Page 14 - Boca Exposure - July '24

Page 14, Boca Exposure
Book Review

FUZZ: When Nature Breaks deity Vishnu; the monkey is While unpleasant for biologists who need to handle them,
“If you make a gull sufficiently nervous, it will vomit.
a representative of Hanuman.
The Law “Deepening the the habit affords easy insight into what the birds have been
problem: offerings. eating. Here is a partial list of what a herring gull considers
By Nils A. Shapiro Tuesdays and Saturdays, edible – that is, things that have been vomited in the general
Author Mary Roach’s the devotees visit Hanuman direction of Julie C. Ellis, senior research investigator at
books invariably climb the temples to make a puja. the University of Pennsylvania: bologna, ants, strawberry
national bestseller lists. She To the icons inside, they shortcake, a large mackerel, a whole hot dog, intact mice,
has earned among her vast fan present coconuts and squid, a used sanitary napkin, discarded lobster bait, Vienna
base a reputation as “our most garlands of marigolds; to sausages, an eider duckling, a paper muffin wrapper, a
consistently entertaining,” the living representatives loaded diaper, ana a plate’s worth of spaghetti marinara
and “disturbingly funny hanging around outside, with mussels.”
journalist” with an “infectious samosas and Frooti mango When you consider that large flocks of gulls descend
awe for quirky science.” pop. Feeding wild animals, on St. Peter’s Square when crowds gather to see and hear
The titles of her earlier as we know, is the quickest the Pope and understand that “droppings” from above are
books are evidence of that: path to conflict. The promise of food motivates normally not blessings from heaven, it is clear why the Vatican has
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal; Bonk: The human-shy animals to take a risk. The risk-taking is hired a Dutchman, Andre Fritjers – who owns the company
Curious Coupling of Science and Sex; Grunt: The Curious rewarded, and the behavior escalates. Shyness becomes Vogelverschrikker (Dutch for scarecrow) – to demonstrate
Science of Humans at War; Spook; Science Tackles the fearlessness, and fearlessness becomes aggression. If you his LaserOp Automatic 200, “a sort of monochrome laser
Afterlife; Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and don’t hand over the food you’re carrying, the monkey will light show. Lasers are silent, seemingly humane, and they
Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. grab it. If you try to hold onto it, or push the animal away, it can usually be counted on to unnerve gulls for at least a week
Her latest work attracted me because of its subject matter: may slap you. Or bite you. The Times of India put the number … mainly used to dissuade cormorants, gulls, and vultures
a round-the-world investigation into the wildly diverse – but of monkey bites reported by Delhi hospitals in 2018 at 950.” from roosting on structures where someone doesn’t want
ultimately fascinating – ways in which we humans attempt to So far, the Delhi government’s efforts to control the them – and their droppings – to gather.”
solve the problems we face when the world’s other creatures situation with injectable or oral contraceptives have failed, Black bears in Aspen, Colo., who take advantage of
and natural forces either don’t understand the rules we have in part because of the unusual sex drive of the male macaque residents’ ignoring rules to keep trash cans shut tight …
set … or seemingly refuse to follow them. monkeys that the author discusses in her typical (and quite elephants whose centuries-old pathways in India’s forests
As the author travels the globe in search of each area’s hilarious) droll manner. are being surrounded and blocked by construction, yet are
problems – working closely with wildlife scientists, Another example of man vs. nature problems is one much being blamed and punished for “trespassing onto humans’
researchers and other experts whose insightful findings she closer to home: the efforts in Texas, Arkansas and elsewhere property” … a page of “poop” illustrating four different
passes along to us – she describes local efforts to solve their to literally bomb crows – “black bandits of the air” and kinds of scat that accompanies a chapter on how to track
dilemmas. It is here, in situations that local communities “feathered gangsters” they were called – and other birds out bobcat, ocelot, jaguar and mountain lion by identifying
often consider even dire, that Roach’s sense of humor shines of the skies from airplanes with sticks of dynamite! During their droppings as part of a program to protect these animals
through on so many of these pages. one winter alone 250,000 crows were killed in Illinois. by keeping them apart from human populations … these as
Here is just one example – true historical record described Their crime? Doing what crows do naturally in order to well as others are among the many odd and fascinating issues
on the very first page of this book’s Introduction: survive: They were raiding the nests of waterfowl, devouring faced in this book’s pages.
“On June 26, 1659, a representative from five towns in a eggs and chicks to the extent that duck hunters would not And not all are about animals. The author devotes one
province of northern Italy initiated legal proceedings against have enough of them to shoot! chapter to dangerous trees, and another to poisonous plants
caterpillars. The local specimens, went the complaint, Here is one with a gentler touch befitting the locale – … both species which we now know through scientific
were trespassing and pilfering from people’s gardens and Vatican City: evidence to have intelligence and able to wreak havoc on
orchards. A summons was issued and five copies made Gulls are very different from crows, and it is sometimes humans despite our “laws.”
and nailed to trees in forests adjacent to each town. The necessary to keep them away in certain situations – but in a Learn and laugh. And join me in the Mary Roach fan
caterpillars were ordered to appear in court on the twenty- way that does no harm. club.
eight of June, at a specified hour, where they would be
assigned legal representation.
“Of course, no caterpillars appeared at the appointed
time, but the case went forward anyway. In a surviving
document, the court recognizes the rights of caterpillars to
live freely and happily, provided this does not ‘impair the
happiness of man…’ The judge decreed that the caterpillars
be assigned a 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.”
Roach travels to study the situation and meets with officials
at the Wildlife Institute of India. Newspapers scream such stories
as a baby fatally wounded after a rhesus macaque snatched
him from his mother’s breast … a bunch of monkeys stoned
a 72-year-old to death … eight lethal macaque attacks. The
monkeys are literally everywhere, and the reason is obvious:
the Indian religions, in which animals frequently represent
various gods. For example, the wild boar is an avatar of the

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