The Skunk
The book opens with a description of the author discovering the small trail in the January snow made by a skunk that has awakened from hibernation. He follows the trail into the wood and past a rabbit hutch which the skunk shows no interest in. If he has not been dragged from his winter slumber by hunger then for what reason? The tracks finally end before a pile of driftwood and the author wonders if the sound of water trickling out of sight is what sent the skunk on his journey. This opening situates the skunk as the symbol of the mystery of nature of the worth of investigating even the most seemingly trivial of mysteries nature provides.
Bur Oak
The bur oak is a tree equipped with an unusually thick bark which has served as a kind of armor against natural enemies which have felled other species. As a result of withstanding fire, wind and other destructive elements (as well as being resistant to primitive tools made by man) the author bestows upon the bur oak the metaphorical signature of “historical library.” In this way the oak comes to symbolize the hidden history of natural world around it.
The Shovel and the Axe
The shovel is the author’s central symbol for giving back to the land: with the shovel, it is possible to plant a tree. By contrast, the axe is the symbol of the destruction of land: with it, the tree that rises from the hole dug by the shovel can be taken away again. Both together are symbols of the nature of conservation which sometimes requires giving and sometimes requires taking, but always within balance.
Cranes
Partially due to their appearance resembling prehistorical creatures of flight, cranes become a symbol of something beyond man’s existence. As the author writers, they are “symbol of our untamable past.” Beyond that, however, the mere existence of cranes is a symbolic reminder of the value of retaining a sense of wildness simply for its own sake. The symbolism of the crane is somewhat akin to the author’s own restating of the famous admonition in Jurassic Park: Just because you can tame the wild doesn’t mean you should.
Silphium
Silphium is plant that used to cover the prairie, as vast as the herds of buffalo which at one time ran freely across it. Like the buffalo, silphium has become practically non-existent by the time the author discovers it. Its loss situates the plant as the symbol of the prairie as a whole as it is now all but impossible to imagine what the prairie looked like when it grew unrestricted by man’s presence.
