Florida: Everglades, Not the Florida you imagine, Phillippi Creek, River, Warm Mineral Springs, Directory of Internet Pages
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Environment: Earth, Ecobattiness, Evolution of the Moth, Bumbling Hive, Directory of Internet Pages
The problem isn't Creation's
Loss of a few endangered species,
Including turtles, birds or others
In the time-span of man and his brothers.
Over population by man has become
The driving force to consume
Resources that become short
In Man's search for comfort.
Unless a means is found
To reduce humans that abound,
Declining quality of life
Will continue to add to mankind's strife.
Politicians are incapable
Of making decisions for which they're culpable.
And it remains for Nature
In her wisdom, to prevail if we are to endure.
She has acted many times before
And history provides a lesson for what's in store.
The 1400's plague that swept Europe
Did population growth disrupt.
Smallpox eliminated the "Indian" problem
In resolving ownership between us and them.
The disease was spread to the tribes
On dirty blankets used as bribes.
Then came the influenza pandemic
Of the 1920's which put the whole world in a panic.
Spread like wild fire from a military base
And whole communities were laid waste.
Such it is that pestilence
Spreads and conquers with persistence,
Vaccines and wonder drugs offer hope
But little means to instantly cope.
AIDS and accompanying tuberculosis
Are positioned to explode hit or miss.
As the infected ones with little regard
Ignore the danger and drop their guard.
Then there's West Nile Fever, SARS
Malaria, and countless others
Lurking in the shadows to infect
World travelers that don't suspect.
It's pretty dismal
When health officials miss the call
Simply offering condolence
To those whose life is spent.
Perhaps when the individual
Starts to think it's a problem after all
And focuses on a long range solution
To the explosion of the population.
Then, rather than trying to reassure,
And instead make plans to endure
The onslaught of a population explosion
That Nature controls by implosion.
As Nature adjust to the environment
Plagues and disasters are sent
To visit and destroy those who
Shift responsibility to a few.
Some species will survive and flourish
As problems for some, others nourish.
Endangered species all,
But which will answer Nature's call.
Insects are survivors.
As reflected in history's mirror.
Birds as well.
Find niches in which to dwell.
Along avenues of transportation,
There's evidence of accommodation
Florida's "bone valley" of sand and clay
Offers home-sites for birds of prey.
In phosphate mines of old,
Reclamation provides a foot hold.
On power-poles Ospreys have built their nest
With roadside trash; plastic, rags and the rest.
These hawk-like birds of prey
No longer seek fish for the meal of the day,
The banquet laid before them does astound
As snakes, birds and small animals abound.
They've adapted to Man's intervention
And see the meadows as God's intention.
A fine hunting ground for all to share
Providing for offspring, with food to spare.
Parakeets in a distant, northern land
Found a warm place on which to stand.
Above transformers they built their nest
In the Windy City, becoming an outdoor pest.
Taking advantage for sure,
They've found a place to endure
And cope with cold winter winds
That send Homo sapiens to far off lands.
Crows, (called many other things besides),
Are the most adaptable of birds that Nature provides.
Community oriented, for which they're known
Continue to evolve, leaving not unturned any stone.
Brown pelicans as a separate species
Cruise thermals along bridges
Over open water, searching for fish
Then plunge into the water, with seldom a miss.
White pelicans; close kin to the brown,
Unaided by man, have a method found.
Paddling in formation, they encircle schooling fish
And harvest them in an orderly fashion, as they wish.
All these have found ways to provide with invention
For their young without man's protection or intervention
That have adapted to changes in the environment
And found ways to flourish, not just survive the event.
Worry about saving turtles and other animals if you like,
But mankind is more than likely to feel the scythe
The future is for the Survivors, but survival isn't enough
Quality of life is all that matters when times get rough.
***
Books by Charles Torrey Simpson About Florida in the late 1800's; William Bartram's, Travels; George Catlin's, Indians
Or New Voyage to Carolina
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