ENOUGH of this wind already. We have become used to having spotted bush snakes as constant summer companions in the Hide, but this year has been different, they simply have not arrived, not one. Has it been the run of cool, distinctly unsummery weather, is global climate change affecting our local fauna, what’s to become of us, one wonders? Well the other day we were sitting in the Hide drinking tea and I was trying to read the papers. This was proving difficult as every now and then a gust of wind would scatter the Herald and my other regular read, the Mercury, all over the place. We had loaded loose bits down with the olive oil, the salt and pepper and other bits and bobs, but it was difficult and as you all know, extremely frustrating.
Anyway, a cry interrupted the interrupted newspaper reading, ‘Snake on deck!’ My wife had spotted (sorry) a beautiful spotted bush snake meandering across the deck and we were both immediately thrilled. It was just great to see our friend back in his (her?) familiar surroundings and we were filled with good thoughts. Then along came a gust of wind and, yes, blew our visitor off his perch and over the edge. He was quite irate (snakes have a way of showing this like no other creature), but try as he might he could not keep his grip on the deck and away he was blown. Fortunately we know them to be excellent flyers and we’re quite sure he landed safely in the garden below, but again I must ask, August used to be the windy month, not the whole of summer.
I had a really good, although slightly late, Christmas present the other day. If you, like me, sign petitions about all sorts of things and then wonder what ever happens to them, I have some good news. Care2 Causes sent me an email the other day with a report on just some of the successful petitions they had run over the year and it really is quite remarkable the difference a petition can make.
I’ll give you an example. No more than a couple of weeks ago I signed a petition put out by Care2 Causes calling on the authorities at JFK airport in New York to stop the shooting of snowy owls. The owls, residents of Canada, Alaska and Eurasia, are rare as far south as New York and their presence at JFK has been a boon for local birders, but also upsetting flight schedules, so, said the authorities, out with the shotguns. In steps C2C, hundreds of thousands of people around the world like me sign the petition and lo! The JFK authorities have stopped shooting snowy owls and are capturing and relocating them instead. I’ve had similar good news from the Avaaz team, the other big and effective petition network, and these are often seriously political. So, it works, often enough to make it worthwhile.
And if the wind would die down long enough we might just get our snake back. Cheers!
