Was
It A Bird, Was It A Plane...
Once upon a time the
passenger pigeon was so numerous in
America
that their
bodies would literally darken the skies
when they took to the wing. Flocks were
estimated to
number
in the billions.
That's billions, folks. With
a B. That's a lot of birdies.
But we killed them all, in pretty short
order. Every last one of them. They were
easy to catch and made a pretty darned
good pot pie, or so I'm told. At one point
they sold for the equivalent of 30 cents
a half-dozen.
During times of over-supply they were simply
fed to hogs. The last living specimen,
named Martha, died in 1914 in a Cincinnati
zoo.
No one saw their extinction coming.
Though the passenger pigeon had evolved
over the eons to
not only thwart every predator but to thrive
in epic numbers they were not equipped
to escape mankind's lust
to
hunt,
kill,
and eat tasty critters, especially those
that congregate in easily detectable flocks,
herds, or schools. The buffalo barely survived
the onslaught, the Atlantic salmon is on
life-support, but the blue fin tuna may
be gone soon.
We're apparently killing the bees now,
though in this case indirectly
as a result of the liberal use of neonicotinoid-based
pesticides on
our nation's crops. As important as bees
are to keeping our larders full of fruits,
nuts, and vegetables you'd think the merest
hint of peril among their hives would have
had our top researchers rushing for answers. Mostly,
it seems, they've just been fondling their
Monsanto grants and whistling tunelessly.
Europe
seems to have gotten the message as many
countries in the EU have banned the pesticide's
use. It would be wonderful if our own government
also adopted such restrictions
buuuut our government is the kind that's
completely in
thrall
to the profit margins of corporations so
fat chance of a break for the bees any
time soon... as long as you keep voting
Republican,
that
is.
Happy Addendum: Due to
public pressure
Pop
Weaver, the nation's second largest
popcorn
supplier,
has just decided to remove bee-toxic insecticides
from their popcorn supply. Way to go, Cranksters!
=Lefty=
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