“Many times, as we rode across the open prairies, we
saw birds perching on wire fences at the exact spots where the shadows of posts
cut across them. Later, in northern Texas, a government naturalist told us of
coming across a line of fenceposts with a jack rabbit stretched out in the
shade of each post. They all pointed outward with their backs against the
upright wood, ready for an instant getaway if danger appeared. As the position
of the sun slowly altered in the sky, swinging the post shadows over the ground,
the animals kept shifting their places so they remained extended exactly within
the narrow band of the outstretched shade.” —Naturalist Edwin Way Teale (1899-1980), Journey into Summer: A Naturalist's Record of a 19,000 Mile Journey through the North American Summer (1960)
