Saturday, May 28, 2011

eggs over hard


Bad news often rides shotgun with good news.  Ready to buck shot its way into the conversation.


That truism came visiting this week on the shores of my laguna.


The good news is I now know the sex of Lumpy – the medium-sized crocodile I have been writing about for the past seven months.


Out of habit, I assumed the crocodile was a guy.  Nasty disposition – and all those other male stereotypes.  Of course, there would be no crocodiles unless some of them were female.  (I do recall some of those biology lessons.)


And it turns out Lumpy is a she.  That is her smiling face at the top of this post.


We know her sex because my neighbor just discovered what she has been up to on our little beach.  She established a nursery in the loose sand – and filled it with just over a dozen crocodile-sized eggs.


I would very much have liked to watch them hatch out – just as my blog pal Sparks did several years ago.  For all I know, Lumpy may have been the mother in his back yard.  It is just around the corner from me.


But it is not to be.  And this is where the bad news elbows its way into the conversation.

 
For whatever reason, my neighbor decided no baby crocodiles were going to hang around his end of the laguna.  Or maybe he was worried that a maternal Lumpy would show up and do her mother bear impression.


To prevent that, he dug up the eggs, tossed them into the laguna, and hauled away the loose sand to prevent recidivism. The water will drown the embryos – through hypothermia and drowning.  Almost like going down on Titanic.  No cocodrilitos on this beach.


The whole incident saddens me.  For two reasons.


First, it is simply wasteful.  People fear crocodiles.  But crocodiles have far more to fear from us.  We can hunt them, destroy their young, and foul their habitat.  And we do.  It is the same mentality that causes people to reach for a machete whenever they see any snake.


The second reason is far more personal.  And hardly philosophical.  I have not seen Lumpy since the nest was dug up.  But I have not seen little Alfonso either.


Maybe they are taking a crocodile holiday elsewhere in the laguna.  At least, I can hope.  Their presence has added a bit of exotic adventure that I will not get in the highlands.


That is, unless Lumpy wants to ride shotgun with bad news on a road trip to San Miguel de Allende.

22 comments:

Tancho said...

How sad that a human would think that they are better than other living creatures on this earth.....
Maybe that's why there is so much animal abuse SOB.
Sad. Truly Sad.

Steve Cotton said...

It has put me in a rather bad mood.  But I see a lot of that in my neighborhood.

Leah Flinn said...

Perhaps she is working on making some more eggs, more discreet this time. We can hope...

GreengaGirl said...

So sad.  I hope that Lumpy comes back.  It is so disappointing to see animals chased from their natural homes. 

Steve Cotton said...

That would be a nice hope. But there are not a lot of nesting spots left.

Steve Cotton said...

I suppose it is the inevitable result of human encroachment. But, you are correct; it is still sad.

Glorv1 said...

Well, first of all hi Steve. Hope you are doing well. Secondly, I am definitely afraid of those crocs. I don't want one in my backyard, but I wouldn'd kill it. I'd have it picked up and taken to where it belongs, in someone else's backyard. Like yours. Tee Hee. I don't have anything against them, but they are too scary for me.  You going to San Miguel de Allende? That's great! Have fun!

Steve Cotton said...

Nice to hear from you again, Gloria.  The crocodiles fascinate me.  My neighbor has had no trouble with them -- up until now.  Maybe he thought enough was enough.

M Cotton said...

Altho' Crocodiles are not my favorite, I was saddened by what happened to her eggs.  Couldn't he have left at least one or two for Lumpy to try to hatch.  There will be no miniature Lumpy for her to feed, teach to swim or play with.  Her heart will  feel like it will break.  What a tragedy for her.  Perhaps she has gone to some quiet place to mourn.

Tafreeburn said...

poor lumpy, bet she wonders what happened to her future babies. o.k. so maybe they don't think like we do but some instinct must tell her that something happened to her eggs.  how very sad that your neighbor would do such a thing.  shame on him!

so, are you spending the summer in sma?  i've gotten a bit behind in reading blogs because i've been so busy planning for our move so if you wrote about it i somehow missed it. we're going on a househunting trip on june 18th and once all our medical paperwork, etc are all in order, we'll get the official date. we're really excited!

have a great weekend and thank you for your service to our country!

teresa 

Nita said...

This sounds like the same kind of neighbor who tried to cut down all the nesting habitat for birds along my back fence. His only trouble was, he was on my property. I managed to stop it before all was lost.

Joe said...

Steve, Lumpy sent me a post card, her new legal residence is Nevada!!! Seriously, please give us none-legal types, I didn't say not-legal, a quick lesson on how to be a legal resident of Nevada or any other low tax state.

Steve Cotton said...

I am not certain crocodiles have such maternal instincts.  But they can be very protective of their young -- and will stand guard when they are hatching.  But not now.

Steve Cotton said...

Thank you for the Memorial Day comment.  I almost forgot it was this weekend.

In July, I will spend the month in San Miguel -- with the exception of one week when I have visitors down this way.

Steve Cotton said...

I am not certain I could have done anything if I had seen him tossing the eggs.  I have no say over that little beach.  But I wish I did.

Steve Cotton said...

Your legal residence is any place where you have indicated a desire to set up residency.  There are no magic on-off rules.  But here are some indications.  Where you rent or own property.  Where you are registered to vote.  Where you maintain your bank accounts.  Where you receive your mail.  Where you have a driver's license.  Where you register your car.  There are others.  But you get the idea.  You have to show contact with the state you claim as your legal residence.  It gets rather complicated when moving out of the country -- as you can imagine.

tancho said...

wish I would have done that about 15 years ago......California took way too much money from me....which I could have save having residence in Nevada like some foresighted friends.

Steve Cotton said...

For me, the time was right this year.  I have no income earned in Oregon and I had an opportunity to set up housekeeping in Nevada.  If I was not lliving in Mexico, I would have moved out of Oregon.  So, it worked well all the way round. 

brenda said...

Sad story.  So much for wildlife conservation.

Steve Cotton said...

Fear makes people do the most irrational things.

Babsofsanmiguel said...

Oh no, that news made me catch my breath...........horrible!  Bring Lumpy along to San Miguel.  There will be a BIG pond for her here as soon as it rains in the presa. All kinds of food too - mallards, herons, egrets, etc. etc. etc
She'd be in croc heaven............
 

Steve Cotton said...

I saw a pair of eyes in the laguna last night. But I don't know who they belonged to.