Getting Started

Wildlife isn't my only specialty. But, as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' editor once told her, "write what you know", so I'll be following that bit of advice in this blog. I live in Jupiter Farms, a not imaginary place in South Florida that is home to equestrians, farmers and nature lovers as well as some newcomers who want it to be their own personal Boca Raton. We'll be leaving them out of the stories.

Sandhill Cranes are yearlong residents of South Florida. They are extremely tall, almost six feet when they stand upright, so they are hard to miss as they hunt for bugs alongside the highways and roads. They mate for life and care for their offspring until they are almost full grown.  My first story is about these elegant, beautiful birds.

In Jupiter Farms, we are fortunate to share our community with an incredible variety of birds, animals and reptiles. We have fox, deer, raccoon, gopher tortoises, turtles of all shapes and sizes, lizards, snakes of all kinds, opossum, otters, bobcats, alligators, Great Horned Owls, Pilated Woodpeckers (the big boys), mini Woodpeckers, Red Shouldered Hawks, Kingfishers, Herons great and small, cormorants, mallards, you name it, I've seen it! Once I even saw two black snakes entwined in a tight embrace on my front doorstep! I think it was spring.

One of the creatures I find most fascinating is the Sandhill Crane. They are so family oriented and take care of their young with both tenderness and ferocity. They make very loud noises in the air and on the ground. Their noise sounds like a bird yodeling. As they fly, they talk back and forth like they are checking to see if the other one is still there.

Recently, I was privileged to watch a pair of Sandhill Cranes performing their introductory mating dance. The first day I observed the couple, only the male was feeling frisky. (Isn't that always the way?) He would hop around a bit, looking quite silly and suddenly I saw him pick up something on the ground and toss it up in the air. His soon-to-be better half pretended that she didn't see him do that wonderous feat at all.

I thought it was amazing! He flicked a stick up in the air like he was juggling. He hopped up in the air at the same time. He threw his wings up and puffed out his feathers and it didn't seem to impress her at all. But it impressed me!

At first, I thought the male was throwing around a small snake he'd captured on the ground. My husband Dan, who was also watching this spectacle, told me it was just a stick.

When they had wandered down the street a bit, Dan walked over to the spot where they had been and looked for the stick/snake. He picked it up, showed me it was just a stick and then tossed it up in the air himself. Can't say that it impressed me any more than it had the lady crane. But it was very funny!

The next day, they were back on the street. Actually, in the middle of the street. I live on a dirt road and it's a dead end. They wandered up and down the road a bit and I noticed now they were both doing their little "jump up in the air, ruffle the feathers, bat the wings, find a stick, show off, land back on the ground" thing. It was even more amusing because they were both in sync. I smiled and went back up to the house to give them some privacy.

I'm sure that some day soon, they'll be back with one or two litlte ones in tow. That should be even more fun to watch.

A long time after this event took place, I was reading a Jupiter Farms commentary/chat online where a woman described watching a couple of kids in a small red truck swerve across a paved road to intentionally hit a sandhill crane on the side of the road. While it floundered in the middle of the road, dying, they gunned their motor and took off laughing.

I was appalled. It made me sick to think someone would intentionally hit such a majestic, stately bird, so well known for its gentleness. I seriously doubt someone who would do something that vicious would actually read this commentary. If you do read this and you took part in the episode above, you now know someone saw you do it and I have now told your parents and the entire community of Jupiter Farms. In psychology, it is a fact that children who start out abusing and hurting animals quite often evolve into psychopathic monsters who hurt their fellow human beings.

My observation of the two Sandhills during those two days was enlightening and almost spiritual. But the terrible, unneccesary event where the crane was intentionally killed made me feel nothing but disgust and shame for those young people who were so disrespectful of life.