The sound of silence

Vegetarian Times, June, 2005 by Val Weaver

Good thing summer's officially here (well, almost) because spring certainly took its sweet time. Lashings of wind and rain kept huge sections of the country wet, gloomy and gray far longer than everyone except Mother Nature felt necessary.

Normally, when spring's late, you can count on the birds and bees to remind you that warm weather is coming. Robins appear, hives begin to hum and a songbird may awaken you before the alarm clock blares. Not this year.

A friend who keeps some bees to help his many gardens grow reports that only one colony made it through the cold months. My mom, who puts out seed for the birds every winter, says that she rarely saw more than a pair. Only the sassy squirrels benefited from her avian largess--yet just two winters ago, her feeders were jammed with birds squabbling for the best perch.

This is no surprise to bird experts and beekeepers. Birds, especially songbirds, have been in trouble for some time, and honeybees--nature's star pollinators--are suddenly dying in huge numbers (why isn't totally clear, though bee-thirsty "vampire" mites are a lurid factor). The effects are now so widespread that even some casual observers noticed not only how late but how silent this spring was.

A related development is just that: development. A year ago, when I first started making my mile-long mini-commute back and forth to VT's Virginia office, I passed a small cluster of low office buildings and some pleasant homes. The rest was woods and open fields--exactly the kind of area where birds nest, small critters set up house and bees and other pollinators thrive. Today, the woods and fields are almost gone, torn out by two mega-developments, with houses going up at Nascarlike speed. Each home boasts a pristine lawn, but here's what it will take to keep it that way: liberal applications of weed killers, chemical fertilizers, bug bait, slug poisons and who knows what else, none of it good for man or beast, kids or pets, grandmoms or earthworms, birds or bees.

The lack of natural, toxin-free habitats is only one thing that's doing in our winged creatures. But it's also one thing that a single individual can actually do something about. We can replace some grass with more shrubs and trees (hey, less mowing!); use hedges instead of rails to fence a yard; encourage neighbors to use organic lawn care ... in short, house by house, we can work to create healthy mini-habitats.

It comes down to putting those oft-quoted Margaret Mead words into action: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

If we do, who knows: By next spring, we may hear a few more buzzes and chirps again. Sweet.