On King Tutt's gold sarcophagus, on his head is a vulture and a cobra proudly
representing his authority over lower and upper Egypt. I think the vulture held a higher position in ancient times than it does today! Great to re read these posts with you Mark. I had to look up the definition of carrion. Just to be sure I knew what we were talking about...
I have developed an interest in birds in the last few years ..small ones singing. The big majestic birds will also hold fascination. In terms of the food chain and traditions, people usually ate what was local and affordable, and if you were poor variety wasn't a choice. The venders of the Chinese'wet markets' are of meager income and circumstances, so those are essential to their survival. Dictatorship nations like China contribute to the poverty of their people. The ravages of Co-vid lay at the feet of such nations
Thanks for commenting De! You might enjoy the threaded discussion with Jeannine in this post. Crows and wolves have developed a synergy and part of it is a PARTICULAR bird call. Crazy! I love the Merlin bird ID app from Cornell University. It's always fun to learn stuff! COVID, I would imagine, will be viewed as a dress rehearsal for the next emergence of pandemic viruses. Seems inevitable with 9B+ on the rock, habitat intrusion and particular desires for birds as protein. I imagine inequality will be a driver of emergence of disease -- always has, always will I fear. I always learn something from your thoughtful comments.
Thanks Mark, I'm glad to hear that my life experience has meant more than just stamps on a passport ☺️ I will check those threads ..wolves misunderstood
(1) I knew a young sales representative for Proctor & Gamble who first told me the story decades ago. Got to actually see it. Pallets full of Pepto-Bismol -- so ridiculous -- I recall that there were a couple of farms buying more PB than all the Targets in the 7 county area. Probably not the purse sized bottles sold in Brooklyn Walgreens :)
(2) I wonder if there is pecking (ROFL) order? -- I shared an observation with Jeannine in the comments about my favorite carrion the crows. I shared a story about crows and wolves working as a team -- so CRAZY!
(3) I remember my Dad taking me to the Broadway Market as a kid -- open air -- while I have not witnessed I have friends who have seen bits of the wet markets in PRC -- Sci-Fi and very gross food habits. Pangolins look prehistoric don't they?
I have some believe it or not stories about food prep but don't want to drive subscribers away. Listen to the RadioLab podcast, you will enjoy it.
Learned that pangolin scales are made of the same stuff our finger nails are made of. Which strikes me as creepy and disgusting though I can't say why.
The stuff is called keratin, and it not only makes up our fingernails and the pangolin's scales, but also our hair and top layer of skin, as well as the fur, claws, scales, feathers, and horns of other critters - pretty versatile stuff! 😁 It's apparently in spider silk, too, but the experts think that spider keratin probably arrived via an alternative evolutionary route. The only critter-made substance that is stronger than keratin is chitin, the stuff that makes up the exoskeletons of insects. There's a useful Wikipedia article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratin
What a wonderful, amazing world we live in!
I happen to think the pangolins are kind of cute, btw. 😉
I did a post (only interesting to me I fear) titled Https://markdolan.substack.com/natures-cookbook a long time ago. Keratins were part of the story. I have a long incomplete post about biomimicry that's partly about it. In many ways, keratins are polymers. Nature evolved these perfect polymers which require minimal energy to make and are 100% recyclable. Humans make polymers (plastics) in a very inefficient energy process and call them plastics from petroleum. Nature does not recognize them so they serve as poisons. We've been doing it for about 75 years. The average human ingests about a credit card equivalent of plastic a week. So far we seem okay.
I'll go look at your cookbook article... DNA and such, I presume? Sounds interesting!
As a child, I had an obnoxious habit of eating the tails off my plastic dinosaurs. I'm not sure if I was channeling my inner T-Rex or spending too much time with the family dogs. 😂 I'm still around 55 years or so later, so I guess (hope) the dino-tails were fairly inert. I no longer intentionally eat bits of plastic toys...
While not established science, there is some belief and study continuing about the increasing amount of plastic in the food chain and the concurrent and steady rise of autoimmune disorders of all kinds. Our immune systems are great at identifying and taking out the garbage.
Thanks for looking into it. I bet you never imagined pangolins would be a rabbit hole! To me they are so weird and prehistoric looking yet now I know they are mostly just fingernails!
Definitely an unusual topic and yet you managed to turn it into a full-fledged discussion. Whenever I hear the word "vulture," I immediately see cartoon vultures because that's where we always saw them and only saw them there. Growing up, they provided laughs more than anything else for little kids. Good job.
Thanks for the comment and the memory Chuck! I am always struck by the connotation and judgment that comes along with a word. Vulture is a negative word. I am QUITE SURE the average person feels different when they hear condor. Yes I can remember the cartoon vultures :) Life on earth, at least for the animals would be a BIG CHALLENGE without the vultures and their like. The RadioLab podcast is worth a background listen. The absurdity of building burn towers in cities with vultures hovering in the skies! Old ideas die hard :)
"Keep calm and carrion." Best title ever - I love it! But I'm sure glad for the additional reasons to continue to be a vegetarian. We have turkey vultures around here and they are very cool birds. Thank you for an interesting and educational article!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! The funny part is I thought of it, thought it was original and then realized lots of people had thought of it before! Still funny but also makes me park my ego :) I guess you must have voted for "Something Else" in deference to the turkey vultures
No, I voted for crows. They live around here and are quite personable. I have a crow-friend, I call him Merlin, who "talks" to me when I'm out front... I have no idea what he's saying, of course, but he obviously recognizes me. Our neighbors put out bread for them, but the crows treat their place as a take-out joint - they grab the bread and fly over to our yard to eat it... I suspect the nearby woods for quick escapes and the small pond for dipping are the main attractions. 😉
I only see turkey vultures briefly, once in a blue moon, eating roadkill. A fox died in our backyard once and two turkey vultures came for it before we could clean it up... it was completely gone, bones and all, by the next morning. Turkey vultures are impressive birds, with a huge wingspan, and they look majestic when they fly (not so much so when hopping on the ground, but they're too busy with janitor duty to worry about their looks then).
The world would be a messier (and less healthy!) place if it weren't for the scavengers!
Your comment is a working example of why I believe the comments is the best hangout area on Substack as it is personal and based upon writing perceptions. While it ended up on the cutting room floor, I read an interesting bit about crows during my research. It turns out that crows are so smart and social! They have developed a two-way relationship with wolves! They have a characteristic call they make to inform the wolves of a new downed or struggling animal. In return, the wolves let the crows share in the eating of the animal. Nature is AMAZING! Your final paragraph reinforces the main point of my post! As we displace creatures from the food chain, it is never clear when a particular creature may be a tipping point for a large subset of the animal or plant kingdom. I would imagine this is why archaeology can align massive restarts on earth each time there is a mass extinction. Scavengers are a PERFECT example and something as innocent as giving aspirin to cattle can set such cascading events in progress.
We have to remember that it's always a bad idea to mess with Mother Nature. It's a bit of a digression, but you just reminded me of those old Chiffon margarine commercials, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" (https://youtu.be/ijVijP-CDVI)
I think comments are my favorite part of Substack as well... the digressions can be fun!
Just had discussion on Ravens and how one was taught to shower. Once taught, the raven flew down, nodded approval, showered and shook and flew back into the trees. Ravens are quite something first saw one up North. You actually hear the whip of their wings as they float by...all small pets must be indoors though
On King Tutt's gold sarcophagus, on his head is a vulture and a cobra proudly
representing his authority over lower and upper Egypt. I think the vulture held a higher position in ancient times than it does today! Great to re read these posts with you Mark. I had to look up the definition of carrion. Just to be sure I knew what we were talking about...
I have developed an interest in birds in the last few years ..small ones singing. The big majestic birds will also hold fascination. In terms of the food chain and traditions, people usually ate what was local and affordable, and if you were poor variety wasn't a choice. The venders of the Chinese'wet markets' are of meager income and circumstances, so those are essential to their survival. Dictatorship nations like China contribute to the poverty of their people. The ravages of Co-vid lay at the feet of such nations
Thanks for commenting De! You might enjoy the threaded discussion with Jeannine in this post. Crows and wolves have developed a synergy and part of it is a PARTICULAR bird call. Crazy! I love the Merlin bird ID app from Cornell University. It's always fun to learn stuff! COVID, I would imagine, will be viewed as a dress rehearsal for the next emergence of pandemic viruses. Seems inevitable with 9B+ on the rock, habitat intrusion and particular desires for birds as protein. I imagine inequality will be a driver of emergence of disease -- always has, always will I fear. I always learn something from your thoughtful comments.
Thanks Mark, I'm glad to hear that my life experience has meant more than just stamps on a passport ☺️ I will check those threads ..wolves misunderstood
Thank you Anne. Very kind.
1. The idea of farm-sized bottles of pepto bismo makes me sad
2. Now I am so curious to know the order in which various diners feast on carrion
3. And I will be of course reading about pangolins the rest of the evening. I’ve never even heard of this creature. So crazy looking!!!
(1) I knew a young sales representative for Proctor & Gamble who first told me the story decades ago. Got to actually see it. Pallets full of Pepto-Bismol -- so ridiculous -- I recall that there were a couple of farms buying more PB than all the Targets in the 7 county area. Probably not the purse sized bottles sold in Brooklyn Walgreens :)
(2) I wonder if there is pecking (ROFL) order? -- I shared an observation with Jeannine in the comments about my favorite carrion the crows. I shared a story about crows and wolves working as a team -- so CRAZY!
(3) I remember my Dad taking me to the Broadway Market as a kid -- open air -- while I have not witnessed I have friends who have seen bits of the wet markets in PRC -- Sci-Fi and very gross food habits. Pangolins look prehistoric don't they?
I have some believe it or not stories about food prep but don't want to drive subscribers away. Listen to the RadioLab podcast, you will enjoy it.
Learned that pangolin scales are made of the same stuff our finger nails are made of. Which strikes me as creepy and disgusting though I can't say why.
The stuff is called keratin, and it not only makes up our fingernails and the pangolin's scales, but also our hair and top layer of skin, as well as the fur, claws, scales, feathers, and horns of other critters - pretty versatile stuff! 😁 It's apparently in spider silk, too, but the experts think that spider keratin probably arrived via an alternative evolutionary route. The only critter-made substance that is stronger than keratin is chitin, the stuff that makes up the exoskeletons of insects. There's a useful Wikipedia article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratin
What a wonderful, amazing world we live in!
I happen to think the pangolins are kind of cute, btw. 😉
I did a post (only interesting to me I fear) titled Https://markdolan.substack.com/natures-cookbook a long time ago. Keratins were part of the story. I have a long incomplete post about biomimicry that's partly about it. In many ways, keratins are polymers. Nature evolved these perfect polymers which require minimal energy to make and are 100% recyclable. Humans make polymers (plastics) in a very inefficient energy process and call them plastics from petroleum. Nature does not recognize them so they serve as poisons. We've been doing it for about 75 years. The average human ingests about a credit card equivalent of plastic a week. So far we seem okay.
I'll go look at your cookbook article... DNA and such, I presume? Sounds interesting!
As a child, I had an obnoxious habit of eating the tails off my plastic dinosaurs. I'm not sure if I was channeling my inner T-Rex or spending too much time with the family dogs. 😂 I'm still around 55 years or so later, so I guess (hope) the dino-tails were fairly inert. I no longer intentionally eat bits of plastic toys...
While not established science, there is some belief and study continuing about the increasing amount of plastic in the food chain and the concurrent and steady rise of autoimmune disorders of all kinds. Our immune systems are great at identifying and taking out the garbage.
Thanks for looking into it. I bet you never imagined pangolins would be a rabbit hole! To me they are so weird and prehistoric looking yet now I know they are mostly just fingernails!
Interesting article other than not being 100% accurate when talking about pharmaceuticals. A good pharmacist could set you straight.
I am ALWAYS eager to be set straight John. You corrected me about NSAIDs a while ago, I hope I got it right this time!
Definitely an unusual topic and yet you managed to turn it into a full-fledged discussion. Whenever I hear the word "vulture," I immediately see cartoon vultures because that's where we always saw them and only saw them there. Growing up, they provided laughs more than anything else for little kids. Good job.
Thanks for the comment and the memory Chuck! I am always struck by the connotation and judgment that comes along with a word. Vulture is a negative word. I am QUITE SURE the average person feels different when they hear condor. Yes I can remember the cartoon vultures :) Life on earth, at least for the animals would be a BIG CHALLENGE without the vultures and their like. The RadioLab podcast is worth a background listen. The absurdity of building burn towers in cities with vultures hovering in the skies! Old ideas die hard :)
"Keep calm and carrion." Best title ever - I love it! But I'm sure glad for the additional reasons to continue to be a vegetarian. We have turkey vultures around here and they are very cool birds. Thank you for an interesting and educational article!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! The funny part is I thought of it, thought it was original and then realized lots of people had thought of it before! Still funny but also makes me park my ego :) I guess you must have voted for "Something Else" in deference to the turkey vultures
No, I voted for crows. They live around here and are quite personable. I have a crow-friend, I call him Merlin, who "talks" to me when I'm out front... I have no idea what he's saying, of course, but he obviously recognizes me. Our neighbors put out bread for them, but the crows treat their place as a take-out joint - they grab the bread and fly over to our yard to eat it... I suspect the nearby woods for quick escapes and the small pond for dipping are the main attractions. 😉
I only see turkey vultures briefly, once in a blue moon, eating roadkill. A fox died in our backyard once and two turkey vultures came for it before we could clean it up... it was completely gone, bones and all, by the next morning. Turkey vultures are impressive birds, with a huge wingspan, and they look majestic when they fly (not so much so when hopping on the ground, but they're too busy with janitor duty to worry about their looks then).
The world would be a messier (and less healthy!) place if it weren't for the scavengers!
Your comment is a working example of why I believe the comments is the best hangout area on Substack as it is personal and based upon writing perceptions. While it ended up on the cutting room floor, I read an interesting bit about crows during my research. It turns out that crows are so smart and social! They have developed a two-way relationship with wolves! They have a characteristic call they make to inform the wolves of a new downed or struggling animal. In return, the wolves let the crows share in the eating of the animal. Nature is AMAZING! Your final paragraph reinforces the main point of my post! As we displace creatures from the food chain, it is never clear when a particular creature may be a tipping point for a large subset of the animal or plant kingdom. I would imagine this is why archaeology can align massive restarts on earth each time there is a mass extinction. Scavengers are a PERFECT example and something as innocent as giving aspirin to cattle can set such cascading events in progress.
We have to remember that it's always a bad idea to mess with Mother Nature. It's a bit of a digression, but you just reminded me of those old Chiffon margarine commercials, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" (https://youtu.be/ijVijP-CDVI)
I think comments are my favorite part of Substack as well... the digressions can be fun!
Just had discussion on Ravens and how one was taught to shower. Once taught, the raven flew down, nodded approval, showered and shook and flew back into the trees. Ravens are quite something first saw one up North. You actually hear the whip of their wings as they float by...all small pets must be indoors though
Very cool story. Covids (aka crows and ravens) are amazing birds.
Ravens and crows are amazing! The showering story is bonkers.
Haha -- those were fun commercials!!!
I loved that radiolab episode. And if you need an explanatory drawing in the future shoot me a message! I'd be happy to give it a go.
Thank you Medha! I write my posts in advance and should have thought to ask you!!! I love your illustrations.