Subject: book recommendation
Date: May 30 10:06:04 1999
From: Deborah Wisti-Peterson - nyneve at u.washington.edu



hello tweets.

i just finished reading a book that i have wanted to read for
a long time; mark jaffe's _and no birds sing_. this book tells
the story of guam's indigenous species (mostly birds) that were
destroyed by the invasion of the brown tree snake. it shows how
even a single adaptable invasive species can radically affect,
and even destroy, and entire ecosystem during a relatively short
period of time. this book describes how the mystery of guam's
disappearing birds was addressed, the questions that were asked,
and the many problems that were encountered along the way.

there were several things that i found most disturbing about this
tale, especially the slowness of humans to recognize that there
was a problem, the stubbornness on the part of some government
agencies to approach scientific problems with an open mind, the
general political apathy to deal with such problems in any sort
of way before they get out-of-control, and the speed at which
these invasive species can cause irrevocable changes in the
environment.

on a more positive note, however, the book also described the
different personalities involved and how they were able to
ultimately contribute to attacking this problem, after it had
been identified.

most surprising (to me) was the reported unusual behavior of the
brown tree snake, which was maintained in captivity on hamburger
balls. even more amazing; introduced brown tree snakes were
documented to have stolen pork chops off barbeque grills while
the human was standing right there, and it was later found to
eat garbage from landfills! this goes against all established
dogma about snakes, which are supposed to eat only live prey, or
at least prey that is moving!

the book itself is well-researched and not very long (only 268 pp).
the story is a pleasant read, but it will sneak up and grab you
about halfway through, when you realize that you are firmly tangled
in its grip and cannot put it down!

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
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