are now considered as one of the rarest snakes in New York State, and they are listed as endangered in New Jersey — while some experts believe this species has actually been extricated from NJ.

Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’
Also visit @regretiyerproductions @shravanregretiyer & shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories from the natural world.
The Queen Snake is a non-venomous and semi-aquatic snake species endemic to North America. The scientific name of Queen snake is Regina septemvittata and the word Regina in Latin means “queen”, hence the name.

Queen snakes are known to bask in shrubs that overhang the water allowing them to drop into the water if disturbed.

Crayfish is the primary food source for Queen snake and the abundance of crayfish in an area can regulate the presence or absence of these snakes. These species are dependent on high water quality to maintain a stable food source and they are particularly susceptible to water pollution. Rapid urbanization and other forms of developments such as channelization, siltation and damming of streams are impacting these species.

While their population is considered stable across North America, they are now considered as one of the rarest snakes in New York State, and they are listed as endangered in New Jersey — while some experts believe this species has actually been extricated from NJ.

Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’
Also visit @regretiyerproductions @shravanregretiyer & shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories from the natural world.
Mallards are the most widespread duck in North America. They have a huge variety of display that can be fascinating to watch. They are fast and speeds of 50 to 60 miles an hours have been recorded for Mallards.
They are also the most heavily hunted North American ducks accounting for about 1 of every 3 ducks shot.
Sadly in the past 20 years population of eastern Mallards have been on the decline. Decline in winter feeding sites, decrease in habitat quality are also some of the many reason for their decline.

Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’
Also visit @regretiyerproductions @shravanregretiyer & shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories from the natural world.
Life. Summer of 2009, Karnataka, India.

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Order in Nature: The natural world is full of order and regularity. It is very much visible with the bold patterns or dazzling colours that many animals advertise – either to make one partner attractive to the other or to defence against the predator. But, then order can also be seen in the way animals behave.
Canada goose is the largest goose in the world. They fly in V-shaped formation which is considered to be more energy efficient particularly over long migratory routes and help in increase in flight range by 71%. In fact this type of V-formation is also used by military aircrafts while on flight missions.
Canada geese communicate during their flights by honking and shifting positions during their flight in order to take turns.

They mate assortatively, larger birds choosing larger mates and smaller ones choosing smaller mates. They mate for life and have very low divorce rate. While the Female geese builds the nest, the male geese acts as a sentry watching the nest from a nearby location. On the ground the geese prefer a spot with fairly unobstructed view in all directions. Spacing of these pairs depends on the population density. When the population is large, the birds nest in view of one another.
The baby geese learn to swim in less than 24 hours after they are born and trained by their parents to dive 30-40 feet underwater by the time they are 1 day old. Soon they become more independent and groups of goslings join together to form gang broods of upto 100 goslings and learn to fly between 2-3 months of age.

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Too old? Nah

An elderly lady sets up to mischief with a cat.

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