I adore being a camp counselor, exhausting but well-worth-it as it is, and the kids are Just. So. Astounding. I’m milking the summers between undergrad years for all they’re worth and actually seriously considering doing something like Nature’s Classroom for a year directly out of college.
Do it now while you have the chance! I got a dog and now I am Tied Down and not able to go live on-site anywhere for the summer and I have regrets.
Yeah, I should really ask my mum who in the family has them now. The story that has most viscerally imprinted itself on my brain is the one where Durrell family go for a picnic on the beach to impress some relatives from out of town and set up the blanket with a lovely length of driftwood to lean against, only to realise, upon noticing a strange pong, in the middle of the meal, that said driftwood was, in fact, a (very) deceased horse.
oh my god I’d forgotten that one. I think my favorite thing from the Corfu years was the passage about going out with the night fishermen and catching octopus with a trident, but my favorite overall is his descriptions of capturing armadillos in Argentina in The Drunken Forest… and tbh literally everything else in that book, the whole thing is a hysterical zoology misadventure.
:DD thank you for sharing your Durrell love with me! And yeah, I keep bringing him up to fellow museum and ecology folks and getting blank looks, it’s shocking!
Such a coincidence: I just finished reading one of his books this afternoon and reflected on what a shame it is that he isn’t more well-known.
It is SUCH a shame, but I try to ameliorate this lack of knowledge by telling everyone about him at the first reasonable opportunity.
@northwoodslynne – oh yeah, those are all great tips, especially researching where you go beforehand!
This wasn’t at all comprehensive, and was mostly focused on how not to harm (or be harmed by) living things, so I didn’t even get into gear at all in that post, but I could do a follow-up on more general stuff if anyone is interested.
@hideflen – I will join you in this corner. I’m already late to class today and I have a lit review a week overdue.
…..who wants to join our club?
@princeofmorley – yup! …and I honestly don’t know whether you’re referring to Massachusetts or Rhode Island there, but I grew up so close to the border that the answer is ‘yes’ regardless. @vimyvickers – I did too, until that moment of blank incomprehension. @pilferingapples – haha, well I cannot pretend to be a clam expert, but since I just checked and can’t abide giving false info: I was wrong, it’s actually a Naragansett word (although similar in Wampanoag, says wiki). In other, unrelated clam news, if you have never seen a geoduck clam, you should know that they are one of the most phallic animals alive, and also the mascot of Evergreen State College. @bobcatmoran – right?? it’s such a delightful word for a delightful (and delicious) organism!
speaking of being a massive ecology nerd, guess what season it is, folks!
That’s right, it’s FLEDGLING BIRD SEASON here in North America, which means it’s time for an annual reminder that most species of birds have almost no sense of smell. Someone probably told you that if you touch a baby bird, the mother will smell you on it and reject her baby. THAT IS NOT THE CASE.
Pictured: a young Mourning Dove, after being rescued from the tender mercies of my dog, circa spring 2005. It’s a fledgling! Note how it has most of its feathers, but still looks a bit awkward and scruffy, and, being unable to properly fly, can be caught by an elderly husky or a child.
Hatchlings: IF it is covered in fluffy down (or partly naked) and cannot flutter successfully, it’s a hatchling, and has fallen from its nest prematurely. Look for the nest- if you find it and can reach it, return baby and then gtfo and let the parents return. If you can’t find the nest, or if you find it in pieces on the ground, use a small box lined with dryer lint or dog hair or similar fluff and attach as close as possible to where you found the bird or where you think the nest was. Return baby!!!!
Fledglings: If you spot a young bird covered with feathers on the ground, chances are it’s a fledgling (bird tween, can flutter) who is not doing well in flying 101, but it is probably NOT injured or sick. Hanging out on the ground is part of the learning to fly process! If it looks like it’s in immediate danger (i.e. of being run over, stepped on, or eaten by a cat or dog), the best thing you can do for it is to gently scoop it up and place it in the branches of a nearby tree or shrub, and then LEAVE. The parents are likely nearby, and will return once the coast is clear of humans/predators. If it flutter-hops away from you and you can’t catch it, then don’t worry! It just successfully avoided a predator (you), and therefore can probably continue to do so.
DON’T DON’T DON’T: Try to feed it, bring it into your house or car, or take it to your local vet or animal shelter.
IF it IS actually for-real injured, you can catch it and contact a local wildlife rehabilitation professional (and then listen to whatever they tell you), but keep in mind that they get a LOT of fledgling birds, and those birds have a pretty high mortality rate. They may tell you that there is nothing you or they can do but allow nature to take its course, and that’s hard, but important to hear and respect.
I could understand if it was a rare or endangered bird, but a Mourning Dove?! Do you also feel compelled to rescue injured sewer rats? Doves are so stupid they are injured quite often, but since they breed like, well, RATS, they will never be impacted by the loss of a few (dozen, hundred, etc) to the odd dog attack or car strike.
shockingly enough, my compassion for animals being slowly gnawed to death by a dog isn’t measured by how many of them people have already exterminated (or failed to exterminate), or my perception of their relative intelligence. They’re not fucking pokémon, the rare ones aren’t somehow more valuable, they’re just unfortunately less successful at coexisting with humans. I’m under no illusions that the life of that dove made any impact on the local environment, but I did prevent my dog from slowly (and pointlessly, because she never consumed her kills) killing a wild animal which, being a native species, had far more right to be there than she (or, indeed, I) did. I consider that a win.
(and no, I would not rescue a norway rat, because those are an invasive species.)
A Pretty Taste for Paradox 