Page 14 - Lifestyles in Palm Beach Gardens- July '24

Page 14, Lifestyles in Palm Beach Gardens
Book Review

FUZZ: When Nature Breaks (and quite hilarious) droll devouring eggs and chicks to the extent that duck hunters
would not have enough of them to shoot!
manner.
The Law Another example of Here is one with a gentler touch befitting the locale –
man vs. nature problems Vatican City:
By Nils A. Shapiro is one much closer to Gulls are very different from crows, and it is sometimes
Author Mary Roach’s home: the efforts in Texas, necessary to keep them away in certain situations – but
books invariably climb Arkansas and elsewhere in a way that does no harm.
the national bestseller to literally bomb crows – “If you make a gull sufficiently nervous, it will vomit.
lists. She has earned “black bandits of the air” While unpleasant for biologists who need to handle them,
among her vast fan base and “feathered gangsters” the habit affords easy insight into what the birds have
a reputation as “our most they were called – and been eating. Here is a partial list of what a herring gull
consistently entertaining,” other birds out of the skies considers edible – that is, things that have been vomited
and “disturbingly funny from airplanes with sticks in the general direction of Julie C. Ellis, senior research
j ournal i st ” wi t h a n of dynamite! During one investigator at the University of Pennsylvania: bologna,
“infectious awe for quirky winter alone 250,000 ants, strawberry shortcake, a large mackerel, a whole hot
science.” crows were killed in Illinois. dog, intact mice, squid, a used sanitary napkin, discarded
The titles of her earlier books are evidence of that: Their crime? Doing what crows do naturally in order
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal; Bonk: The to survive: They were raiding the nests of waterfowl, Book Review on page 15
Curious Coupling of Science and Sex; Grunt: The Curious
Science of Humans at War; Spook; Science Tackles the
Afterlife; Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
and Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in
the Void.
Her latest work attracted me because of its subject
matter: a round-the-world investigation into the wildly
diverse – but ultimately fascinating – ways in which we
humans attempt to solve the problems we face when the
world’s other creatures and natural forces either don’t
understand the rules we have set … or seemingly refuse
to follow them.
As the author travels the globe in search of each area’s
problems – working closely with wildlife scientists, Life moves fast—
researchers and other experts whose insightful findings

she passes along to us – she describes local efforts to prepare for the unexpected
solve their dilemmas. It is here, in situations that local
communities often consider even dire, that Roach’s sense with Accident Insurance.
of humor shines through on so many of these pages.
Here is just one example – true historical record
described on the very first page of this book’s Introduction:
“On June 26, 1659, a representative from five towns
in a province of northern Italy initiated legal proceedings
against caterpillars. The local specimens, went the
complaint, were trespassing and pilfering from people’s We’re here to help.
gardens and orchards. A summons was issued and five
copies made and nailed to trees in forests adjacent to each Accident insurance complements your Florida Blue Health Plan. Call to learn more
town. The caterpillars were ordered to appear in court on about insurance plans from USAble Life.
the twenty-eight of June, at a specified hour, where they
would be assigned legal representation. M&A Insurance and Financial Services Inc.
“Of course, no caterpillars appeared at the appointed
time, but the case went forward anyway. In a surviving 561-440-9940
document, the court recognizes the rights of caterpillars
to live freely and happily, provided this does not ‘impair M&A Insurance and Financial Services Inc. is an Independent Broker of Florida Blue.
Florida Blue is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Supplemental, Life, and Disability products are offered by USAble Life. USAble Life is an independent company
the happiness of man…’ The judge decreed that the and operates separately from Florida Blue.
caterpillars be assigned a plot of land for their sustenance 22L-USAL-0872 112941 1222
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 Susan Has Moved To A
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 New Location!
titles “THE MONKEY FIX: Birth Control for Marauding
Macaques.”
Roach travels to study the situation and meets with Androcles Hair Salon
officials at the Wildlife Institute of India. Newspapers
scream such stories as a baby fatally wounded after a 4031 Hood Rd., Suite C-108
rhesus macaque snatched him from his mother’s breast Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
… 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 Susan
religions, in which animals frequently represent various
gods. For example, the wild boar is an avatar of the deity
Vishnu; the monkey is a representative of Hanuman. Swafford
“Deepening the problem: offerings. Tuesdays and
Saturdays, the devotees visit Hanuman temples to make
a puja. To the icons inside, they present coconuts and 561-312-0457
garlands of marigolds; to the living representatives hanging
around outside, samosas and Frooti mango pop. Feeding
wild animals, as we know, is the quickest path to conflict.
The promise of food motivates normally human-shy animals 10%
to take a risk. The risk-taking is rewarded, and the behavior
escalates. Shyness becomes fearlessness, and fearlessness
becomes aggression. If you don’t hand over the food you’re
carrying, the monkey will grab it. If you try to hold onto it, OFF
or push the animal away, it may slap you. Or bite you. The
Times of India put the number of monkey bites reported by Tues.
Delhi hospitals in 2018 at 950.”
So far, the Delhi government’s efforts to control the Products starting at 69
$
situation with injectable or oral contraceptives have New clients only
failed, in part because of the unusual sex drive of the male
macaque monkeys that the author discusses in her typical