Albino Alligators
Crocodilians have alwas fired the imagination. They’re big, fierce, and reptilian, all features that inspire fear in many people. They are also fascinating animals.
Excepting some of the giant constrictor snakes, crocodilians are the world’s largest predatory reptiles. They can be found through most of the tropical and subtropical regions of world.
The continental US has two native species of crocodilian: the American crocodile, whose range is restricted to small area in the sourthern tip of Florida, and the American alligator, whose range extends from the Atlantic tidewater region, through the Georgia Sea Islands, the Florida Everglades, the Gulf Coast, and the Mississippi Valley. It’s most common in the Gulf region.
Alligators are freshwater, semi-aquatic predators that can grow up to 8 or 9 feet long, and weigh more than 800 pounds. They were once on the brink of extinction, but in recent decades they’ve been making a come-back.
I’m talking about alligators because I found a neat news article today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070513/ap_on_fe_st/odd_albino_alligator
Apparently, there is a reptile zoo in St. Augustine Florida that specialized in breeding alligators, and one of their breeding pairs produces several albino gators every year.
To me, this is interesting for a couple of reasons: first, because albinism is a rare genetic mutation, these albino babies are probably produced by the same parents, year after year. This implies that alligators may mate for life, or at least come back to the same mate perferentially. This is not a mating habit associated with reptiles; it is more common in birds and mammals. And the crocodilians are the closest living relatives of birds.
Second, it’s just cool. Take a look at the picture of the white alligator, in the news article. That’s just plain neat, isn’t it?
The Pet that Owns Me
I’ve been talking a lot about animals here, but so far, I’ve barely mentioned the one that’s closest to my heart: my parrot, Took.
Took is a 25 year old Yellow-Naped Amazon parrot. My parents got her when I was just a kid, and she was the first female to steal my heart.
When I moved out of my parents place a few years ago, they told me that Took was going with me. That was fine with me, and probably Took, too, since when she was about 7 or 8 years old, and I was a teenager, she’d decided that I was the only human who could handle her. Parrots, and Amazon parrots in particular, will sometimes pair off with a person like that, when they reach maturity. It can be an issue if the bird gets aggressive about it, but Took is pretty laid back.
So what kind of bird is she? Well, she’s about the size of a large crow, green, but with blue and red bars on her wings, and a yellow patch on the nape of her neck. Yellow-napes come from the Pacific Coast of Central America, from Costa Rica, north to the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. They have a reputation as excellent talkers, so Took is probably normal there: she sings the theme song to Sesame Street, and says, “I love you,” and, “Wanna come out?” They are not usually cuddly birds, but Took is, at least with me. She’ll perch on my shoulder, tuck her head under my chin, and say, “Snuggle,” when she wants affection. She does get jealous though; she has to stay in the cage when my wife comes around.
I hope, when I have kids, that Took likes them. Amazon’s can live a long time, and if Took outlives me, which she might, she’ll need a home. Still, I think that 50 years is plenty of time to figure that out. Right now, though, she’s singing. I think I’ll give her some almonds.
I’m a Cat Person
I’ve written about dogs in this blog, so now I’ll write a bit about cats.
I’m a cat person. Well, actually, I’m a bird person, but I grew up as a cat
person. My family got a cat in 1979, a few weeks after Mom saw a mouse in the
basement. I remember that there was another mouse in the house, around 1982,
but that was the last time.
That cat was a great pet. I was 5 or 6 when we got her, and my sister was
two years younger, and that cat was perfect for us: very mellow, very
laissez-faire, very, very patient, and tough enough to scratch when the
occassion demanded it. With me and my sister, the occassion demanded it pretty
often, until we were both in junior high.
She was a pretty cat, too: part Persian, and part alleycat. It was an odd
combination, but she definitely came from the deep end of that gene pool.
When my sister was in high school, she brought a kitten home. This cat was a
contrast to its older housemate. We started calling the new kitten the
non-wonder cat, after she chased her tail, caught it, bit it, and turned around
to see who bit her.
She was a sweet cat, in her own way. She liked to curl up next to people on
the couch, and she always knew when the humans were going to get up; she’d get
up, herself, about 30 seconds before, to avoid having her seat disturbed.
Both of these cats are gone now, and my current pet is a parrot, but I do
remember them fondly.
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Dogs – Not Exotic, but Always with us
They may not be exotic, but they are amongst the world’s most popular animals…so I have to mention them.
Dogs are not my favorite. Anyone who knows me, knows this. In fact, my earliest memory is getting bitten on the head by a dog. I remember it as a giant, 200 pound, slavering, man-eating beast. My mother tells me that it was just a small puppy. Amazing what a difference in viewpoint of 30 years can do, isn’t it?
So why am I talking about dogs? Well, I’m staying at a friend’s house for a few days, while my place is undergoing some much needed renovations and repairs, and this friend has a dog.
A mutt.
A big mutt.
Well, not that big. But big enough. And he slavers. Sometimes.
OK, he’s a ordinary, average sized, stray born, mutt. And he’s friendly. And he likes me. But it doesn’t change the fact that, when I see this black shadow walking through a darkened house while I’m on my way to the bathroom at 2am, my heart jumps. And then the dog rubs against my legs like a cat.
I think that he thinks he’s a cat. There are a lot of stray cats in this neighborhood.
I’ll be glad to get back to my own place, and away from the dog. He’s a friendly dog, and he doesn’t hump legs or bite hands, but he’s still a dog. Even though he’s growing on me.
A Rare Peruvian Owl
I was browsing through some old science news stories, looking for something to post about, and I found this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17746419/
Tiny rare owl spotted in Peru reserve
Long-whiskered owlet discovered in 1976, but has not been seen in nature
Sometimes, I try to post about generalities, and sometimes I try to post about just really cool stuff. This is definitely really cool stuff. This is why I used to get “up north” in Michigan and go out at the crack of dawn with binoculars and a breakfast bar.
OK, so I never found a rare species, but I did see nesting Canada geese, ravens, and, once, a bald eagle. I always kept a record of what I saw, when I saw it, and where I saw it. There was never anything as exciting as this owl, but the eagle was a most impressive bird, and striking hawks are unforgettable. I can definitely understand the thrill these ornithologists got, when they realized what they had:
The group [American Bird Conservancy] said the sighting “is considered a holy grail of South American ornithology.”
“Seeing the long-whiskered owlet is a huge thrill,” said David Geale of the Association of Andean Ecosystems, who was a member of the research team. “Its population is estimated to be less than 1,000 birds and possibly as few as 250.”
That tiny population, and the threat of habitat destruction, are why this bird went undiscovered until 1976, and why it has never been seen in its natural state until now. It’s a story similar to the Large Billed Reed Warbler that I blogged about before. It makes you wonder what else is out there, that we just don’t know yet…
