There is no historical nor traditional way to celebrate a designated Friday for endangered species. The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973. That’s one year shy of a century, but as yet nothing has surfaced as the go-to activity for Endangered Species Day. Father’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and even some birthdays just seem to cry out for brats-on-the-BBQ. To Angelkeep’s knowledge and research experience there has been nothing put to music to equal that of chipmunks singing about Christmas, How Much is that Doggie in the Window, or even Pop Goes the Weasel.
Tomorrow is a day to consider the ramifications of having a critter of some type disappearing from the face of the earth, not celebrating its demise. Do you remember the last time you saw a dodo bird? Of course not, they became extinct in 1662.
How many animals did Noah save on the ark, like dodos, only to have them obliterated by what man did to the earth after the waters receded?
Angelkeep takes much pride in the fact it attempts all possible avenues of encouraging wildlife propagation, and refrains from all practices known to be detrimental in the life cycles of local critters. The lack of killing chemicals on the lawn encourages more and more wildlife. It also encourages more wildflowers, some such as dandelions considered weeds to Noah’s antagonists.
Sure, Angelkeep must admit to the reflex action of slapping a mosquito to death at the sting of the first bite. Angelkeep is but one year past a necessary chemical kill of a yellow jacket nest built in an unfortunate location which caused suffering for one human and could have eventually been a death factor if left unresolved. Yellow jackets are not on any endangered list, just ask any of the Bluffton Free Street Fair food vendors.
Angelkeep experiences a great lacking in visits from particular animals and birds such as the pileated woodpecker. Six of seven Indiana woodpeckers visit Angelkeep, some more regularly than others. Never a pileated. It’s as though they are extinct, but only from Angelkeep. They enjoy all of Wells County, except here.
Another, the bald eagle, has been seen along the Wabash River in the surrounding area, but never a stop at Angelkeep, never even seen doing a fly-over here. They were, past tense, on the endangered species list at one time. The DDT ban of half a century ago allowed them to recover and be removed from the endangered list in 2007.
You can read the past area author Gene Stratton Porter and get some insight into the passenger pigeon. She watched them being slaughtered, literally shot from clouds of birds flying over, to fill basket after basket of the prolific bird. The foulness of fowl hunting prior to 1914 created their worldly destruction.
A hike at Ouabache State Park could be an excellent way to actively get involved on Friday’s National Endangered Species Day. Walk a trail that takes you deeper into the forest and simply watch and listen for all of the animal sights and sounds. That could be a double celebration event as you can also think about the fact that the land holding Ouabache’s forest was once heavily eroded wasteland that grew little, and served as habitat to almost no animals. Today it is teaming with wildlife. Better yet, sign up to be a park volunteer, and find out all the ways you can support the wildlife of the park through necessary human intervention. There are easy and hard tasks always needing more volunteers. Join Friends of Ouabache State Park and their activities. Both are on Facebook too.
Angelkeep loves to see monarchs. Their necessary habitat rapidly declines. These butterflies need weeds to thrive. Angelkeep intentionally plants milkweeds to encourage their survival. Their status remains under review as they have declined ninety percent since the 1990s. Indiana has 157 mammals, birds, fish, mollusks, amphibians, and reptiles on the state endangered or special concern lists. Not a single one on any of the lists has ever been seen at Angelkeep.
Will a brat wipe out anything if grilled tomorrow on Endangered Species Day? No, so brat’s it is. Then a walk-about around Angelpond to enjoy the wildlife visitors to the day’s festivities.
Brats: the diet killer. There is that.
Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their backyard and have named it “Angelkeep.”
