Sharing the Lot
haiku with reflection for red squirrel and all urban dwellers
World Wildlife Day 2024
RED SQUIRREL’S WARY
APPROACH TO THE BIRD FEEDER—
PATIENCE, CHICKADEE.
Red squirrel and the birds and everyone
Nearly three decades ago I joined on work trade for some of a Council of All Beings. Influenced by Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess who coined “deep ecology” and developed by Joanna Macy and John Seed, Council practice supports humans to identify with and speak as other beings. During the “Being Chosen” process, squirrel chose me and called for empathy with their urban plight: feeding off human spoils and dodging automobiles—too often unsuccessfully. The urban environment can be very unfriendly and unevenly so.
The experience being squirrel during Council guides me to this day. Now, I live in a neighborhood much friendlier than some with a clever red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) who finds refuge and food in the backyard. We often catch one another eye to eye as red squirrel pauses at the beginning of an approach from the big ash tree along the fence to the roof of the neighbor’s shed then down the chokecherry to where the bird feeder hangs. I do my best to convey that all is clear during these stare downs from my station at the worn oak table in the sun porch. It’s true that I fill the feeder with sunflower seed for the birds. And I’m equally happy to see red squirrel eat something safe and nutritious. Though the birds consistently bully one another, I haven’t ever seen red squirrel bully the birds. Neither the birds bully red squirrel. But both birds and squirrel will approach and wait their turn in some seemingly unspoken agreement to share the lot.
The urban environment can be very unfriendly and unevenly so. Red squirrel and I are privileged to live in a neighborhood with mature trees and a few urban homesteads that provide ample shelter and food for wildlife while meeting human needs, importantly peace of mind. Red squirrel isn’t endangered, and this one is well fed. But too many wild ones are endangered and hungry, their varied stats and circumstances diluted in the broad stroke: monitored vertebrate wildlife populations have decreased by 69% on average since the 1970’s (World Wildlife Fund’s 2022 Living Planet Report).
We need foremost to realize the depth that the Council of All Beings supports if we are to reverse the catastrophic global decline in biodiversity. Since depth requires direct experience, projects like Homegrown National Park® and Voices for Urban Wildlife can help fulfill the psychological requirements for meeting 30 x 30 and Half-Earth goals largely and rightly focused on stewarding strategic critical habitat of the grand “neighborhood” that includes rainforest shared by humans, squirrels, birds, and so many more.
The bare necessities of life, like appropriate food and shelter and the simple delight of red squirrel’s wary approach to the bird feeder, can only be realized together. Let’s get there while we can.
Links for Learning
Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings by John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Arne Naess; Also see Council of All Beings at Work That Reconnects
Rooted in nonviolence, deep ecology is a practical philosophy that values all lives, “human and non-human.” Please read What Is Deep Ecology? Definition, Critics, and Misunderstandings | Earth.Org
Red squirrel’s portrait by Niall G. Clancy for Montana Outdoors
Regarding their own pecking order, please see Food fight by Diana Marques—“Interactions between birds at a feeder may look chaotic but there is a method to the madness. Using data collected by about 9,500 citizen scientists with Project FeederWatch, this graphic shows the hierarchy of social dominance that governs everything, from food access to perch position.”
Wildlife in decline by almost 70% since 1970 | BBC News brief on World Wildlife Fund’s 2022 Living Planet Report
We need IMMEDIATE action to stop extinction crisis (6:00 min video) | David Attenborough - BBC
Homegrown National Park® is a grassroots call-to-action to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem function by planting native plants and creating new ecological networks. read more…
Voices for Urban Wildlife is a NYC based non-profit working with schools and communities to promote awareness and protection of urban wildlife. read more…
In December 2022, nations finalized the most ambitious strategy in our history to protect the planet’s biodiversity, ratifying a plan to safeguard at least 30% of the Earth’s surface by 2030 (30x30). read more at Wyss Campaign for Nature…
Half-Earth, a conservation initiative proposed by the late biologist E.O. Wilson, advocates for strategically protecting half of Earth’s land and sea to restore and preserve biodiversity toward global ecological balance. explore Half-Earth…
For a glimpse of rewilding the grand “neighborhood,” see Northeast Wilderness Trust’s short film by the SALT Project Forever Wild…
To help wildlife thrive in our midst, IUCN has developed the IUCN Urban Toolbox, a catalogue of knowledge products on urban biodiversity. see IUCN’s Urban Toolbox…
© 2024 Megan Hollingsworth | All Rights Reserved