Monday, February 02, 2004
I think I'm pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to animals. For example, while I like my friends' pets and try to avoid hitting them with my car, I also don't think that calendars plastered with cute kitty or puppy pictures are a good idea. For anyone.
Basically, I'm just more concerned with people and our problems than the issues of animals. And on this point, my thinking is entirely in line with that of our animal friends. Talk to any cat and I guarantee they'd claim that they vastly outrank the people who walk around their homes all day.
Which is why I always feel a little off when I read stories like this one: Expert Says Glass is a Major Threat to Birds. If you don't have time to read it, the article features a guy named Daniel Klem Jr., a Muhlenberg College ornithologist, who has devoted his life to studying the effects of glass windows on birds.
I'm not going to lie to you... the stats aren't good. Klem estimates that over 1 billion birds are killed each year in the U.S. alone from flying into glossy skyscrapers whose windows mysteriously make them look like they're not there.
Unfortunately, neither Klem nor his esteemed scientific colleagues seem to have an answer for this dilemma. They've tried to put various patterns into the glass of large buildings, but the damn birds keep bouncing off in droves.
So to Klem and his esteemed colleagues, I have a suggestion: Instead of spending all of your time listening to bird calls instead of our friend Mr. Darwin, why not put your scientific backgrounds to work and cure something important? Cancer would be good. AIDS, too. Really, anything of any value at all to humans. If you're really lucky, you might just save someone who'll figure out how to communicate with the birds and find out exactly why they haven't learned in over 200 years that window frames are rarely filled with open air.
Need to blow off a little animal steam of your own?
(0) comments
Basically, I'm just more concerned with people and our problems than the issues of animals. And on this point, my thinking is entirely in line with that of our animal friends. Talk to any cat and I guarantee they'd claim that they vastly outrank the people who walk around their homes all day.
Which is why I always feel a little off when I read stories like this one: Expert Says Glass is a Major Threat to Birds. If you don't have time to read it, the article features a guy named Daniel Klem Jr., a Muhlenberg College ornithologist, who has devoted his life to studying the effects of glass windows on birds.
I'm not going to lie to you... the stats aren't good. Klem estimates that over 1 billion birds are killed each year in the U.S. alone from flying into glossy skyscrapers whose windows mysteriously make them look like they're not there.
Unfortunately, neither Klem nor his esteemed scientific colleagues seem to have an answer for this dilemma. They've tried to put various patterns into the glass of large buildings, but the damn birds keep bouncing off in droves.
So to Klem and his esteemed colleagues, I have a suggestion: Instead of spending all of your time listening to bird calls instead of our friend Mr. Darwin, why not put your scientific backgrounds to work and cure something important? Cancer would be good. AIDS, too. Really, anything of any value at all to humans. If you're really lucky, you might just save someone who'll figure out how to communicate with the birds and find out exactly why they haven't learned in over 200 years that window frames are rarely filled with open air.
Need to blow off a little animal steam of your own?
