Green Comet

Credit Ben FrantzDale – CC-BY-SA

Guest Post

From time to time I will be publishing posts from guest authors whose writings I think will interest people. Of course, all opinions and assertions in these posts belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily agree with mine. Please direct your praise and criticism to the author. — rjb

Today’s guest author is Laird Smith.

Laird Smith

Hummingbirds

Wally and Auntie Kay Smith appreciated hummingbirds. Wally pointed out a hummingbird nest in one of the apple trees with two tiny eggs in it. I was a child then and it was such a thrill to see them! We put up feeders where we could observe hummingbirds from the comfort of our house. Wally even put up a white backstop so he could photograph them at the feeder. Who doesn’t like hummingbirds? I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like the remarkable little creatures.These birds however, are in jeopardy, even though they are protected under the Migratory Bird Act.

Recently, CBC radio interviewed a man named Pepper Trail, a criminal forensic ornithologist with the US Government, who spoke of the current problems besetting our beloved humming birds. But that is part of the problem, they are too beloved! Apparently the Mayan culture once looked at the hummingbird as a love charm and that frame of mind has been resurrected with the Mexican people as well as the Spanish speaking communities throughout the United States and Canada.

People in countries south of the U.S., are paid to harvest hummingbirds by the hundreds. Border Security has intercepted packages destined for the United States of America with at least 300 dead hummingbirds in each, all neatly and individually confined, complete with a verse or poem for each hopeful lover who buys the dead hummingbird.

Yes, these dead birds are being marketed as good luck charms, just as the lucky rabbit foot has been marketed here. The companies involved in this practice are very well organized according to Mr. Trail. The question is, how do you stop a cultural practice such as this love charm operation?

There are only so many hummingbirds to go around before they become extinct along with the many different species of wild flowers that are pollinated solely by hummingbirds. Then what are the people going to do for a love charm? They will use a fake one, but by then the irreparable damage will be done.

A solution then is to flood the current market with fake, cheaper hummingbirds. When you look around at what is available for fake birds, there are many that look incredibly realistic! There are other solutions too that I don’t know of. Perhaps make another bird a popular love charm such as the Starling, and when they become extinct, there will be no tragedy abounding!

How much time is there before our hummingbirds are all gone ? Two years, five years, certainly no more than ten years. When you really think about, it is inconceivable that our hummingbirds could all die as love charms by an uneducated humanity!

My hope is that the powers that be, financial powers in particular, will take notice of a potential love charm market available in fake hummingbirds for the Spanish speaking communities throughout North America; thereby preserving the lives of hundreds of real, live hummingbirds.

Just a note of clarification. There are readers who will take this article all wrong by thinking I’m blaming this problem on the people of North and South America who speak Spanish. The Spanish speaking communities just happen to be the ones I know about; there may be others who are involved in this ignorant decimation of our hummingbird populations. No matter who is partaking in this, it must stop as soon as possible, to avert the inconceivable.

Laird Smith

Credit Ben FrantzDale – CC-BY-SA

From time to time I will be publishing posts from guest authors whose writings I think will interest people. Of course, all opinions and assertions in these posts belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily agree with mine. Please direct your praise and criticism to the author. This post makes reference to a specific community, but the overall message is more universal. — rjb

Today’s guest author is Laird Smith.

Laird Smith

Wally and Auntie Kay Smith moved to Oliver during the Dirty 30’s, built a house and stayed in it for thirty plus years before building another house 100 meters away and moving again.

There are many good things to say about staying in one place. Many residents live in Oliver who were born there, schooled there, married there, and chose to stay there and live out their lives in the same community.

Some chose to operate their parents farm or business or started a business themselves, all serving the community as best as they could. Their choice spared them the disruption of moving to a new community and starting over again. Moving is expensive, mentally, physically, emotionally, and materially. By experience I know this to be true for I have moved many times, always by choice.

There is one segment of our society that has very bad judgement, and continuously puts themselves in harms way as they go in and out of jail, which means starting over every time, everywhere they go. Of course some learn and stay out of jail, but that story is for another day.

I have written the odd time or two about my move and life in Walla Walla Washington during the 1990’s. I have also mentioned, I believe, about my involvement in the City Crime Watch organisation there. It was formed to integrate civilians with the police department to cooperatively protect the City from the criminal element which is always at large.

I would have continued my active involvement with the City Crime Watch but chose to return to Canada where we settled in Red Deer, Alberta. There I became active in a civilian advisory group working with the RCMP. After ten years I moved again, this time to Edmonton.

Now I’m connected with the Edmonton Community League Block Connectors. The Community Leagues all have Block Connectors which are a link between the local neighborhoods and the Community Leagues. These groups work together to administer the City strategies for the well being of everyone.

I have been reading in ODN about the need for volunteers in Oliver to assist the RCMP in community policing. One might say, ” hire more police, I don’t want to be involved in policing! ” Well folks, police are not being trained fast enough. Alberta alone requires 230 more RCMP just to maintain standard policing numbers.

With Alberta having that need, where does that put the rest of Canada let alone li’l old Oliver? The answer for Oliver is community policing. Citizens MUST be actively involved in volunteering with the RCMP. A recent article in ODN said, ” one 4 hour shift per month is all that is required. ” That doesn’t seem to be an expectation that is impossible to meet, is it?

Think of the goal, making the community safer by putting more eyes on the street in coordination with the federally hired officials ( RCMP ) who know the law to protect you while you volunteer. Your accompaniment will give the officials comfort in numbers.

Isn’t it time to take back the streets, the pathways, and the alleys of Oliver?

With the population of Oliver at 5000, if just 1% volunteer, that number is 50 men and women. If half a % volunteer, that number is 25 men and women which is perhaps more realistic. Surely 25 people out of 5000 can step forward and commit to 4 hours a month to help protect the community of Oliver from the criminal element which seek to undermine the vulnerable. We are all vulnerable at one time or another.

During the 1970’s, Auntie Kay Smith was active in motivating the citizens of Oliver to build an arena because of the need. Look at how the citizens responded, you have an arena meeting the needs of the people. Once again, the call is going out to the citizens of Oliver to respond to a need. Will you be willing to respond before the need reaches a crisis point?

Laird Smith