I have a special spot to sit and have breakfast every morning. It’s pretty much the same meal five days a week: a bowl of cereal, a banana, coffee and juice. Any uniqueness comes from what I see out the window as I sit there. Some days there are two squirrels chasing each other down one tree and up another. Or they might simply be making their way across the street or into our yard.
Perhaps there’s a rabbit, slowly nibbling the grass and maybe grabbing a dandelion stem. Or there might be birds, flying in and out of the nearby tree. Some mornings there are humans on a morning walk or cyclists hurrying down the street. Any cars move so quickly through my window space I hardly have time to register them, apparently with people anxious to get to work on time.
The best creature watching in the house is through the kitchen window. The bird feeder is in the back yard, with seed and suet. Squirrels and rabbits are more likely there, hanging around the garden, rather than in the busier front of the house. The only problem is, I can’t sit in the kitchen and watch the activity, the window is too high. So my morning sightings are in what we call the TV room, with a clear view of the front yard.
We visited with some friends the other day who have a raised dining/kitchen area with a sliding glass door, out to a raised deck. They had an assortment of goodies on a table there that attract birds, especially orioles. We watched them as we visited and drank our tea.The orioles were almost constant in their presence, distinct enough in their coloring that I know there were several. There were a few other birds as well, but orioles stand alone, for me, in their coloring and beauty.
Once we returned home, my wife placed some of the same jelly on a bottle lid and I took it to the bench in our back yard. Maybe we will see an oriole or two, to go with our cardinals and bluejays and doves and wrens and robins and sparrows. (I just looked; no orioles at the moment.)
There is something satisfying and enriching in being part of a larger and complex ecosystem. I think it’s probably why so many people have dogs or cats or other friendly creatures in their homes. Human beings can be tiring and troublesome, and it’s helpful, even renewing, to cuddle with a dog or rub the belly of a cat. They won’t talk back, only be appreciative.
Fortunately, there are also larger ecosystems available than the one in our backyard. We can get a better sense of the diversity of life away from such dense human habitation. Even as early as 1872, some were beginning to recognize that environments needed to be protected from human habitation and exploitation. That was the year President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Act, setting aside 2.2 million acres as a national park. Then in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act, establishing the National Park Service, which now oversees 63 national parks and 433 other diverse sites like monuments and battlefields.
Many of these national parks and wilderness areas have been seeing the largest increases in visitors ever. Unfortunately, at the same time, the Trump Administration is making their management more difficult. In February of 2025 this administration began laying off 5,000 public lands employees, including 1,000 working with the National Park Service (NPS). The proposed 2027 budget would reduce the NPS income from 3.2 billion to 2.2 billion, putting some 2,290 full time agency employees at risk.
For comparison, the first 100 hours of our war against Iran is estimated to have cost about 3.7 billion. Apparently, 100 hours of war is more than enough to keep all our national parks open and fully functioning.
Even more concerning are the rollbacks of hunting restrictions on public lands by this administration. These rollbacks mean visitor safety is more at risk; wildlife, rather than being observed and appreciated in their natural habitat, become fair game; and a relatively balanced ecosystem is disrupted.
We can thank the Trump Administration for one other addition to our public lands. They have reintroduced “cyanide bombs.” Banned in 2023 by the Biden Administration, these devices spray cyanide in a lethal dose when disturbed. Intended for foxes and coyotes, they are also there should the family dog or child disturb them.
I suppose it was my Christian upbringing. I’ve always believed that people were special, but only in relationship with the rest of creation. Damaging or destroying other parts of God’s good creation only hurt us. It may not happen quickly, and we may not notice it right away, but in the larger scheme of things, the damage is done.
I don’t know about you, (but I’m guessing we agree on this), I’d rather have bees and butterflies, birds and bunnies in my backyard, than cyanide bombs.
Leave a Reply