Of Tigers and Parrots
Thirty years before I was born, and less than 10km form where the aforementioned august event took place, something far more important happened. The last Paradise Parrot was seen in the wild. This was quite possibly the most beautiful Parrot ever seen by man or so it was recorded by the scientist who first described it. As a keen young ornithologist I wasted many hours searching for what had already been lost.
That same year the last known Tasmanian Tiger died in captivity. As a child my Grandfather, a Taswegian and long since past, had one as a pet. Apparently it was not a very good pet being worth several quid per skin and not prone to affection. He showed me the scars as proof. He told me, presumably in the unlikely event that I should ever encounter a Tasmanian Tiger, how to kill one without damaging the skin.
“You grab them by the tail and they cannot turn around to bite you, keep their back feet off the ground” fascinating I thought. “Then you slide the knife up under their belly till you get to where the head meets the neck” I am not going to like this bit. “Then you drive the knife upwards straight and hard and there you have the perfect skin” “And don’t let it bite you cause it will break your bones and will never let go unless it takes the limb, even when dead it will not let go”
Unfortunately there is no use for this ancestral advice nor will there ever be. Despite the occasional unsubstantiated sighting there is no evidence that this species still exists. Please no mad theories the fact is they are gone. To me this is the most appalling loss.
We have lost so much and we are losing more by the minute. Climate change will bring an even mightier wave of extinction. Anger and despair are useless in the face of this but I have no other answer.
I can only be a witness and hopefully have some interesting stories for my grandchildren. “Many years ago we had things called trees, you may have read about them, and this is how we used to cut them down to dig up the gold for our wedding rings…”
mawaho
Depressing scenario jkp07. I fear that you are right, but want to be optimistic and hope that you and a younger generation will care for our earth in a way that we in the past never could or understood how to. Your story is very important. Do you know that my sister saw a Tasmanian tiger in outback NSW….............!
jkp07
Thank You for your comment. I try not to be depressing but my subject matter seems to be. I don’t plan what to write, I just sit down and that is what comes out. This space is wonderful for that kind of experimentation.
I would love to believe that the Tiger is still out there somewhere but animals leave tracks, scats and bones. Scientisits managed to re find the Night Parrot after 50 years on the extinct list and it is quite a small animal that eats seeds and flies around at dusk in the remote desert. The Tiger being an ambush predator would leave many distinct and obvious signs, unfortunately I really think they are gone.
I hope to learn more about writing here so I have something to do in my dottage, a long way off yet though. Critique is greatly appreciated, I particularly want to learn how to write dialougue.
botanicfanatic
Can’t believe I missed this journal entry! Your final sentence made me laugh, as it didn’t end the way I was expecting :) But what a story your grandfather told! That’s extraordinary. It’s true, when you care about these things it can be too easy to get stuck in the grief, anger and despair. We can do what we can… and bear witness…
I was thinking recently about how the baby fur seal clubbing issue (late 70’s?) was the first time I was aware of people protesting certain practices. Later in high school I belonged to all those environmental groups who sent graphic motivational information in the mail to encourage you to send them money. And in the meantime I ended up believing that the world was going to end before I had a chance to grow old. I’m astonished to still be here and frankly haven’t planned that well to deal with that :)
My point is that motivational literature these days is more likely to give you empowering information rather than just plead for money, and this is A Good Thing.
Hope you keep sharing your thoughts and knowledge, mate!