GILLILAND: I Betcha’ Didn’t Know This

I try hard to color within the lines, not to run with scissors and overall just to keep my mouth shut and blend in.

But sometimes I find myself posing the questions everyone else wonders but is afraid to ask. One such question is “Why do states feel the need to have state symbols like state flower, state bird, etc.?”

Even though that distinction does absolutely nothing for us or for the flower or the bird, all states still have them, and this week I uncovered some interesting facts about our state symbols.

Any Kansan worth their Wheaties knows the Kansas state flower is the sunflower, and the Kansas state bird is the western meadowlark. Most Kansans know the Kansas state tree is the cottonwood and many probably know the state animal is the American buffalo (bison.) But how many of you knew we also have a state insect, a state reptile and, yes, even a state amphibian?

Sometime in the mid-1970s, Jeff Woods, a seventh-grader attending Edgewood Elementary in Coffeyville, evidentially decided we as a state were incomplete without a state insect, and suggested we give the honeybee that distinction. Called “white man’s flies” by the Indians, honeybees are thought to have been brought from Europe by the pilgrims and soon inhabited the entire United States.

I have to admit if we felt the need to have a state insect, we could not have done better than the honeybee, because life as we know it might not exist without them. The state legislature has the final say in such important matters and, in 1976, the honeybee became the Kansas state insect.

In the mid-1980s, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Kansas’s statehood, Larry Miller’s sixth-grade class in Caldwell decided we also needed a state reptile and nominated the ornate box turtle for the job. The ornate box turtle is a dry land turtle which probably makes it the most visibly abundant turtle in Kansas. It’s found from the prairies in the west to the forests in the east.

I have absolutely no idea what a state reptile has to do with celebrating our 125th anniversary as a state, but on April 14, 1986, Gov. John Carlin signed a bill designating the ornate box turtle as the Kansas state reptile.

In the spring of 1993, Alice Potts’ second-grade class at Wichita’s OK Elementary School was studying animals with backbones, which somehow triggered them as a class to begin a campaign to make the barred tiger salamander our state amphibian.

The article I found goes on to say “And why not! The barred tiger salamander is common throughout the state and is the largest land-based salamander in the world. Though typically only six to eight inches long, it is known to reach lengths of 13 1⁄2 inches ...”

It’s hard for me to believe I’ve never seen or heard of such a large, common salamander in Kansas.

Anyway, when Alice’s class contacted their legislators they were told it was too late to get a bill into the current legislative session and the project would have to wait a year. In the meantime, their zeal proved infectious and, by the following school year, the entire school plus parents were involved.

A trip to the statehouse by Alice and a handful of students got Senate Bill 494 written and passed in the Senate. However, the bill ran into a little trouble in the House; it seems some representatives felt there were more important legislative matters (go figure!) Never fear though as Sen. Mike Harris came to the rescue and attached the salamander bill to another to insure its passage (now what’s that called…oh yea; Pork!)

On April 13, 1994, Gov. Joan Finney signed the bill designating the barred tiger salamander the Kansas state amphibian.

In honor of the process that salvaged the salamander bill, maybe the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks should capture one and name him or her Porky. Or maybe the process of attaching legislative bills to other bills should not be known as pork, but rather “salamandering.”

Anyway, please excuse my cynicism and my disregard for pomp and ceremony. I guess if even one person is made to feel better about our state by having these symbols, then they are worthwhile. And maybe this will get more people Exploring Kansas Outdoors looking for barred tiger salamanders. I really do want to see one!

Steve Gilliland is a syndicated outdoors columnist, and can be contacted by e-mail at stevegilliland@embarqmail.com.