Brooklyn Birds, and Other Forms of Wildlife

I'm reading a book about the history of rats in New York and the author quotes someone who says that rats like chewing on vines, and animal behaviorists theorize that's the reason why rats like chewing on wires. He makes the point that the danger rats pose is more than hygiene related ones, because if there is a rat infestation within the walls of a house they have the potential to chew the insulation off wires and therefore there presence poses a fire hazard.

Rats scurry all over this neighborhood. The author makes the point that the key to their elimination is not extermination, as they have the capacity to breed very quickly. What keeps their numbers in check is their access to food. It is therefore very important that garbage is stored in a fashion that prevents them access; the more food, the more rats.

In what seems like another lifetime I recall accompanying a friend to get hamsters in a pet store. This was a time and a place when most Black kids and sorta Black kids didn't have pets. If anything, one kept animals for later slaughter at best; any sentimental attachment towards them was your emotional undoing. Anyway, we got the said hamsters and were on a bus back home. The pet store packaged the critters in this nifty little cardboard box with tiny holes to ensure air circulation. We took turns holding the box on the crowded bus and remarked loudly to each other how little these things seem to weigh as they scampered to and fro within. My buddy held it from underneath, and suddenly he sort of jerked and said, "Ow," really loud: The darned things were eating their way through the box. We spent the whole ride using our finger tips to lightly smack the box where they made attempt to make holes, and panicking what on earth would we do if one of them got out on this sardine-packed bus. They have really sharp teeth. Thankfully, they didn't.

Another animal sighting. There is an adorable kitten that gambols on Franklin Avenue between St. John's and Sterling. Apparently it resides in the nearby corner grocery store, but spends time becoming acquainted with passers by and making mock attempts to catch grassquits which peck about. In the same way that Feng Shui sooths the mind, the sight of this little kitten doing its thing day in and day out creates the allure of intimacy for me. It's as if he's the neighborhood's kitty. I've seen grown folks actually halt the momentum of their no doubt busy lives to stop, pick up, and pet the cat; It's a velvety grey animal with splotches of white about the face. Definitely coo-worthy.

There has been raccoon sightings on Franklin between Sterling and Park in times past. I recall seeing raccoons in Long Island late at night. I think they commute -- much like rats -- through the sewers.

On my way home with all the black bagged garbage on the street, and the ripe stench of it cooking in this heat, I thought of the rats that were no doubt feasting. All of a sudden one rushes right by my feet. I cry out for the good lord, full name and all, not once, but twice! Jesus! (the first one) Christ!(the second). I resorted to necessity and walked down the middle of the street.

Given the large amount of starlings that flit about, I was surprised to see in Robert Sullivan's book, "Rats..." that starlings were introduced to America by a dude by the name of, Eugene Schieffelin, in Central Park, in 1890. Mr. Schieffelin was the chairman of an organization called the American Acclimatization Society -- which was a group of scientists and naturalists who had as their objective to introduce certain animal species into North America. Interesting...

Gotta find out more about these guys...

Hmm, a herd of buffalo, a flock of birds; a pack of dogs and a _ _ _ _ of butterflies? I don't know what to call a grouping of butterflies I saw fluttering from flower to flower on Saturday, but I saw them. Monarchs, I think.

Hey!
Nearing the end of summer at Prospect Park periodically there are tremendous groups of cicadas, and they all sing a piercing monotonous shrill -- I believe -- shortly before they die. I think there was an article in the Times a few years ago about them. Can't recall the detail; something about how they pop up periodically in astronomical numbers. Their sounds can be so overwhelming when they are in large groups. I think they make that sound to meet a mate, procreate, and then die.

Oh! I didn't know that. Whoa.

I saw a dragonfly whizzing over a car today. It's my understanding that the presence of dragonflies may mean a waning of summer. I have not verified this, but this is the first dragonfly I've seen this year.

Also, I've been told that the presence of mice also may signal a change in season, in the same way bird migrations mark the change in seasons.

Is it me or are there more rats about? I mean, I have never seen so many rats before galloping about.

Saw a HUGE rat last night gobbling garbage out of a discarded bag. Yuck

Ha! That's a good one! Coincidentally, as a kid I would accompany friends on pidgeon hunting safaris in our suburban Caribbean neighborhood. We fashioned slingshots out of wood and used them at any opportunity. I was never a good shot however. In error and horrid aghast, I once accidentally killed a hummingbird. The only benefit of that crime was to hold the incredibly light bird in my hands, and to stroke the irridescent green pelt of its fine chest. I thought that the gods were definitely disappointed in me that day.

It's a sign of the times that today's kids don't seem particularly interested in engaging insuch Tom Sawyer-type activity. Must be the urban environs that limits their imagination.