Log log: the cormorants are still in full possession of their logs, and they are strengthening their defenses. The two-bird log is trying out an additional guard. Training is an issue though. As I walked past, the newbie twisted around to watch and fell off the end he was guarding. The splash was large and clearly wouldn’t go unnoticed by the higher echelons. Elsewhere in the pond, another cormorant was practicing its stealth submarine maneuvers on the ducks to great effect. It remains to be seen if they will be effective against the larger Canadian vessels, especially which are usually in flotillas of three or four.
Some sad news came in from the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya where the vulture population is down by 60% and three species may be in danger of being lost. They have become collateral damage in the battle between some of the farmers and large predators like lions and hyenas. Carcasses of predated cattle are being laced with pesticides to poison the predator and the vultures get there first.
These days we grab for a chemical solution at the drop of a hat and without care; the collateral damage is often considerable. The weakened immune system of the honeybee leading to colony collapse disorder, is just one area that needs study. The trophy bucks strung across the hood of many deer hunter’s trucks that now need to be checked prior to butchering and excising of spinal cord material which could now be a danger due to changes that may have been induced by exposure to organophosphorous compounds. Shoot first with the spray and ask questions later, is a rather rash policy. The questions may be very large indeed. These weapons are powerful and need to be handled by wise, informed sheriffs and not bug-vigilantes.
An update on an item from December 3, the LHO box made $87k in the LA auction. The guy from the funeral home who kept it all these years said he saved it because nobody seemed to want it. But we have now moved into the e-bay generation; enough said.
Better living through chemistry -or so we were told in the '50s. And we never really got past that. Rachael Carson must be spinning herself ragged in th grave.