Posted on 08/31/2014 8:50:42 PM PDT by chessplayer
Tomorrow marks exactly 100 years since the last passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.
At their peak, millions — some argue billions — of passenger pigeons flew together, creating such a ruckus as to make normal conversation a challenge. Yet their numbers diminished rapidly, plunging perilously close to extinction within just a few decades thanks to our voracious appetite for the birds. Then they flamed out completely, the last wild one shot in 1900 and Martha dying 14 years later. “The bird was hunted out of existence,” wrote journalist Barry Yeoman in Audubon magazine, “victimized by the fallacy that no amount of exploitation could endanger a creature so abundant.”
That the species went extinct still shocks the system. Consider their abundance.
We need to imagine Martha asking us, ‘Have you learned anything from my passing?’”
(Excerpt) Read more at weather.com ...
The only birds worse are the crows. they flock and squawk.
Carrier pigeons are different than passenger pigeons.
I’m really worried about Clay pigeons - they shoot hundreds at a time - just for sport!
That’s one species if flying rat that was eliminated. It gives me hope that the species that keeps crawling around on my chimney and crapping on my sidewalk will someday go extinct as well.
The only good pigeon is a dead pigeon.
BTW - really interesting stories on your grandfather using them to tell about what train he would be on! (Early version of texting!)
There is a movie about “The Lost Battalion” in WW I and they used carrier pigeons to try to send messages back and forth. The German’s would try to shoot them down. The pigeon that was able to bring back the message with the location of the Battalion (and their rescue) is in the Smithsonian.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/closing-the-pigeon-gap-68103438/?no-ist
And even to this day people are saying. “Gee, I sure wish I had a carrier pigeon.”
Not.
What have I learned from Martha? The planet still orbits the sun. The sky is still blue. Life goes on. We have managed to live without Tasmanian Tigers, dodos, and carrier pigeons. I am not saying we should go out killing everything but the world did not stop spinning losing these animals. Now these endangered animals are literally going to imprison and starve us. Delta smelt anyone?
My thought also.
Global warming’s first victim. If only there had been a carbon tax a hundred years ago, Martha would still be alive.
I would bet those that attacked him are pro abortion. Liberals really are nuts.
That’s one species if flying rat that was eliminated.
Absolutely mind boggling how so many so-called Christians take great delight in the destruction of God’s Creation.
lets bring them back! raise them and eat them!
Google the Carolina Parakeet, it was hunted into extinction for it's women's hat feathers. The were easy to shoot because they stayed together and would always come back to the same tree looking for the dead missing member.
Absolutely mind boggling how so many so-called Christians take great delight in the destruction of God’s Creation.
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Do you use pesticides? Do you find a cockroach or black widow spider and just pick it up and put it outside? How do you deal with ants in the kitchen? ...Bleh!
The world would be a better place without mosquitoes and pigeons.
Now let’s see you defend the goodness of mosquitoes.
*cracks knuckles*
I shall endeavor to make the attempt.
*cough cough*
They feed my spiders and dragonflies, both of which seem to be slacking lately!
*hint hint spiders and dragonflies, I expect to see you critters fat from the slaughter of moskeeters!*
/ kidding
Of course, it might be interesting to recreate said pigeon just to watch if it does this:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=drZb5oi7xuQ
Before sunset I reached Louisville, distant from Hardensburgh fiftyfive miles. The Pigeons were still passing in undiminished numbers, and continued to do so for three days in succession . . . . It may not, perhaps, be out of place to attempt an estimate of the number of Pigeons contained in one of those mighty flocks . . . Let us take a column of one mile in breadth, which is far below the average size, and suppose it passing over us without interruption for three hours, at the rate mentioned above of one mile in the minute. This will give us a parallelogram of 180 miles by 1, covering 180 square miles. Allowing two pigeons to the square yard, we have one billion, one hundred and fifteen millions, one hundred and thirty-six thousand pigeons in one flock.
Sounds impressive.
“I never really bought into the line that the passenger pigeon was hunted to extinction any more than I believe logging wiped out the American chestnuts.”
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When the first pioneers came into our mountains, they thought they were snow covered because of the blooms on them. I remember eating chestnuts as a child.
What killed the American chestnut was a bug or virus, I can’t remember which. The Forestry Service is trying with some success to cross it with the Chinese chestnut which has a natural resistance to the bug or virus. I hope they can bring it back, it was good eating.
Passenger pigeons Miss Latella, not carrier pigeons, it was passenger pigeons.
I think those were punt guns, from the square ended shallow draft water craft of the same name.
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