Moonshadow

Cat Stevens......my youth....I recall the freedom he displayed in his music and voice, and being. As I walked outside now, prior to me writing this....I felt the presence of my shadow, cast by me, and yet....placed in a mold and spread like butter by the moon lit so hazily in the sky. 

Jerod Diamond.....author..."Gun's, Germs and Steel"--- "Collapse' ---"Upheaval"  ... Three pretty good books and while controversial in nature I must ask, have you read them? And if not, why? Do so as we approach this gray season where our smiles mask the illusion of sunnier days within us. As we scurry from door to door and skirt around pelting rain, or 'slip' a bit on ice....a season where the written words of books become neighbors and our minds grow old. . 

In his book entitled "Upheaval' , written most recently, I might add...He voiced of nations with people much like us, who lived in past years....casually becoming a part of history although if not unwritten, certainly forgotten.  Nations in a crisis...Finland, Japan, Australia and others or had daunting tasks to overcome. Yes, as we approach the present time, he finds our own nation co-existing in terminology if not more, with that of being 'in a crisis'.  

I read ....past history I went....and found myself on page 402. Page 402 dealt with cats. Now, not Cat Stevens, for my youth and remembrance of nor the great Cat himself is worthy of page 402, but cats---you know, the domesticated ones and defined as those that are 'free to roam'. So domesticated to the point of being able to say hello to you while you sit on the pot and become king of your own thrown, or meowing from outside the window, .... if they go 'outside' ....they are what he speaks of.  He spoke of numbers on page 402 and more specifically on numbers of birds which are ....taken care of, or played to rest, or eaten or killed or ....Well....regardless of the numbers, the numbers are what he mentions and since he didn't 'cite anything to support the numbers, I won't mention them, other than to state; numbers. The number of cats that kill birds in the United States compared to the number of birds which are killed by Wind Turbines (a green energy). That brought up a question to me of, the number of birds killed by 'windows' for he left that off. 

So....being not 'cited'..I decided to check out his numbers. So I did what almost everyone else would do and Google it. Now, how accurate is 'googling"? Is it really accurate? I mean, ...come on now..... how do we really know or even 'best estimate' the number of birds kills by cats? I might be able to see where someone might be able to do a study on bird kills centered around one sky rise or a group of wind turbines and extrapolate what it might look like 'country-wide' but how does one estimate the number of birds killed by domestic cats? A difficult 'guess' would be my  thinking.... In fact, any figure that someone throws at me is one I might question, be it high or low. But are you interested in those figures?

The Audubon Society estimates that between 40,000 to 348,000 birds are killed by wind turbines. A pretty wide range. Why 348,000 and not 350,000 if you are estimating? Why 40,000 and not 50,000? etc... 

Countless sources on birds killed by buildings ....the estimates range from 100,000 to a billion. A pretty wide range eh? 

Cats....? Well...an equal wide range. Various sources likewise and estimates from 1 billion to 4 billion.

So, there you have it...take it for what is worth. Cats win either way I would guess by looking at the estimates and birds lose. Sadly, birds can't take the loss as easily as I can though for If I ever lose my "hands, or eyes or legs, or mouth, my teeth north and south.....or "....I won't have to work  or walk or, or or-- no more. Birds don't quite have the same option for they are just not going to be around in numbers as we have had in the past. Huge flocks of birds flying 'north or south'..... just aren't there anymore....be it cat related, building, turbine, or whatever. That reminds me, next weekend, my grandson and I will go and do some bird watching I think so he can view what we do have.