Saturday, April 16, 2016

A Tale About Whooping Cranes...!

I don't know how many of you remember the whooping crane, but here's a rather touching story about them.

The Battle Of The Backyard Cranes



The whooping crane is one of the great success stories of conservation. Back in 1970, there were a grand total of 57 cranes on the planet. Today, there are over 500, all thanks to Operation Migration. The awesome program uses airplanes to teach whooping cranes to migrate from Wisconsin to Florida. Throughout the process, the people involved wear giant bird costumes. Why? They don’t want the birds to get used to humans, as people have a bad habit of killing these amazing creatures.

And that’s why Clarice Gibbs’s backyard is such a problem.

The elderly Florida woman’s property is full of birdfeeders. One particular flock of cranes discovered this smorgasbord and made themselves at home in Mrs. Gibbs’s backyard. Worried about the birds’ safety, the people at Operation Migration asked Mrs. Gibbs if they could remove her feeders. Their whole mission revolved around keeping the cranes away from humans. Clarice said no but not because she was some sort of bird nut. It’s a lot more complicated than that.

Clarice’s husband was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Thanks to this awful disease, he was cut off from the world, a shell of his former self, unless he was sitting in his backyard, looking at birds. Clarice’s husband especially enjoyed watching the whooping cranes, and whenever these majestic animals landed in the yard, his mind would come back, excited and happy, if only for a moment.

So is one couple’s happiness worth the safety of an entire species? Taking it a step further, if you say “okay” to one person’s particular set of circumstances, when do you stop? Everyone has their own problems, and if everyone puts their own needs first, where does that leave the animals?

Or as RadioLab host Robert Krulwich put it, “If you want to give the other creatures on Earth a little more room to be wild and independent, then what do we have to give up?”

I don't know about you, but I say leave the old woman and her husband alone to enjoy the birds for as long as they can. Sometimes the very act of making someone else smile is reward enough, especially if their time here is limited.

Coffee out on the patio today Rain is due back tomorrow, so let's enjoy it.

5 comments:

Chickenmom said...

I say let the poor man enjoy the cranes. Good heavens - it's a bird and there are 500 other ones. Why is there no compassion anymore?

JO said...

Its another government big brother thing.

Pretty chilly here this morning after all that nasty wind, even blew down some of my fence.

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
I kinda feel the same way. Life is too short as it is to not try and make things more pleasant when we can.
Thanks for stopping by today!


Hey Jo...
You are probably right.
Thanks for dropping by this morning!

Anonymous said...

Of course he should be able to enjoy the birds and we can't forget his wife either, even if it is just for a short while she gets her husband back.

They have tried to get the white stork back here and have bred them in captivity.The big problem is that they don't understand that they need to fly south during winter. I wonder whythey haven't tried the same tactics as with those cranes?

Have a great day!

Christer.

Dizzy-Dick said...

And now Big Government (Obama) says that they own my ponds and swamp. All I got to say to that is B.S.!!!