Page 18 - Boca Club News - July '24

Page 18, Boca Club News

The Arts
The Arts

Book Review…“FUZZ: When Nature Breaks the Law”

By Nils A. Shapiro Another example of man vs. nature problems is one much at least a week…mainly used
Author Mary Roach’s books closer to home: the efforts in Texas, Arkansas and elsewhere to to dissuade cormorants, gulls,
invariably climb the national bestseller literally bomb crows—“black bandits of the air” and “feathered and vultures from roosting
lists. She has earned among her gangsters” they were called—and other birds out of the skies on structures where someone
vast fan base a reputation as “our from airplanes with sticks of dynamite! During one winter doesn’t want them—and their
most consistently entertaining,” alone 250,000 crows were killed in Illinois. droppings—to gather.”
“disturbingly funny journalist” with Their crime? Doing what crows do naturally in order to Black Bears in Aspen,
an “infectious awe for quirky science.” survive: They were raiding the nests of waterfowl, devouring Colorado, who take advantage
The titles of her earlier books are eggs and chicks to the extent that duck hunters would not have of residents’ ignoring rules to
evidence of that: “GULP: enough of them to shoot! keep trash cans shut tight…
Adventures on the Alimentary Here is one with a gentler touch befitting the locale— Elephants whose centuries-
Canal;” “BONK: The Curious Vatican City: old pathways in India’s
Coupling of Science and Gulls are very different from crows, and it is sometimes forests are being surrounded
Sex;” “GRUNT: The Curious necessary to keep them away in certain situations—but in a and blocked by construction,
Science of Humans at War;” way that does no harm. yet are being blamed and
“SPOOK; “Science Tackles “If you make a gull sufficiently nervous, it will vomit. While punished for “trespassing The “Scats” of Cats. An
the Afterlife;” “STIFF: The unpleasant for biologists who need to handle them, the habit onto humans’ property”…a illustration in the book
Curious Lives of Human affords easy insight into what the birds have been eating. Here page of “poop” illustrating compares the sizes and
Cadavers” and “PACKING is a partial list of what a herring gull considers edible—that four different kinds of scat shapes of “droppings” of
FOR MARS: “The Curious is, things that have been vomited in the general direction of that accompanies a chapter on Bobcats, Ocelots, Jaguars
Science of Life in the Void.” Julie C. Ellis, senior research investigator at the University how to track Bobcat, Ocelot, and Mountain Lions–the
Her latest work attracted of Pennsylvania: bologna, ants, strawberry shortcake, a Jaguar and Mountain Lion author’s way of helping you
me because of its subject large mackerel, a whole hot dog, intact mice, squid, a used by identifying their droppings to know which of these wild
matter: a round-the-world sanitary napkin, discarded lobster bait, Vienna sausages, an as part of a program to protect cats you may find yourself
investigation into the wildly diverse—but ultimately eider duckling, a paper muffin wrapper, a loaded diaper, and these animals by keeping tracking one day.
fascinating—ways in which we humans attempt to solve a plate’s worth of spaghetti marinara with mussels.” them apart from human
the problems we face when the world’s other creatures and When you consider that large flocks of gulls descend on St. populations…these as well as others are among the many
natural forces either don’t understand the rules we have set… Peter’s Square when crowds gather to see and hear the Pope, and odd and fascinating issues faced in this book’s pages.
or seemingly refuse to follow them. understand that “droppings” from above are not blessings from And not all are about animals. The author devotes one
As the author travels the globe in search of each heaven, it is clear why the Vatican has hired a Dutchman, Andre chapter to Dangerous Trees, and another to Poisonous Plants…
area’s problems—working closely with wildlife scientists, Fritjers—who owns the company Vogelverschrikker (Dutch for both species which we now know through scientific evidence to
researchers and other experts whose insightful findings she scarecrow)—to demonstrate his LaserOp Automatic 200, “a sort have intelligence and able to wreak havoc on humans despite
passes along to us—she describes local efforts to solve their of monochrome laser light show. Lasers are silent, seemingly our “laws.”
dilemmas. It is here, in situations that local communities often humane, and they can usually be counted on to unnerve gulls for Learn and laugh. And join me in the Mary Roach fan club.
consider even dire, that Mary Roach’s sense of humor shines
Here is just one example—a true historical record described Film Review:
through on so many of these pages.

on the very first page of this book’s Introduction:
province of northern Italy initiated legal proceedings against “The Price of Nonna’s Inheritance”
“On June 26, 1659, a representative from five towns in a

caterpillars. The local specimens, went the complaint, were
trespassing and pilfering from people’s gardens and orchards. By Nils A. Shapiro As this newspaper’s film reviewer for the past 17
A summons was issued and five copies made and nailed to trees I will state right at the outset my reason for years—more than 200 columns to date—with a serious
in forests adjacent to each town. The caterpillars were ordered recommending that you take an hour and a half from your commitment to discovering films deserving of my readers’
to appear in court on the twenty-eight of June, at a specified busy schedule to watch this film, which began streaming attention, I am all too aware of the sameness of the subject
hour, where they would be assigned legal representation. last month on Netflix. An Italian production with a matter in so many of the productions available these days:
“Of course, no caterpillars appeared at the appointed time, cast that will almost certainly be unknown to you, and teen coming of age flicks, scary horror, Marvel and other
but the case went forward anyway. In a surviving document, therefore unlisted here, the English-dubbed soundtrack is super hero series, ex-spies called out of retirement, outer
the court recognizes the rights of caterpillars to live freely expertly done and presents no problem in your following space sci-fi, non-believable car chases…and on and on.
and happily, provided this does not ‘impair the happiness of its delightful story line.
man…’ The judge decreed that the caterpillars be assigned a And that’s the point. Film Review on page 19
plot of land for their sustenance and enjoyment. By the time
the details were worked out, the defendants, having pupated
(to butterflies), were surely through with their devastations,
and all parties left the proceedings satisfied.”
Not all human-animal problem encounters are settled so
easily, however. As we soon learn in the book’s 15 chapters,
some of them can present real predicaments. Take the case that
the author describes in the chapter she titles THE MONKEY
FIX: Birth Control for Marauding Macaques.
Ms. Roach travels to study the situation and meets with 561-989-0611
officials at the Wildlife Institute of India. Newspapers
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