WILD KINGDOM

Dear Reader,

Sunday, September 17, in the park was a wonderful time. The weather was lovely, there were lots of folks, including many of my “Park friends” out, and there was a lot of animal life about.

As I walked into the park, I heard something that I thought was a bluejay cackling. I looked up in the trees, kept hearing it, and didn’t notice for some time the squirrel practically in front of my face, which was making these strange barking/clicking noises. I had never heard this kind of thing from a squirrel and was interested, but had to get on with my work.

The next thing I noticed, as I was walking towards the benches which generally serve as my base of operations, was something very odd looking, dome-shaped, moving around in the grass. As I got closer, I realized it was a tortoise! And no ordinary tortoise; a black-and-white shelled guy, who was described to me as a “zebra tortoise.” I can find no actual species listed with that name, so I think he might have been a uniquely colored “leopard tortoise,” but he was a beautiful animal, nonetheless. His caretaker was giving him a walk out in the park; he would wander around a while, and when he started to make a bee-line for the shrubby areas of the garden, she would pick him up and place him somewhere so he could walk around some more on the lawn. Apparently, he also grazed some while he was walking.

Most of the dogs who were out didn’t notice the new arrival, but one did; Barney the beagle, who noticed, got nose to nose, then let loose with his distinctive beagle baying! It took several repeated encounters for Barney’s person to decide that the level of communication between reptile and canine was not going to get any more subtle, and to finally drag Barney off to get to the purpose of his walk. After a time, the tortoise’s caretaker unceremoniously put him in an appropriately-sized shopping bag, and took him home. This was not, however, my last encounter with interesting wildlife for the afternoon.

As I was weeding in an area I call “No Man’s Land,” because it’s still pretty sparsely planted and bare-looking, I noticed a squirrel walking for a few paces, then stopping and waiting for a time, then moving again. What was unusual about this squirrel was that its head appeared to be enormous; it had a normal-sized body, but a gigantic gray head. Then I noticed what looked like a tiny tail on the top of the huge head, and realized it was a little squirrel wrapped around the neck of the adult squirrel (presumably the mother), who was carrying her progeny to a new location. I stayed still, and watched her proceed to carry this little one several yards across the garden, then to the base of the gigantic linden tree that serves as a centerpiece in my area. I was then amazed that she was able to climb about 30 feet or so up the trunk of this tree, and poke her “big giant head” into a small hole, drop it off, and then go in herself. She then poked her head out, and started barking at me. I realized this was the squirrel I had seen earlier, barking in the same way from on high as she had from eye level.

Later on, as I was trying to weed again, mom-squirrel barked at me to get away while she was moving her second baby, and I obliged. Some people think of these animals as rats on two legs, but they really are quite beautiful and engaging, and smart! I don’t mind them in my gardens at all; they clean up a lot of the crud humans leave behind. In fact, when I think about it, if we didn’t have all of the rodents, birds and insects feeding on the food people mindlessly throw onto the street and sidewalk, we would be ankle-deep in slime.

My last wild encounter of the day was with my bats, who have been in residence in my area of the park for at least the last 3 years (as long as I’ve been working out there). What was different about this occasion was that one of my park friends had the chance to see them as well, and I was able to confirm that I wasn’t imagining the bat presence.

Bats, if you don’t know, are mammals. They happen to be able to fly, but their flight style is very different from that of most birds; they sweep and bank sharply, their wings are always flapping, and they fly at night, when most birds have retired. I see them mostly in silhouette, in the last light of the afternoon, early evening, at or after dusk. The park does provide good viewing, because the street lights provide back-lighting, and bug-attraction. Despite what you may have heard, bats are not commonly rabid; in fact it’s quite rare. They do not bite or fly into women’s hair, and they are not blind. As I said above, they are mammals. Their babies are born alive, and are called “pups.” Typically, bats only have one or two pups per breeding season; they do not breed like rats or rabbits; they are not rodents. Bats live in large colonies generally, and raise their “children” cooperatively. They nurse like other mammals, but imagine the difficulty of nursing while you’re suspended upside down!

Where do bats live in New York City? Well, pretty much where ever they want to. All they need is a dark, quiet, undisturbed place, so it could be an unused subway or train tunnel (where I suspect my bats live; under Riverside Park), under the eaves of a tall building, inside a crack (bats are quite small, really), in the housing around a roof-top water tank, where no one ever goes; you name it. Bats are not pests. In fact, they are a boon to agriculture in that they consume tons of insects, and also, in many cases, help to pollinate crops. In the Park, they work on the mosquitoes that plague me some evenings, and have probably prevented me from catching West Nile virus.

Whatever they do, I am enchanted by the idea that my little space in Manhattan has bats in residence, and I look forward to seeing them every night I’m out. My park friend was equally amazed that she actually SAW them, and I was pleased that she had stayed out late enough (it was all of 7:30) to see the bats. Her dog, Smokey, was not impressed, because he was involved in playing with his toy, and hosting a “dog party.” All in all, a good time was had by all, but those of us who were less “wild” finally decided to go back to the civilized part of town (Broadway), pick up the Sunday papers, and head in for the evening. The Wild Kingdom is still out there for next weekend.

Thanks for reading,
Catbird