Barnestorming the Outdoors

by Barnes, Kenneth Edward

• ISBN13: 9781463410148
• ISBN10: 146341014X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-09-01
• Publisher: Textstream

Summary

Barnestorming the Outdoors by Kenneth Edward Barnes is a collection of stories and articles, some of which have been published. Many, however, have never been read before. Some are from his newspaper columns and magazines. Others are from his book Life on Pigeon Creek. Many of the stories are heartwarming, some humorous, and others reflect Ken's great love of nature and his love for his Creator.

Excerpts

Forever Lost: the Carolina ParakeetIn the last century and a half, we have lost a host of indigenous birds and animals from North America. A few we have managed to bring back, like the white-tailed deer, the turkey and the beaver. Others, however, have been gone for so long that many people do not even know they once lived here and will never be brought back, because they are extinct. The Labrador duck, sea mink, passenger pigeon and Carolina parakeet are some that are gone forever.The Carolina parakeet was a beautiful bird that was once common in the eastern half of the United States. A few thick-billed parrots once lived just north of the Mexican border, but disappeared many years ago. an effort was made to reintroduce them to Arizona, but failed. Other than this, the Carolina parakeet was the only parrot species to live and nest in the United States.When our country was first being settled, the Carolina parakeet was very common. This small green parrot, with a yellow and orange head, traveled in noisy flocks and was often seen along the Ohio River where I grew up. They were fond of seeds of the cocklebur weed, and Audubon's famous painting of them, show several of the parrots in such a bush.Why aren't they here now?There are several reasons.Back in the early days of our country, there were no laws protecting birds or animals. If a person wanted to kill or capture an animal to eat, sell, or just for the sake of killing it, there was nothing to stop them.One of the reasons they quickly disappeared was because they were very destructive to orchards. Always on the move to find food, they would flock to an orchard and proceed to tear apart the fruit. This habit made them very unpopular with the early settlers who depended on the food they raised to sustain them throughout the year.A peculiar behavior however, made them even more susceptible to extinction. While feeding in a tree, all it would take was for one to be shot, and this usually assured the destruction of the entire flock. If the birds would have been frightened and flown away, they may have survived, but they did not. When one of their companions fell, they would fly around overhead squawking and lighting again and again until all were killed. Many parakeets were killed this way to obtain feathers for ladies hats.Not only were they killed for being destructive to fruit trees and for their beautiful feathers, but many were also captured and sold as pets.Since the birds were very intelligent and would tame down in only a couple of days they were in high demand.Another behavior of theirs made it very easy to capture them. They roosted in hollow trees, which was one of their downfalls. for a person with a gunnysack could hold the sack over the entrance, while someone else struck the tree with a stick. The frightened birds would then rush out of the tree into the sack, and the entire flock would be captured.By the middle of the 1800's, the parakeet's numbers were beginning to dwindle, and they had disappeared from most of their former range. Once they lived from the East Coast, through the Mid-west as far west as Kansas and eastern Texas, and south to Florida.By 1900, only a handful held out in the most remote parts of Florida. It was in this state that the last tiny flock of Carolina parakeets was seen a few years later.The last Carolina parakeet died in captivity in 1918, at the Cincinnati Zoo according to most authorities. I have also read that it was 1914 or 1920. There was even a claim that a small flock was "rediscovered" in 1930. All that doesn't really matter, because now this earth is empty of their presence.In the early 1800's, naturalist Alexander Wilson and Audubon saw them in great numbers along rivers and streams in Kentucky and Southern Indiana where I grew up. Wilson once described how beautiful they were with the sun shinning on their brilliant green plumage as a huge flock lifted from the Ohio River and landed in nearby trees.I have sometimes sat at my window in the winter watching mourning doves flocking to my feeder, alighting in the leafless maple tree above it and tried to imagine how it would be if we still had the Carolina parakeet. I could easily picture them in my mind flying across the yard in a small flock and lighting in the tree. Here they would sit, looking down at the tray of sunflower seeds. They would be chattering amongst themselves and pulling themselves up to the next branch with their strong bill as all parrots do today. They would also be "talking" with one another about what they had discovered. I could see their long tapering tails, which were much like the doves, and their brilliant green feathers glistening in the early morning sunshine. Being only about 14 inches long, there would be room for several to be sitting on the feeder while the others were chattering above them in the tree.If they would have survived to more recent times, with all the modern methods of captive breeding, artificial incubation, and radio transmitters for tracking their movements, they may have been saved. In fact, because of birdhouse erections, backyard feeding stations, and a different attitude toward wildlife today, they may have made a strong comeback like the wood duck did. They may have even become too numerous and control measures would have had to be taken to protect fruit crops. There probably would be thousands of small flocks throughout the eastern United States. It could have been possible for them to even extend their range as some birds have done due to feeding stations.But this did not happen, and now I can only see them in my mind. I will never see them flocking to a large hollow sycamore tree at dusk along Little Pigeon Creek where I grew up, like they did long ago. I will never see a young one with its all green plumage leaving an old woodpecker hole for its first flight. Not only will I not see them, but also my children will not, nor my children's children. Nor will any one else.The woods are a little emptier now, and will never again hear the joyful chattering of our only native North American parrot. for we have lost forever one of God's creations. We have forever lost the Carolina parakeet.