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Krawdad
Member Elite
since 2001-01-03
Posts 2597


0 posted 2011-10-14 08:52 PM



      You Can Have the Gheckos


      I recall those sticky-toed gheckos
      that scambled up trees then posed
      such common exotics on that island
      you would have to look twice through a window
      to see if they were on the inside or the out

      No blue-headed lizards hereabouts
      that scamble up trees then pose
      but there were blue-tailed skinks once
      now so rare I have yet to see one
      scurry across rocks and rattle through leaves

      Prairie skinks were in the prairie grass
      smooth green snakes were in the green bushes
      meadowlarks have gone missing from the meadows
      bobolinks have no place to hide a nest
      what have we done, what have we done?



      e - 101411


© Copyright 2011 Krawdad - All Rights Reserved
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
1 posted 2011-10-14 09:30 PM


I don't know, I don't know.

~*~ Tell me whom you love, and I will tell you who you are.--Houssaye ~*~

JL
Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128
Texas, USA
2 posted 2011-10-14 09:58 PM


Yeah, it's amazing especially the skinks they never had a problem with eating almost anything and drinking very little to survive.  Go figure.  Maybe it's in the design of things, or maybe other scavengers are finding an apatite for lizards, snakes and the like.

Great observation, and write.

JL

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Maranatha!

jwesley
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563
Spring, Texas
3 posted 2011-10-14 10:14 PM


pesticides and disease ... saw it happen to our green anoles (chameleons)from pesticides, and West Nile Virus made our Blue Jay population plummet -- in fact we saw very, very few of either of the above for several years --- thankfully in the last two years, this one in particular, we've seen both populations returning.

good write..

j.

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
4 posted 2011-10-15 03:07 AM


Yes, “what have we done, what have we done.”  

Ed, this is so sad.  This is happening all over the world, including my beloved South Africa, from the butchering of rhinoceros for their horns to the destruction of butterfly habitats.  The one thing is that when I was young it was difficult to awake people to what is happening to our planet because of the errors of Man, but at least now, it is common knowledge that we are destroying it, and there are at least some measures at work to prevent it getting any worse and/or reverse the effects – but nowhere near enough, nor fast enough – so much of what we have done will take decades to undo in as far as it can be undone.  Despite the good work of some movements, there is so much apathy, ignorance and arrogance, that it is difficult to get people/companies etc to change their behaviour, despite their knowing what they are doing.  And in the retrogression, so many creatures in all corners of the world, have become endangered species or even extinct.  

I wish you and all of your natural habitat, a return of blue-tailed skinks, prairie skinks, smooth green snakes, meadow larks and bobolinks.   I hadn’t heard of bobolinks, but googled them and read up about them and saw a Wikipedia photo.  I hope that won’t become the only way that people who live in their previous natural habitats will be able to know about them or other creatures.  

Owl

Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
5 posted 2011-10-15 06:05 AM


I do have MY geco! Here it is



I much enjoyed your inspired poem, we can't repeat enough how much our way of life damages nature and the animals.

I adore my geco (sometimes I saw three of them) on my balcony, as they eat the mosquitos. It's a miracle that they still survive with all the disinfestations going on.

M

"Love is the One who masters all things;
I am mastered totally by Love."
(Rumi)

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California
6 posted 2011-10-17 04:33 AM


I understand what you are saying and it makes my very sad. I know what we are doing I just don't know why.
                            Ida

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere
7 posted 2011-10-17 06:27 AM


Excellent job Krawdad.  We seem to forget that those "lesser" creatures are below us on the food chain and when they go we are up an empty creek without the proverbial paddle. Given half a chance most things will recover...

Lori

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
8 posted 2011-10-17 07:58 AM


Margherita, your little gecko is beautiful.  You certainly have some interesting and beautiful lizards in Italy.  

Owl

Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA
9 posted 2011-10-17 08:04 AM


You missin' gheckos, krawdad??? Come on down! We have plenty to share....and then some. They just all decided to move to Florida, I guess...the ones that aren't selling car insurance up north
Krawdad
Member Elite
since 2001-01-03
Posts 2597

10 posted 2011-10-19 01:47 AM


Thanks for the photo, M!
And thanks all for stopping by to read my complaint.

What have we done?

It's simple, really.
On or about October 31, 2011, the human population will pass the 7 BILLION number.
That's what we have done.

And there is no stopping us.  There is no stopping us.

Klassy Lassy
Member Elite
since 2005-06-28
Posts 2187
Oregon
11 posted 2011-10-19 09:54 AM


I've never seen a ghecko where I live.  A lot of salamanders, though.  Come to think of it, they have been scarce lately.
JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
12 posted 2011-10-19 07:30 PM


Nice...I have gained a midget one in my house recently...James
Krawdad
Member Elite
since 2001-01-03
Posts 2597

13 posted 2011-10-20 01:34 AM


J.M.
A not surprising comment you have made, as my island reference was to a spot about 15 mi east of you.

Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California
14 posted 2011-10-20 06:57 PM


We have laid waste to so much... and never even slow down to realize it, it seems.

Your message is strong.  A better question might be what are we doing to change this?


Michael

Earth Angel
Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215
Realms of Light
15 posted 2011-10-22 03:33 PM


It's truly scary, isn't it?!! Not only are the numbers dwindling, we're losing entire species of fish, plants, animals...

Your poem really hit home.


EA

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