Fifty-two weeks of the Naturalist’s Corner — that’s enough to keep the old shredder busy.

Some of our proudest moments at the NC are when we are on the leading edge. When we bring you important news and issues regarding the natural world first or news and issues that have been overlooked by other mainstream ultra-liberal media outlets.

A couple of columns come to mind from this genre. One (3/23/04) paid homage to golf hunters, or golfers, as they like to be called. Sure golf gets a lot of ritzy coverage with countless magazines and TV, but the Naturalist’s Corner was first to point out the debt that society in general owes these intrepid heroes.

“From early spring through late fall in temperate climates and nearly year-round in warmer climes, these dedicated golfers, Sisyphus-like, trudge the meadows, fields and clearings, using sticks to drive the nefarious golfs back into their holes, knowing they will only have to do it again.

“Golfs apparently evolved in Scotland around the middle-to late-15th century. They are small, round, extremely resilient critters. They are a puzzlement to modern science and little is known about their biology. They have no appendages at all, yet they seem to procreate and are apt to show up in almost any setting from a country club lawn to a muddy marsh pond to a dentist’s office. They are able to stay submerged in mud and/or water for years with no obvious ill effects. In fact, if you have ever tried to chase one back into its hole you know they will head for the water the first chance they get.”

Now you won’t find that kind of in-depth golf reporting in Sports Illustrated. But, I must confess, I have help. There is just no way one person can keep abreast of all that’s going on out there and do all the research. Thank goodness for NC fact checker and researcher Al Lookitup. If I don’t know – Al Lookitup.

The NC was also your source in 2004 (11/24/04) for groundbreaking insight into the habits and biology of the rare and wily, wild tofurky. If you go to www.smokymountainnews.com and pull up that edition you will see that I was unsuccessful in my attempt to bag a wild tofurky. But, man I was close – so close. And I will wager, there’s not an editor or writer at Outdoor Life or Sports Afield that has had a wild tofurky Thanksgiving meal.

Sometimes, even with the best intelligence and most thorough research, things don’t turn out as they seem. Remember the WMDs? Well. Al and I both fell victim to faulty intelligence briefings.

After intense soul-searching, we decided it was in the public interest to go with the best information we had and warn citizens of the impending invasion of Brood X (see 4/28/04). According to reports, the threat was imminent. The invading army of 17-year cicadas was said to number in the tens of billions.

There are some who say, because the invasion never materialized, that the NC was given faulty intelligence. We believe differently. Because of the accuracy of our reporting and the timeliness of our reporting and the cosmopolitan distribution of the Smoky Mountain News, we feel the invading red-eyed hordes knew they had been found out and retreated back into their subterranean hideouts.

This column ends the 2004 cycle for the NC. But we pledge to do our utmost in 2005 to continue providing the kind of coverage you’ve come accustomed to. We know that by relying on our instincts and working hard to stay on the cutting edge we may occasionally fly in the face of conventional wisdom and standards.

That’s where the rest of our staff comes into play. Helen Waite leads our public relations department. So remember if there are any concerns over the reporting in the NC, you can always go to Helen Waite.

Thanks for a great year!

(Don Hendershot can be reached at ddihen@juno.com)