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| Red fox Gary Lehman pic |
Looking down from the dentist’s big windows at a picturesque
forested area with a stream running through it, I thought, as usual, how
beautifully bucolic the scene was . . . until a staffer mentioned foxes being
sighted there recently “and now we don’t see squirrels anymore.” I hid my surprise.
A little later
and not far away, on a lightly wooded road near a canal, I drove past a hawk
standing by the side of the road over . . . a large bird? A squirrel? Or some other critter s/he had recently killed.
More surprise.
Why surprise? Because I’ve used tunnel vision (and thinking)
on animals: I like foxes and squirrels and I’m interested in hawks – but I’d
given no thought to who eats whom.
Hearing about the foxes, my first instinct was to deny foxes would eat
squirrels. Wrong!
Nor had I thought about
what squirrels eat (besides the predictable acorns and the salt-free peanuts I
omnivores,” which means they’re also predators themselves, albeit un-fussy
ones.
Same with hawks, whose
presence overhead, I should have remembered, sends birds and other animals into
hiding.
Whether I like it or
not, Tennyson’s line, “Nature red in tooth and nail,” is all too true.
Cave art stars a pig
Way long ago, when
people (whatever variety of them) still painted in caves, someone immortalized
the animal who may be humans’ most popular meat: the pig. Discovered on an Indonesian island in a remote
cave reachable only during the dry season (!), the painting’s estimated to be at
least 45,500 years old – possibly the world’s oldest cave art.
The ancient pig picture
resembles the warty pig, which still lives on the island. However, the real mystery is who made the
painting: Homo sapiens or a now extinct human species? No traces of the artist(s) have been found,
but while the search continues, the art work is quickly deteriorating. https://tinyurl.com/2j7ewyce
Can’t beat ’em? Eat ’em.
Familiar to Caribbean locals
and visitors, iguanas have gradually moved to Florida, over-populating the
southern part of the state. This has
prompted a range of reactions to the reptiles, from capturing them for pets to selling
them for food.
One man, basking in
his title of “Iguana King,” says he and his friends “don’t club anymore,”
choosing instead to hunt for iguanas and sell them for various (not-good-for-iguanas)
purposes.
lifestyle shows the “hunters” partying while grilling “South Florida tree
chickens.”
Sweet, huh? People keep finding new ways to disturb
wildlife as if it exists solely for human consideration – and consumption.
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/610942/iguana-king/
Bald eagles rebound
In 1982, only one pair
of bald eagles was known to be nesting in NJ. Today, the birds – decimated by human use of DDT
until a government ban in 1972—are nesting in all of New Jersey’s 21 counties,
the Times of Trenton reports.
Improved water quality
that boosts fish populations and the discovery that eagles aren’t as fussy
about habitat as once thought have also contributed to their growing numbers
here.
counties near the Delaware Bay, the overall total of more than 200 nesting
pairs is a major milestone in bald eagle recovery.
Orphan elephant needs
others like him
Finally, here’s a wonderful
video I came across while roaming around elephant territory online. It’s about a dear orphan baby elephant who
must win the acceptance of older orphans so he can join their herd to return to
the wild.
For a few years,
I’ve seen and read nothing but good about David Sheldrick operations for
animals, and this one is a stellar example. You will be charmed and quickly start rooting
for Endoto during 13 minutes of what I think is elephant bliss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyYjokvbuzY
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