European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 21, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Animals thai kno a Lego is disappearing As mitc and More indians to illustrate the importance a the Moludy of interaction he Dies the Rich Lilc Cycle sol in motion every summer when the cresting Rivers blood Aboul 40.000 Square Miles of Forest though the phenomenon was Long known to the indians Goulding woo Iho first scientist to document fully How Lish live on Ine Loesl Caling loaves insects fruits and seeds some like the Piianaia cajun. Even have Largo molars and Strong jaw Muscles to crack nuts Tho larger Lish species in Lurn help a production of ices because they Cal. Transport and of Croto Iho seeds. One perfectly adapted fish is Iho Samba jul a Dell Cousin of the Piranha which can grow up to three tool Long and weigh go pounds. Ii has Laken on camouflage colors Black and Olivo or Moss Green hard to see in Iho dark hooded Loryst. But us most impressive ical Urc Goulding said 13 its set of Teeth it has devolved Broad molar s to crush seeds and nul3 and it has incisor Teeth As Well As Long and Fine Gill Rakers that the younger Lish use to capture animal Plankton he Jound thai half of the 96 to examined in one study had crushed rubber Keg seeds in their stomach and Uno Fitch con Martl Maslic aled Palm mils which can tie up to iwo inches in Dia molar anole i biologist Ivan Saz Irna. Who studied other Mil eating Lish in Western Brazil said the Ash either Wail for the fruit to drop or pick them directly Oil branches that hang Inlo Sho water the fishermen Imi Liale the Trees to said. Thoy know Thail they drop a Ruil vertically into Iho . They can attract Iho Bui As the flood Plains arc increasingly deforested by cattle ranchers and Irmi irs growing i to ant Rice the damage is evident said Gould or. Whose research has been Iman ced by the world wild lilo fund in Par to study management of fish Tor Lood "1110 Forest is Cut there ate less places to iced and the Lish available for food he said. The Amazon May have the world s largest Irish water Lish Tho Pir Crucil grows up to 15 fool Long. But most ashes Kerr Are Only one or iwo inches a added. Many biologists say that in the tropics in is even More urgent to study Tho River systems than the vegetation because fiver life is facing More Radical change. In Amazonia the glowing cities and industries Dafoe Kalalian and new dams arc Allering lie chemistry of the livers Over thousands of Miles dams have changed the ecology of some Rivers forever without anyone Ever having studies their natural said Goulding in cataracts and rapids there Are whole groups of fish that Are adapted to turbulent Walers some Are completely Blind and they have strange Large fins. Then suddenly everything changes when a dam is put in.14 but it is unlikely thai the world s greatest Freshwater system can be adequately studied before it is irrevocably changed to said. The Lask is so great and we Are so Lew people eluding the natural history and the ecology to said. Ii cannot be threshed in this area shown South America National g6gllfrliic adult great homed s Hunting tools silent Wangt powerful Otto re. Sensitive hearing and keen vision a re h lord of the Woods. Here flanking their Mother tour great homed Otts huddle in their nest. No fooling around with great horned owls by Mercer Cross National geographic heme she surfs hostile yellow eyes staring relentlessly Al the unwelcome intruders. Her uninvited human guests keep a respectful distance their rigid fingers fidgeting with binoculars. They Aren t talking. They Don t want to arouse their unwilling hostess hushing her from her ragged nest and exposing her eggs to chilling winds. Sho is a great horned owl one of nature s exquisitely designed Hilling machines Nemesis of smaller Woodland creatures Queen of her Domain. Now she sits immobile widespread horns actually lulls of feathers erect watchful of every move the six men make. Her eyes aia sharper than theirs. Her hearing is so acute that she can hear a mouse squeak e half mile away. The men mean her no harm. They carry binoculars not guns. They Are curious not predatory but come Spring beware. Thai hugs nest High in the Fork of a tree once the Home of red tailed Hawks will contain baby owls. Ii you come Loo near. Mother owl May attack with indescribable ferocity. In soundless High she can strike at rocket Liko Speed. Her talons can open your Scalp her 16-Inch wings can beat you to the ground end her Strong beak can rip through your clothing tear your skin. A this is unlikely to happen. Mas people have Lew direct dealings with owls especially during the Day owls Are chiefly nocturnal Hunters Seldom seen though often heard and they have been objects of mystery superstition reverence and occasional hatred for As Long As they have coexisted with humans nothing fools around Wilh the great horned owl. Beyond any double whatever Wriles Allan w. Eckerl in Tho owls of Nofort America it is the fiercest most aggressive and most impressive owl of North yet with few exceptions owls Are beneficial economically and ecologically he writes. In no Western new Jersey town of Kingwood. Close to the Woods and Fields along the Delaware River lives a Man who has earned his nickname. He is Otto owl Heck an ecology professor at nearby Trenton stale College. Owls have been a principal avocation Lor much of his so years. They just Appeal to says Heck citing their mysterious ways their silent flight and All the other intriguing adaptations they have for through one of nature s marvels owls provide a convenient Way Lor humans to study their Pat Malory habits. Whatever they can t digest such As hair and Bones they regurgitate in tidy pellets at the base of Trees. Heck estimates that he s picked Apai i More than 3.000 Greal horned owl pellets alone not la Man Lite those of other species. Heck s probes of great horned pellets have yielded the Bones of shells of weasels rabbits mice rats Lish fiddler crabs and even a woodchuck Doc slip animals such As chickens cats and Small dogs Aren t exempt from the ferocity of the homed owl. Which is common throughout the United states As a result in has often antagonized humans us major natural enemy and that s one reason Heck is partial to it. I be always been on Tho Side of species that have had the greatest amount of prejudice against he explains. Heck has been closely observing Allol the owls thai share his neighbourhood since he moved there 23 years ago i know this area Ike pages in a Book he says. I know where to took for owls without wasting any time. Some of it is fortuitous or serendipitous in whatever you want to Call whatever its name Heck Calls in into play on this Bright brisk late Winter Day. To has checked out specific patches of Woods and Fields apart from each other places where he knows from experience that owls Roost. The first step on Heck s to Day expedition is a Thicket of red Cedar. Don t talk and Don l Point he cautions. But the Crunchy Snow and Brush startle live Long eared owls before binoculars can be raised. Away they Fly at the next atop. The searchers Are More successful. Deep in another clump of Cedars they focus their glasses on several roosting owls their close together Tail ears erect and their vigilant eyes taking in the Cluster of intruders before they retire to More private perches. Next Heck leads the men to a stand where he knows saw whet owls one of the continent s smallest species Are roosting. Telltale pellets and Whitewash or droppings give away their location. The tiny Birds submit to the human stares without moving in a Village at lunchtime. Heck notices holes in some tall Hardwood Trees. Try your he says to one of Tho men who plays a recorded Call of a screech owl. Sure enough from a few blocks away comes the rippling response of another screeched. Just before Sunset Heck and the others set up telescopes at the Edge of a Broad slowed Field. Fat in the distance brought close by the Scopes Short cared owls patrol the furrows irom the air Hunting for their rodent dinner. Alt hands count the excursion a Success. 01 is species of North american owls they have seen four and heard one. Just think says a Veteran birder we be seen More owls in one Day than most people will see in a the e stars and stripes Page 15
