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| I hope the plover are happy |
| 2011-06-02 |
| h/t Gates of Vienna A year or so ago, I talked to a park ranger in Yankton, South Dakota, while watching the Missouri River from an overlook near Yankton. I casually asked the ranger why the Corps was holding back so much water in the spring. “To protect the plover,” he replied—as if it were common knowledge. “The what?” I inquired. “The plover—it is a shore bird that nests along the Missouri. If they let out too much water in the spring, it drowns out their nests and kills the baby birds. So the Corps holds it back to allow the birds to hatch.” How noble, I thought—we hold back mighty waters to protect bird life. Fast forward to the spring of 2011. As I watch my friends in Dakota Dunes frantically trying to escape the mighty flood waters released in record amounts by the Corps this week, while their houses are ruined by the Muddy Mo, and my friends, neighbors, and family members work feverishly to protect our own homes and each others’ homes in Wynstone, South Dakota—up river a ways—I thought a lot about the plover. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #6 Correction: Flood plain - floods don't fly planes. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-06-02 23:11 |
| #5 Why are we protecting species anyway? Really - that is a serious question. Why are we doing it? Extinction is a perfectly natural process which has been going on for millions of years before man even appeared. And it will be going on for millions of years after we, ourselves are extinct. Protecting a species is against nature. To attempt to stop it or defer it is going against the very ecology they claim to be protecting. Its the 'circle of life' - but on a species scale - they are created, grow and adapt, get old and specialized or whatever and die. The Spotted Owl? Should go extinct if it's too specialized to live in a new environment. I suspect its the same with the Plover. If they are so stupid to build their nests in a flood plane - they don't deserve to live as a species. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-06-02 23:10 |
| #4 They're taste is cross between Sea Otter and Spotted Owl, very delicate. Really tasty with a nice Wine and Shallot sauce. |
| Posted by: Secret Asian Man 2011-06-02 22:34 |
| #3 here in San Diego - it's Snowy Plover. Never seen one. Lost a couple construction cycles to the "potential" unseen Snowy Plovers. I hope they're tasty on the BBQ |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-06-02 21:38 |
| #2 And they are in no need of "protecting". They are all over the place and range across North America, Asia, and Europe. Who protected the plover before the dam was there? Plovers that nested too close to the river got their nests washed away. Plovers that nest a little ways back survive. Pretty soon, you have a population of plovers adapted to not building nests where they might be flooded because those with that tendency have been selected by natural flooding. The Corps of Engineers is messing with their natural adaptation. Basically, they are making the plovers stupid. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2011-06-02 21:05 |
| #1 Their eggs make good omelettes. The problem is that you need a lot of them. |
| Posted by: gorb 2011-06-02 16:18 |