Life as a human on Earth has always meant being in contact with some other life forms. As an urban gal, it’s been easy for me to forget about the troubles people have with wildlife because I did not see it growing up. People have a long violent history in dealing with unwanted lifeforms and developed management programs to deal with them. In fact, at UC Davis there is a whole class about that topic: Wildlife Fish Conservation (WFC 152).
This quarter I am taking Human-Wildlife Conflict for my WFCB (Wildlife and Fish Conservation Biology) minor. I did not know quite to expect from the title, but it had proven quite interesting. Here are some wacky things I have learned from class so far!
Airplanes kill birds. In retrospect, it’s obvious that birds fly into planes sometimes. However, it’s not widely advertised that birds flying into engines can bring down planes! As you can imagine I feel more trepidation about going flying now! Plane manufacturers test the strength of their engines to resist birds flying into them by launching thawed chicken carcasses at the plane.
Image source: Snapwire
Another wacky thing I have learned is that coyotes eat sunflowers! Coyotes are widely known as a carnivorous species, but they are in fact omnivorous. Apparently, sunflower heads are a nice snack for them.
Image source: Skeeze
The anticoagulant warfarin was discovered when a farmer fed his livestock moldy feed! First off, a note about anticoagulants: they prevent blood clots and cause internal bleeding. Coumarin, a chemical compound found in many plant species, is transformed into the natural anti-coagulant by fungi. When the farmer fed his livestock the moldy feed, some of the cattle died. An autopsy revealed that the cattle bled to death. Time and innovation led to the creation of rat-poison with this finding. It is not used as widely for rats today because rats have developed genetic resistance to the chemical. Now it is used in small amounts for human blood thinners and to kill feral pigs!
Lastly, I thought this was a cute story. A fox found its way onto an airport, so people were chasing it around to get it off the airport. Finally, the fox escaped by jumping onto a bus and curling up on a seat!
Although the professor talks about dead wildlife a lot I am rather enjoying the class. I think it is important to know why and how people are trying to get wildlife in line with their tidy lives. Even if, or especially if, I want to change the way people think about “pest” species!