Tag: Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Response

Similar to the last chapter, this one started off with beautiful imagery. It stated how NY can be  safe haven for all these species of birds to land and rest in between flights. Central Park being a green oasis in a concrete jungle. While reading this I was felling slightly jealous of her and her husband’s journey to see all of the birds. It made me want to look up more and observe nature. Not only nature in regards to trees but also the wildlife that depend on the greenery as a safe haven.

Then all of this imagery has taken a turn.  The reading describes the difference in approaches the Europeans and Natives had in their environment. The Europeans would just look up and unload bullets into a flock of birds in the air. This systematic annihilation of the birds lead to the extinction of many species. The Natives however saw their environment and nature as a blessing. They made sure to never over hunt any one species.

The ending was really poignant. “What has been destroyed can never be created again.” That quote has stuck with me after reading this chapter.

Chapter 9 Response

This chapter was filled with many things that annoyed me. The first thing I want to talk about is the pigeons, which in general, always annoy me. They are the embodiment of a species adapting to their urban environment. We see them everywhere, eating and sleeping all the time. They make nests in signs on buildings and in the beams of our train trestles. It’s the same with the sparrows who make nests under our air conditioners and awnings. Like the falcons on top of our skyscrapers, they have made the best of a bad situation. However, unlike the falcons, they’re just too used to humans.

What I mean is that years ago, they’d probably fly as far away as possible from us. But the pigeons we’ve grown up? They’ll eat right out of our hands and they absolutely do not move out of the way when we come charging through. I’m not complaining that they’ve adapted. Kudos to them for getting used to their environment and doing what they have to survive. That’s more than what I can say for many people. What irks me is the fact that they’ve been forced to go to such limits. We’ve taken everything from them and they couldn’t fight back.

This sounds terrible, especially when you see it in addition to all the unnecessary killing that’s gone on over the years. Killing for food is one thing. I can accept that. But in the chapter, McCully mentioned the over-killing done just for sport. It didn’t really show any skill since there were so many birds, you could miss your target and still hit one. It really did a number on NY’s bird populations and only now are eagle, red-tailed hawk, and owl populations building to what they once were. Let’s hope preservation laws are enforced to keep them safe.