Apple blossom
Connected
2022-05-19
Egyptian Geese in Africa form mating pairs that bond for life. When one dies, the other mourns by retreating into isolation and, in some cases, may never mate again. This monogamous relationship seems like an example of the complex emotional lives of other creatures that we humans refuse to acknowledge. If we did appreciate that other animals experience genuine feelings, we might be better stewards of the environments in which they live. I learned this while watching an excellent nature documentary, Life at the Waterhole, on the PBS.org website.
In the same program, I learned that Yellow-Billed Storks could transfer fish eggs from one body of water to another. The fish eggs catch a ride on the bird’s feet. In the documentary, scientists created an artificial waterhole in a wildlife park in Tanzania. They then observed it with sophisticated cameras through several seasons to learn about the types of animals that come to waterholes and their behaviors. Consider that the storks not only eat fish but also farm them by spreading their eggs to new waterways, which is only one of countless examples of the interdependence throughout the natural world. If human activity were to result in the extinction of the Yellow-Billed Stork, there would be a negative impact on fish populations, which would ripple out to harm other components of natural systems.
Hyenas are aggressive predators, but they also eat dead carcasses that may have died from infectious diseases. Hyenas can eat these infected carcasses without harm because of the high amount of powerful stomach acid they have and their robust immune systems. The other animals at the waterhole were not just victims of hyena predation but also benefitted from a valuable public health role provided by the hyenas removing the infectious carcasses.
In another documentary about bird eggs, David Attenborough discussed a small finch that fed its young with the caterpillars of winter moths. Each chick will consume around a thousand caterpillars before being large enough to fend for itself. A typical clutch can have six to eight chicks, which equates to a need for six to eight thousand caterpillars. I couldn’t help but despair, knowing that people spray their trees yearly to kill the caterpillars eating the leaves in my town. They either don’t know or don’t care that they are also killing many baby birds.
Nature works as a system. All of the parts are important, and the destruction of any particular part leads to the loss of additional pieces. Our reckless behavior has already led to the extinction of many species of plants and animals. It is puzzling that we can’t see how we are among the species threatened by our behavior.
Monte