ONE
OF NATURE’S LITTLE DRAMAS WE HAVE NO TIME FOR
This
morning, oh about 7:30 am, I was on my way to the morning market when I heard a
“murder” of crows, chattering and cawing away up in the trees across the
street. Now, crows are not unusual here in Midtown at all, and I find them
cheery, funny birds to have around. I looked up, expecting to see some sort of “crow
antics,” always entertaining, but that is not what I saw. I looked up and there
was a large, beautiful red-tailed hawk sitting atop a pine tree, with a dozen
or so crows diving at him, all the while cawing frantically. I stood there for
a few minutes watching this little drama of nature; the hawk sitting there in
the treetop, unperturbed by the angry crows. Eventually he shook himself,
fluffed his feathers and then took off casually to the south, the crows in hot
pursuit.
I
noticed, as I stood there watching, that no one else passing by looked up. No
one took notice of what was going on above the street as they walked here and
there to whatever destination required their presence immediately. Some were
absorbed in their smart phones, oblivious to all around them, and those that
were not so engaged, still seemed unmindful to the spectacle.
Then
I thought that this was perhaps not so remarkable any longer to anyone but me.
We have intruded into and destroyed the habitats of some many creatures in the
last thirty years — where else have we left them to go but into the urban
environment. I remembered that there had been a time, when I was much younger,
when we became aware that our expansion outward from urban centers, with the
explosion of the suburbs destroying the wild lands; that to have one’s own
expensive though cheaply made home was central to the so called “American
Dream,” We also knew then that we could make a collective choice to restrain
our careless expansion, intrusion, and destruction; but as a society, we largely
chose to either ignore that choice or to act only in our own immediate
interests.
True,
peregrines for example, nest and hunt even in the big cities like New York or
San Francisco, but also the coyote, the bobcat, the mountain lion, and even the
bear now intrude into our towns and cities — where else can they go when we
have pressed them so hard and taken away their homes.
I
was just thinking these things as I watched the crows on my way to the morning
market.
