A plague unleashed by a virus

The questionable value in how modern humans have chosen to spend their existences is most notably represented by the daily commute to and from offices which equates to our waking hours spent sitting behind a wheel or behind a desk.  The ensuing divorce from nature cascades into a myriad of consequences for ourselves and all other earthlings.  Although this has always bothered me in recent years I've contemplated it from amongst the trees, listening to the distant but ever-present buzz of commuter traffic penetrating the natural spaces I seek peace in. What I didn't realize was that while I criticized the rat race I had been enjoying a benefit of that chosen lifestyle.

You see, the tendency for humans to willfully imprison themselves, while a rather insane thing to do, simultaneously provided a buffer to all the wildlife attempting to carry out their daily activities free from our presence. In a politically correct sense I should be thankful that covid-19 has prompted people to finally go outside, but alas one of the symptoms of being divorced from nature is having no idea how to properly interact with nature once we finally venture out. This included me, and to a great extent still does, although I've made an effort to improve.  I’ve had the privilege to work from home the last few years which provided me the opportunity of taking breaks from my computer to enjoy long walks along the creek, which, prior to Covid-19, was fee of other humans. Although I greatly enjoyed the benefits of being immersed in nature I quickly realized I was by far the most disturbing creature out there. Despite being surrounded by a myriad of creatures, both seen and unseen, with the the exception of singing birds I was the only one making noise. I decided to improve and over time adapted my clumsy human manner of tromping along the ground (scaring and destroying everything in front of me) and instead Moved in a less impactful manner, eventually even adopting barefoot hiking (you really pay more attention to how you step and what you step on when your feet are bare!)



This change allowed me to Eventually witness another layer of hidden creatures that I must admit I was oblivious to, which only increased my desire to improve. But even at my best I was still disturbing the wildlife. Herons are fantastic to observe while they are stealth-hunting if you can get close enough, but they are easily alarmed. I feel particularly bad when I cause those huge birds to abandon their patient, silent hunting and take wing. For mallard ducks it seems to take next to nothing to send them into flight. Turtles sunning themselves on logs would flee into the water even when I was at my stealthiest, and jackrabbits would rocket into the distance as I jogged next to the tall grass hiding them.


But when I stop and sit in silence I become aware of another form of disturbance Ive been causing..all the creatures I was completely unaware of. There are more small critters around us than you might ever guess, and by holding still for a while we can slowly begin to detect them (with a little help from their movement). Birds, insects, deer, squirrels, possums, skunks, etc. Every now and then I even spotted a coyote, face barely visible through the brush, fearfully watching me, wondering if I’m going to disturb its den of babies so carefully hidden away. It always blew my mind that a coyote managed to live down at that creek. The location I spotted him/her was a favorite of mine because it was very lush and seemingly forgotten by people, but it was small, so very small and it amazed me that he managed to survive in such a condensed range. The creek itself is bordered by neighborhoods, roads, parks, and recreational paths, already limiting the range of habitat, but this particular hidden patch couldn’t have been bigger than two baseball diamonds. The last time I saw that coyote I thought, “Please stay hidden, as soon as one of these noisy humans pushing their babies along in strollers sees you, you will be killed.” Not because the coyote posed a true threat, but because our lack of familiarity with wild things causes us to not know how to behave around them.


When the turtles jumped in the water I felt bad because I knew they were on that lof for a purpose, not for the heck of it and not for a tan. They were absorbing the warmth of the sun during the key hours the light hit that section of the creek. Every time I failed to be in perfect silence I not only ruined their crucial heat absorption, but wasted the energy they spent crawling up the log. Who knows how long the heron stood in perfect, motionless silence waiting for an opportunity to snatch food passing by, only to have me ruin it all With one clumsy step. Were the ducks building a nest, mating, tending to young hidden in the reeds? What was the rabbit doing before I scared it from a perfect hiding place it must have searched hard to find?


Now, with Covid-19, my occasional, mild interruption has been replaced with a non-stop invasion of noise and destruction from a swarm of adults and children unleashed on areas foreign to most of them. I can’t imagine that the turtles make it out of the water at all at this point. Where will birds And other small creatures find that is now suitable to safely give birth...after all this virus is unleashing humans during the springtime of reproduction. The number of plastic bottles and other trash, which I already found heartbreaking, has already tripled. I watch dads walk their kids down to the creek with fishing poles only to find abandoned fishing line and hooks waiting to ensnare a wide array of species, whether winged, gilled, or four-legged.


As for the coyote, it is doomed, if not already dead. Its babies starving in the den.


Think of the daily challenges of survival for wild animals that never even occur to us. How hard was it for that coyote to find enough food in that tiny space for itself, not to mention its young, only to ultimately be killed by a creature that doesn’t live in the woods?! And only because the creature was driven by a fear that comes with lack of familiarity. We fear what we don’t know and we don’t know the planet we live on. Repeat that. Think on it. We don’t know our own home. We live ON this planet, not with it. Killing it, raping it, plundering it, while being completely disconnected from every other species that Tries to continue to survive here amid our constant disruptions and alterations.


We call ourselves superior, yet we’re the only ones who don’t know how to be here.

#noise #disturbance #nature #hiking #covid19 #humans #earthlings #coexistence #humansandnature #coyote #heron #wildlife #development #recreation #watchinghumans #barefootjogging