Not fit for man or beast

 

Storm’s coming.

And sure, no surprises there. Weather section of the local news broadcast told me. Weather apps on my phone had the details. Even the weather report trigged by clicking the icon on my computer delivered the same information.

Storm’s coming.

The thing I found fascinating though involved the animals.

In the backyard area of our apartment, and honestly, all over our yard and neighborhood and city and state, we have those small lizards that everyone in Florida knows all so well.

(Side note: Those small Florida lizards? Most of them are likely to be either Brown Anoles and Green Anoles. Fascinating stories about them, as the Brown Anoles are not native to the state. Sources I found say they arrived from areas of the Caribbean, and some have been witnessed as extending their range into portions of Georgia. Of Anole species, only the Green Anole (or, again from what I was able to find, the Carolina Anole) is native to the United States and, apparently, can change its colors and occasionally be brown.)

Watching these lizards and seeing their activity change based on the weather is a strange combination of obvious and educational. For instance, when it’s cold out, they’re not out. Lizards hate the cold though, right? Pretty standard and unsurprising stuff there. What is surprising is how quickly they show up again when an unexpectedly warm day arrives in the middle of several colder days. And check out how they know where to take positions in the sunshine, or to duck and take cover in fences or rocks or other assorted natural formations. Their appearances and movements and more can be fascinating.

On this particular morning, with strong winds already picking up strength and whipping around the area as the center of the storm neared, there were no anoles of any kind to be seen.

I’ve spoken before about how some migrating birds have demonstrated that they will adjust their schedules based on approaching weather issues. As an example, several types of birds have migrated earlier or later than usual depending on the hurricane season being stronger or weaker than normal.

Think about that for a moment. Research has shown that some birds, specifically the Veery Thrush, will shorten their breeding season and migrate earlier than normal in order to get ahead of a strong season of hurricanes. Over the past two decades, they have often been more consistent and accurate than any computer model of forecasting the strength of the hurricane season.

How? No one truly knows. Plenty of hypotheses, but only basic details proven. At the heart of those thoughts, however, is this fact: they are sensing something, observing something, recognizing something that is clear to them but as readily detected or interpreted by us or our fancy equipment.

Which brings us back to the weather and how wildlife seem to know what many can’t avoid.

Is it as simple as being better at forecasting? Perhaps.

But I would contend—despite the sighting of a bird or two in the sky as the winds swirl—that man is more often just dumb. We tend to shrug off what we don’t understand if as individuals we’re not interested in the information. We have representatives in our ranks that will grab surfboards and race to coastlines while most are putting up plywood and heading inland.

(We are, frankly, too stupid and stubborn for our own good. Our survival instincts questionable.)

I always love saying that I’m just sitting over here, on a bench, taking things in and observing the world as it passes in front of me. It’s a nice thought, thinking of myself as an observer of the world. Turns out though, rather than sitting on the bench, the best view might be found on a branch next to a Veery Thrush.

(I’d probably be safer there as well.)

 

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail me at Bob@inmybackpack.com