Birds Pay Protection Money to Big Alligator
March 4, 2016 9:15 AM Subscribe
The gruesome price birds in the Everglades pay for using alligators as bodyguards.
Over time, a study released Wednesday says, egrets, herons, ibises and storks that nest on islands developed a strategy. They nestle on tree limbs near alligators, which chase and sometimes eat nest raiders. For that service, alligators demand a heavy price — some of the birds' offspring. That's right: child sacrifice.The study: Presence of Breeding Birds Improves Body Condition for a Crocodilian Nest Protector.
These are known colloquially as "Dark Egrets".
posted by benzenedream at 9:40 AM on March 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 9:40 AM on March 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
Egrets? I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:46 AM on March 4, 2016 [35 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:46 AM on March 4, 2016 [35 favorites]
If there is one animal I have an irrational fear of, it is crocodilians! And I love herons very much! But ... this is incredibly cool.
posted by ChuraChura at 9:51 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ChuraChura at 9:51 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
To prove their theory, the researchers, who included another University of Florida scientist, Peter C. Frederick, caught female alligators by noose and by hand, about 40 in all. (emphasis added)
Wow.
posted by jedicus at 10:03 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Wow.
posted by jedicus at 10:03 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Vultures, on the other hand, hold a lottery.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:25 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:25 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Poor birdies can't catch a break from their gator friends. Two years ago, it was found that crocodiles and alligators use sticks as lures to attract waterbirds (original article).
posted by elgilito at 10:25 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by elgilito at 10:25 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Modern man makes a similar sacrifice by choosing to live near roads.
However, the increase in the gators weight could also be due to egret droppings enriching the local ecosystem.
posted by srboisvert at 10:27 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
However, the increase in the gators weight could also be due to egret droppings enriching the local ecosystem.
posted by srboisvert at 10:27 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
The child sacrifice bit seems a bit overplayed. Presumably chicks that fall out of nests where there are no alligators around don't live much longer than those who are snapped up by the scaly deterent.
posted by howfar at 10:28 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by howfar at 10:28 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Scaly Deterent is my porn star name.
posted by howfar at 10:28 AM on March 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by howfar at 10:28 AM on March 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
I can't find an image online, but remember that old Gary Larson cartoon with a croc lying back on an analyst's couch with a horrified and guilty expression in its eyes and saying
"Doc, you know those little birds that walk around so trustingly inside a crocodile's mouth? I've just been eating those little guys like popcorn."posted by jamjam at 10:32 AM on March 4, 2016 [25 favorites]
If there is one animal I have an irrational fear of, it is crocodilians!
It's a fear I share, though I'd call it a quite rational one.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:00 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
It's a fear I share, though I'd call it a quite rational one.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:00 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Why don't these birds just strike a deal with raccoons and possums? Give the kids to them. I hate to say it, but this seems so weak. The birds are not good at making deals. Why are we talking about how great they are?
posted by My Dad at 11:02 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by My Dad at 11:02 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
My Dad, you should have put "Sad!" at the end of that comment.
posted by brundlefly at 11:53 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by brundlefly at 11:53 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
On topic:
Of course these guys have an alliance. They're relatives! One of my favorite evolutionary fun facts is that crocodilians are more closely related to egrets (and hummingbirds, and parrots, and...) than they are to lizards. They're all archosaurs.
posted by brundlefly at 11:56 AM on March 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
Of course these guys have an alliance. They're relatives! One of my favorite evolutionary fun facts is that crocodilians are more closely related to egrets (and hummingbirds, and parrots, and...) than they are to lizards. They're all archosaurs.
posted by brundlefly at 11:56 AM on March 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
I love herons very much!
Well this is sudden. I hardly know you.
posted by Herodios at 12:06 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Well this is sudden. I hardly know you.
posted by Herodios at 12:06 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Now this would've made a poignant scene in that new wildlife documentary, Zootopia.
posted by sammyo at 12:21 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 12:21 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Noice nest yew've got 'ere, squire...wouldn't want to see nuffin' happen to it..."
posted by briank at 12:56 PM on March 4, 2016
posted by briank at 12:56 PM on March 4, 2016
Why don't these birds just strike a deal with raccoons and possums? Give the kids to them. I hate to say it, but this seems so weak. The birds are not good at making deals. Why are we talking about how great they are?
Did you come from a large family originally?
posted by sebastienbailard at 2:17 PM on March 4, 2016
Did you come from a large family originally?
posted by sebastienbailard at 2:17 PM on March 4, 2016
The alligators, to be fair, have tried to cut down on the practice. But kicking a heron addiction isn't easy.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:01 PM on March 4, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 4:01 PM on March 4, 2016 [16 favorites]
Among the many ill-advised things I've done in my life that I probably ought not to have survived, but for the fact that fate sometimes likes a good laugh, one of the ones relevant to this discussion occurred years ago in Louisiana.
I'd read an article about the Nature Conservancy buying up property around a lake in south-central Louisiana to set it aside as a nature preserve. The lake, according to the article, was famous for two things: for its heron rookery and for having (allegedly) the largest alligators in Louisiana. Also there was a six-mile ring trail around the lake, mostly on old levees.
This was in the days before satellite navigation and there wasn't much signage but eventually I found my way to the lake and found what seemed to be a trailhead parking area near where a few locals were fishing on an embankment. I set out on foot, headed around the lake, and for the first several miles of my walk I was on high alert for any evidence of alligators. (I am a Nerd of the North, not of the South, and was out of my usual element; alligators seemed like something I ought to be careful about.)
Every time there was a rustling in the grass I jumped, but time after time it turned out not to be a giant carnivorous reptile but most often a coypu (or nutria, an aquatic rodent resembling a large water rat or a small tailless beaver) or even less threateningly a skink (a quite small, nearly legless type of lizard.) Having embarrassed myself several times during the first hour of my hike, and not having seen anything particularly remarkable, nor any sign of either alligators or birds, I was ready to write off the whole thing as a huge misfire. I relaxed my vigilance and picked up my pace and decided just to finish the loop around the lake as quickly as possible.
And then I got to the end of the lake where the heron rookery was. Out in the dark waters of the lake, roosting on every branch of the twisted cypress trees that jutted out of the water, were thousands, or perhaps tens of thousands of herons, ibises, egrets, spoonbills -- the rookery was amazing. All my senses were captivated -- thousands of bright-plumaged birds jostling for position on the branches.. screaming at each other to be heard above the general din.. there were so many you could even *smell* them -- my attention was totally fixed on the amazing spectacle of the rookery as I continued to walk along the levee trail.
And then the focus of my attention suddenly shifted as I heard a thunderous thrashing sound from just in front of me. I looked down at the ground and realized that, so preoccupied had I been with the amazing activity in the rookery, I had come within a stride and a half of stepping on a maybe 14-foot alligator that was sunning itself on the levee bank. Very fortunately for me, the gator was completely nonplussed by my behavior -- I'm guessing nobody else had ever tried to step on it -- and not knowing quite how to handle it decided to launch itself off the levee, swim out into the water, open its jaws wide, and make an angry (I'm assuming) bark-like sound at me. Pretty much by the time I realized I'd been in danger the danger was already past, but after that experience I was once again on high gator alert. I saw several more gators but none appeared to be quite as large as the one I'd nearly stepped on.
But I can confirm first-hand that they grow 'em pretty big when there's access to an all-you-can-eat heron buffet.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:51 AM on March 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'd read an article about the Nature Conservancy buying up property around a lake in south-central Louisiana to set it aside as a nature preserve. The lake, according to the article, was famous for two things: for its heron rookery and for having (allegedly) the largest alligators in Louisiana. Also there was a six-mile ring trail around the lake, mostly on old levees.
This was in the days before satellite navigation and there wasn't much signage but eventually I found my way to the lake and found what seemed to be a trailhead parking area near where a few locals were fishing on an embankment. I set out on foot, headed around the lake, and for the first several miles of my walk I was on high alert for any evidence of alligators. (I am a Nerd of the North, not of the South, and was out of my usual element; alligators seemed like something I ought to be careful about.)
Every time there was a rustling in the grass I jumped, but time after time it turned out not to be a giant carnivorous reptile but most often a coypu (or nutria, an aquatic rodent resembling a large water rat or a small tailless beaver) or even less threateningly a skink (a quite small, nearly legless type of lizard.) Having embarrassed myself several times during the first hour of my hike, and not having seen anything particularly remarkable, nor any sign of either alligators or birds, I was ready to write off the whole thing as a huge misfire. I relaxed my vigilance and picked up my pace and decided just to finish the loop around the lake as quickly as possible.
And then I got to the end of the lake where the heron rookery was. Out in the dark waters of the lake, roosting on every branch of the twisted cypress trees that jutted out of the water, were thousands, or perhaps tens of thousands of herons, ibises, egrets, spoonbills -- the rookery was amazing. All my senses were captivated -- thousands of bright-plumaged birds jostling for position on the branches.. screaming at each other to be heard above the general din.. there were so many you could even *smell* them -- my attention was totally fixed on the amazing spectacle of the rookery as I continued to walk along the levee trail.
And then the focus of my attention suddenly shifted as I heard a thunderous thrashing sound from just in front of me. I looked down at the ground and realized that, so preoccupied had I been with the amazing activity in the rookery, I had come within a stride and a half of stepping on a maybe 14-foot alligator that was sunning itself on the levee bank. Very fortunately for me, the gator was completely nonplussed by my behavior -- I'm guessing nobody else had ever tried to step on it -- and not knowing quite how to handle it decided to launch itself off the levee, swim out into the water, open its jaws wide, and make an angry (I'm assuming) bark-like sound at me. Pretty much by the time I realized I'd been in danger the danger was already past, but after that experience I was once again on high gator alert. I saw several more gators but none appeared to be quite as large as the one I'd nearly stepped on.
But I can confirm first-hand that they grow 'em pretty big when there's access to an all-you-can-eat heron buffet.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:51 AM on March 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
If there is one animal I have an irrational fear of, it is crocodilians!
Why? Or maybe this one?
posted by sneebler at 8:31 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Why? Or maybe this one?
posted by sneebler at 8:31 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
From the Snopes link:
posted by brundlefly at 5:39 PM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Officers from the state's Department of Natural Resources shot the 550-pound reptile, cut it open, and removed Hedden's arm from its stomach, then placed the limb in a picnic cooler and rushed it to the hospital with a police escort. Doctors decided against attempting to reattach the arm, however.Poor gator. They killed it for nothing.
posted by brundlefly at 5:39 PM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
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