Page 6 - Palm City Spotlight - July '24

Page 6, Palm City Spotlight

Book review

FUZZ: When Nature Breaks and five copies made and promise of food motivates normally human-shy animals to take
nailed to trees in forests
a risk. The risk-taking is rewarded, and the behavior escalates.
The Law adjacent to each town. The Shyness becomes fearlessness, and fearlessness becomes
caterpillars were ordered aggression. If you don’t hand over the food you’re carrying,
By Nils A. Shapiro to appear in court on the the monkey will grab it. If you try to hold onto it, or push the
Author Mary Roach’s twenty-eight of June, at a animal away, it may slap you. Or bite you. The Times of India
books invariably climb the specified hour, where they put the number of monkey bites reported by Delhi hospitals in
national bestseller lists. She would be assigned legal 2018 at 950.”
has earned among her vast fan representation. So far, the Delhi government’s efforts to control the
base a reputation as “our most “Of course, no situation with injectable or oral contraceptives have
consistently entertaining,” caterpillars appeared at failed, in part because of the unusual sex drive of the
and “disturbingly funny the appointed time, but the male macaque monkeys that the author discusses in her
journalist” with an case went forward anyway. typical (and quite hilarious) droll manner.
“infectious awe for quirky In a surviving document, Another example of man vs. nature problems is one
science.” the court recognizes the much closer to home: the efforts in Texas, Arkansas and
The titles of her earlier rights of caterpillars to live freely and happily, provided elsewhere to literally bomb crows – “black bandits of
books are evidence of that: Gulp: Adventures on the this does not ‘impair the happiness of man…’ The judge the air” and “feathered gangsters” they were called – and
Alimentary Canal; Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science decreed that the caterpillars be assigned a plot of land for other birds out of the skies from airplanes with sticks of
and Sex; Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War; their sustenance and enjoyment. By the time the details dynamite! During one winter alone 250,000 crows were
Spook; Science Tackles the Afterlife; Stiff: The Curious were worked out, the defendants, having pupated (to killed in Illinois.
Lives of Human Cadavers and Packing For Mars: The butterflies), were surely through with their devastations, Their crime? Doing what crows do naturally in order
Curious Science of Life in the Void. and all parties left the proceedings satisfied.” to survive: They were raiding the nests of waterfowl,
Her latest work attracted me because of its subject Not all human-animal problem encounters are settled so devouring eggs and chicks to the extent that duck hunters
matter: a round-the-world investigation into the wildly easily, however. As we soon learn in the book’s 15 chapters, would not have enough of them to shoot!
diverse – but ultimately fascinating – ways in which we some of them can present real predicaments. Take the case Here is one with a gentler touch befitting the locale –
humans attempt to solve the problems we face when the that the author describes in the chapter she titles “THE Vatican City:
world’s other creatures and natural forces either don’t MONKEY FIX: Birth Control for Marauding Macaques.” Gulls are very different from crows, and it is sometimes
understand the rules we have set … or seemingly refuse Roach travels to study the situation and meets with necessary to keep them away in certain situations – but
to follow them. officials at the Wildlife Institute of India. Newspapers in a way that does no harm.
As the author travels the globe in search of each area’s scream such stories as a baby fatally wounded after a rhesus “If you make a gull sufficiently nervous, it will vomit.
problems – working closely with wildlife scientists, macaque snatched him from his mother’s breast … a bunch While unpleasant for biologists who need to handle them,
researchers and other experts whose insightful findings of monkeys stoned a 72-year-old to death … eight lethal the habit affords easy insight into what the birds have
she passes along to us – she describes local efforts to macaque attacks. The monkeys are literally everywhere, been eating. Here is a partial list of what a herring gull
solve their dilemmas. It is here, in situations that local and the reason is obvious: the Indian religions, in which considers edible – that is, things that have been vomited
communities often consider even dire, that Roach’s sense animals frequently represent various gods. For example, the in the general direction of Julie C. Ellis, senior research
of humor shines through on so many of these pages. wild boar is an avatar of the deity Vishnu; the monkey is a investigator at the University of Pennsylvania: bologna,
Here is just one example – true historical record representative of Hanuman. ants, strawberry shortcake, a large mackerel, a whole hot
described on the very first page of this book’s Introduction: “Deepening the problem: offerings. Tuesdays and dog, intact mice, squid, a used sanitary napkin, discarded
“On June 26, 1659, a representative from five Saturdays, the devotees visit Hanuman temples to make a lobster bait, Vienna sausages, an eider duckling, a paper
towns in a province of northern Italy initiated legal puja. To the icons inside, they present coconuts and garlands muffin wrapper, a loaded diaper, ana a plate’s worth of
proceedings against caterpillars. The local specimens, of marigolds; to the living representatives hanging around spaghetti marinara with mussels.”
went the complaint, were trespassing and pilfering from outside, samosas and Frooti mango pop. Feeding wild
people’s gardens and orchards. A summons was issued animals, as we know, is the quickest path to conflict. The Book Review on page 7

Helping People Succeed from page 1 especially to those who truly need it, makes our community vulnerable local children, families and adults have been
and our world better.” able to transform their lives through education, counseling,
a positive impact on our community. They understand it’s Helping People Succeed is celebrating 60 years of service training and employment. For more information, contact
hard enough to raise a child under normal circumstances. to the community. Through its diversified, effective program Glenna Parris at (772) 320-0778.
Helping People Succeed walks alongside families to help services and initiatives, hundreds of thousands of the most Photos provided by Helping People Succeed
them flourish; which is why Thrivent’s Amy, Rob and Heather
partnered to amplify the impact of April Showers.

Marian Vitale, Jan Robson and Trish Blake Guests enjoying breakfast

Paul Gargolinski, Ann Mehling and Sheryl Britton

Helping People Succeed is thankful for the support from
Thrivent as well as that of the entire community. Over thirty
businesses in Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties
hosted “Shower Boxes” in their businesses. These in-kind
donations equate to a $17,000 gift to Helping People Succeed.
Suzy Hutcheson, CEO of Helping People Succeed, said,
“April Showers brings happiness to so many of the families
we serve who don’t receive new gifts or baby showers.
Rob, Amy and Heather are great examples of how giving,

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