May 09, 1985 - Together in Nature's WorldTh ere are No IS trangers Here.. .
Just Friends You Haven't Met.
I •
North Road, Greenport, N. Y. a 477 -1338
Closed Mondays
Happy Mother's Day
Open forlunch and special dinners.
OPENING
MAY 10th
OVE,R1,00KING UERING HARB01?
Seafood, Steaks, Salad
Cocktails, Outdoor Patio
Hours: Fri. & Sat. 6 P.M. -11 P.M.
Sun. 1 P.M. - 10 P.M.
Closed Mon. & Tues.
Wed. & Thurs. 6 P.M. -10 P.M
13 Winthrop Road,
Shelter Island 749-0909
A Pleasant Walk from Greenport Ferry
Zeller's Restaurant
& Bakery
On Mom's own day, treat her
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made just for her. Be sure to
order special items early!
We open at 5: 00 A.M., 7 days
a week, and our Restaurant
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specials.
477 -2133
at. 23
Greenport
Together in Nature's Wor /d
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
In the natural world, there are many
examples of different creatures living
with one another. Some do it all the
time as a way of life. When they do, we
say there is a symbiotic relationship be-
tween them. Here the partners -- plants
or animals -- live together for the better-
ment of both. The lichen, which is made
up of a fungus and an algae, is a typical
plant example: The algae provides the
food and the fungus provides water and
protection.
In the animal world, we often see (in
African nature films) huge rhinos with
birds walking on their backs and faces,
picking off ticks and other organisms.
The bird takes off the parasites while
the huge rhino gives the bird a safe
table to eat from.
Then there's another group, less well -
known, where co- existence for short
periods of time is normal, though there
is not this close relationship. The first
time I became aware of this kind of re-
lationship was many years ago when
osprey were much more prominent than
they are now. I was just starting to
explore the natural world with my first
real camera, the famous Kodak 35. It
was when color film was first intro-
duced. I'd worked all summer as a teen-
ager, at Sayre's Garage in Southold,
now the famous Mei Lin restaurant, to
make enough money to buy- this splen-
did little camera.
One of the photos I took was of an
osprey nest in the center of Nassau
Point in an old dead oak tree. I still
have the slide -- its color has remained
quite good all these years -- but I noticed
when taking the picture that a small
English sparrow had made its nest in
the sticks of the osprey nest above.
Focus on
Nature
There seemed to be no resentment be-
tween the two and I assumed they both
raised their young without any interfer-
ence or threat from each other.
It was something to see, this small
English sparrow flitting back and forth
feeding its young in its concealed nest
among the huge stick nest of the osprey.
To this day you will see this phenome-
non of coexistence being carried out by
these two birds. Yet you'll see the red -
winged blackbird dive - bombing the os-
prey if his nest happens to be nearby.
The red -wing considers the osprey a
threat, which he isn't.
Bunkers Plentiful Then
Those were the days when huge
schools of bunkers were always plenti-
ful in our bays and in the Sound. It was
a time when osprey nests could be seen
within eyeshot of each other all along
our creeks and bays. Luckily, after the
devastating results of DDT, the fish
hawk is making a good comeback. Its
only limiting factor now is the abun-
dance of its food supply. The overfished
bunkers that provided such a rich har-
vest for the bunker industry have as
yet, not returned to the great schools of
fish seen years ago.
Another example of living together
is the photo seen on this page. The
Canada goose has chosen the top of a
muskrat den on which to build its nest.
In a society of predaceous dogs, cats,
(continued on next page)
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r
May 9, 1985 The Suffolk Times Page 23
Focus...
(continued from previous page)
raccoons, opossums and others, any
groundnesting bird faces a risk. Even
though geese will try to protect their
eggs from intruders, the loss to these
predators nevertheless takes its toll.
Here, the Canada goose has chosen a
spot surrounded by water, a real deter-
rent to the dog, cat, opossum and rac-
coon. The raccoon, if hungry enough,
will think nothing of swimming for a
meal. But here there is no foot scent to
the nest for the predator to follow, giv-
ing the bird a good chance for survival.
The muskrat below has little interest
in the eggs above, as muskrats are
mostly vegetarians eating roots and
shoots of plants.
Muskrats, like raccoons, opossums
and the fox, seem to be able to co -exist
with man. Every saltwater creek has
its muskrat den somewhere along the
bank. Usually you won't see the open-
ings to the dens, for they are below the
surface of the water. Often you'll see
where dogs have dug into the bank or
bog trying to get at the muskrats. At
one time muskrats were relentlessly
pursued by fur trappers, but today there
is little call for these pelts.
Time to Move
Spring is the time, by the way when
the adults chase last year's young out
of their territory, which is why we often
see road - killed muskrats far from our
creeks and ponds. They have been
exploring for themselves in hopes of set-
ting up housekeeping in a new territ-
ory. If you live alongside a wet area,
perhaps you see these small rabbit -
sized animals on your lawn grazing for
a fresh meal of grass or clover. They
are absolutely harmless and do little
damage except to burrow in the bank.
Our Canada goose sitting on her nest
atop the muskrat den brings to mind
Aluminum
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
CANADA GOOSE
the two kinds of dens the muskrat
builds. Usually in fresh or brackish
ponds where there is a good supply of
plant material, the muskrat will build
his domed den and not use the banks
for his abode. These domed dens are
rather rare on the North Fork, as the
majority of muskrats have chosen to
live along our creek edges in the bank.
I've never seen a muskrat build a den
in our creeks.
It's nice to see that in the natural
world some of our plants and animals
do quite well living in harmony with
each other. I'm sure if one or the other
were a threat, the actions would be dif-
ferent. Perhaps that is why man seems
to have such a problem of co- existing
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with his fellow man. It's fine just so long
as one is not a threat to the other, be
it taking his oil, his land, changing his
way of life or a hundred other threats
that make him agressive. Knowing this
might just help in formulating a differ-
ent foreign policy when it comes to de-
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Shop Locally!!
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