And A Little Child Shall Lead Them

Photo: Richard Spencer

Oi vey. Almost a week has gone by since my last post. And another six birthdays! (Not all of which involved mojitos. Mores the pity.) One of these belonged to one of my adorable and -- happily! -- adoring nieces.

During our birthday phone call, she educated me on the benefit of mosquitos. In all honesty, I've always thought mosquitos were useless creatures. I hate them. More often than I can count, I've needed a course of Prednisone due to an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. Grotesque swelling and a wound site hot enough to grill on are my decidedly unpleasant associations with mosquitos.

But my now-10-year-old niece told me that the species is a vital player in the Grand Scheme. Apparently, mosquitos are a natural enemy of locusts (?! who knew?!) and thus help to protect grain crops. AND they aid in the pollination of pumpkins and assorted fruits. I have not checked the veracity of these facts, but she's an extraordinarily clever girl -- and, like her father and uncle before her -- a bit of a science wiz, so I'd be surprised if she didn't have her facts straight.

Honestly, it was a fascinating conversation and she made me feel a grudging respect for those whiny little bloodsuckers. She then launched into a discussion of sharks. Clearly, she has inherited the family trait of championing the underdog and seeing the good in everyone! (And/Or she's got some Addams or Muenster family blood in there somewhere. Because she also regaled me with tales of the carniverous plants she received as a birthday gift. I asked her where she was going to put these and she replied, "Oh, somewhere that they'll never run out of food.") Hmmmm. Sugar and spice and everything nice? Absolutely. But in this case, obviously there's a little heat in those spices! (Of course, she comes by THAT trait honestly, too!)

After sharks, we moved on to wolves. And today, I opened a magazine to an article about wolves that I can't wait to share with her! Written by Jim Dutcher, the article mentioned that when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park (after being exterminated in the 1920s), they brought balance back to the ecosystem of the park in just a few years: "... the wolves dramatically strengthened elk herds by culling out weak and sick animals. Willows and aspens, long decimated by overpopulated elk, regrew along stream banks. Trout returned to shady, cooler streams. Beavers built dams. Migratory birds flocked to new wetlands. An entire park was revitalized by 31 wolves." Following so closely to the conversation I shared with my wonderful young niece, the article made me see anew how interconnected everything is. Even the lowly mosquito has a role to play!

Not long ago (shortly before the election, actually), a friend said to me, "I love the environment, but I love my children more." I declined comment, but privately I thought it sounded like Orwellian double-speak. Putting aside for the moment that what he meant apparently, given the context of our discussion, was that his children NEEDED to ride around in Hummers and drink chocolate YooHoo more than they needed, say, a rainforest or wetlands or tundra, the comment is completely nonsensical. Bearing in mind that your children's most fundamental needs include air and water first and foremost, you must then concede that you cannot sacrifice clean air and water without putting their lives at risk. They can get along quite nicely, thank you very much, without riding around on fossil fuel. We all can. But not one of us will last more than a few minutes without oxygen or more than a few days without water. So you can't choose your children over the environment. You have to protect one to ensure the survival of the other. Conservation really isn't optional.

Luckily, the wolves have Jim Dutcher. And the mosquitos have my niece. Passion like theirs makes this world a more beautiful place, literally and figuratively. And for this, I say thank you.