The ancient Celts believed that barren wastelands existed because their leader and people were cursed. Surely whether or not a space is a wasteland has more to do with one’s point of view than a curse. A few days ago I visited a bog that I hadn’t seen since Hurricane Juan hit in 2003, destroying the old logging trails I used to follow to reach it. Due to the slow tree growth typical in bogs, it had changed very little.
For over a decade I walked through this bog daily with my dog, careful to place my feet on higher ground so that I wouldn’t sink into the bottomless black mud. Though the bog looked especially pretty in spring with its bright pink orchids and rhododendrons, in winter it could be equally wonderful. One cold day I suddenly heard wings flying above me and was surprised to see two bald eagles hunting for hares or other bog-dwelling prey just a few feet overhead.
Snowshoe hare tracks in the bog
Body preserved in bog for over 2,000 years
Bogs were once considered magical places, probably owing to their reputation as cursed wastelands. Some Northern European cultures sometimes buried their dead in bogs and it’s suspected that human sacrifices were made there during the Iron Age.
Bogs were also places where treasures were hidden from invaders. In 2006 the Irish found a thousand year old illuminated psalter manuscript in one of their bogs. Could treasures still be waiting to be discovered here in Nova Scotia?
Today bogs are just beginning to be valued for their role in absorbing extra precipitation and acting as filters for air and water borne pollutants. Sphagnum moss which is abundant here is also being studied for its role in absorbing oil from disaster spills.
Many of the lichens that hang from the trees in bogs also absorb moisture from the atmosphere. The most marvelous of these can convert nitrogen in the air to a form usable by plants and animals.
Unfortunately, in Nova Scotia, bogs are still considered wastelands and cheap real estate. Locally, they continue to be filled with rubble and developed into subdivisions. If the original evergreens left standing at the edge of new streets appear stunted, chances are that the homes nearby were built in a bog. Sadly, once bogs are filled, they cannot go back to their original form. If urban planners refuse to consider the role bogs can play in alleviating flooding and cleaning the atmosphere, perhaps we really are a people cursed.
Flandrum Hill 
Beautiful bog. We are foolish people if we do not value to services nature provides for free.
Dawn, yes foolish indeed. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
Thank you for explaining the part bogs play in the ecosystem that supports all life on Earth.
What will it take for people to learn to live in harmony with the natural world that sustains life?
47whitebuffalo, unfortunately most people don’t realize what they have until it’s gone or on the verge of being lost. Due to climate change, flooding disasters are becoming more common in Nova Scotia. If left in their natural state, salt marshes and bogs would take a big load off inland developments.
But Nova Scotians aren’t the only ones taking the natural order of things for granted. I wonder what role clear-cutting of forests played in the recent landslides in South America.
Bogs turn “wastelands” into new forests. Yes, it takes years and years but nature knows best. Man needs to learn patience.
So sorry to hear of the continued infringements on your maritime island’s wild spaces, Amy. 😦
Scott, Nova Scotia isn’t quite an island – we’re more of a peninsula – but you are right in saying that man has to learn some patience. We want too much for things to happen in our own lifetime.
LOL, when I first looked at the title I thought it read, “Are Blogs a Cursed Wasteland”.
Interesting read. Thanks…
wolfsrosebud, I should have realized that bloggers might easily misread ‘bog’ for ‘blog.’ Unless you live in or near a bog, it’s not probably part of the daily vocabulary. Glad you found the post interesting despite the misleading title 🙂
Okay, I’m not the first person who read the title wrong!
No, BOGS are magical, hardworking, valuable places! I suspect that many people understand and appreciate them, but the ones who do are not the ones who have a financial stake in land “development”–and here I have to say that I have never liked the way that word is used as a synonym for constructing roads and buildings. It’s a euphemism at best and an obstacle to discussion at worst. Are you for or against “development”? If against, you’re against jobs, prosperity, etc., etc. The term itself is slanted.
But BLOGS? Are they “cursed wastelands”? I guess we can laugh over the leaps our minds make, filling in letters that aren’t in the words we’re looking at.
Pamela, the word ‘development’ certainly is slanted. Thanks for pointing that out.
As long as we’re learning something and/or connecting to one another, I don’t think blogs are ‘cursed wastelands.’ The leaps our minds make can be interesting.
Amy-Lynn,
I like the way your Blog teaches me things without making my brain hurt.
Bogs are wonderful places — unless you’re there in the spring and don’t have bug spray on …
Yo chum. Sybil
Sybil, thank you for reminding me about the black flies and mosquitoes. That is one thing we take for granted about winter. No bugs in the bog or elsewhere.
I’m glad you managed to read the post without any painful effects to your brain. We can’t have that.
Good post as always. I confess I think of bogs as somewhat . . . threatening. Like volcanoes, and towering cliffs, and deep canyons. But I cannot imagine our planet without any of them.
When Timber was King, the denizens of northern Michigan turned a complex, productive forest into a barren wasteland. It’s taken it a long, long time to recover. We are a short-sighted species.
Gerry, the most threatening thing about bogs is taking a step into the bottomless mud. It’s like quicksand in some places. Even in winter, the bog can still be warm beneath a thin surface of frozen moss and ice.
It is amazing how short-sighted we are. Maybe it’s time we acquired a new prescription for our glasses.
Another very interesting post, Amy-Lynn. Thank you. I know we have bogs in various areas of Switzerland but the ones I remember most are the bogs on the West Coast of Ireland. Those were a great source of peat which, once dried, was used as home heat. I remember the particular scent of it when it burned in a fireplace.
Isa, yes I have heard of the use of bricks of peat for heating homes in Ireland. Now you have me wondering about what it would smell like.
Here in Nova Scotia peat moss is harvested for use mostly in the garden.
Do you have frogs in your bogs, Amy-Lynn? I love the sound wood toads make in the spring. We had a swamp full of them behind our house growing up. Apparently a swamp has better drainage than a bog, but more wooded plants than a marsh. (I looked it up – your blogs make me think!) So I started wondering if Emily was correct about frogs in a bog…
“How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!”
~ Emily Dickinson
Thanks for all the fascinating information!
Barbara, I did once find a very large bullfrog near the bog. Maybe he was the one Emily felt compelled to write about. We also hear spring peepers (Canada’s only tree frog) here in April. They are probably in the swampier edges of the bog, clinging to the grasses with their little suction cup fingers and toes, not the moss.
Bogs tend to be very acidic and consequently aren’t as comfortable for frogs as they are for toads. We do have more of them nearby.
What an interesting post, Amy. Again, I learned so much from your writing.
We don’t have bogs here in South Africa, but when we visited Ireland a few years ago, we visited Ceide Fields in County Mayo. It was such an educational experience – although I also have some very vivid memories of the mosquitoes or flies or whatever those nasty little buzzing insects were!
So we didn’t linger as long as we’d planned, but it’s definitely on my ‘if we ever visit Ireland again’ list for further exploration.
Reggie, the presence of pesky flying insects in the bog is limited here to spring and very early summer. If conditions are similar in Ireland, the next time you visit there, you might wish to go in late summer or fall in order to avoid them.
Ahhh! Now I have learned something new yet again. 🙂
Bogs are extraordinary places – there is a mood and essence about them that speaks of great mystery to me. As though secrets could turn up at any time. It’s no surprise that Seamus Heaney, that great digger of the landscape, has set so many of his poems in Ireland’s wild bogs. Thanks very much for this…
Julian, I like that mysterious side of bogs too, especially on foggy days.
Found your blog through Reggie – and I was touched by your reply on her CANSA post.
Just had a very interesting and informative read of some of your blog-posts here 😉 Wow, I’m going to go try and find out more about that body in the bog!
Best – Houdini
houdini, it’s nice to see you here 🙂
That body in the bog is quite fascinating, considering how extremely well it was preserved. Though if I ever came across one in the bog I’d probably be more shocked than fascinated.