Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Cranes

On a somewhat romantic note, this from Sacramento:
Sandhill Cranes are in it for the long haul

A banded pair of Sandhill Cranes has been tracked since the late 1980s, from rearing offspring to migrating and courting; and not too anthropomorphic, all things considered! Except for the first few lines, anyway. From the article:

Wing to wing, Softie and Sweetie have seen it all, from those exhausting 600-mile flights to Oregon in spring to those chilly nights near Sacramento standing in water 4 inches deep to avoid being gobbled up by coyotes or roughed up by raccoons.

Whatever the bond and no matter the explanation, these two sandhill cranes – majestic and wise and possessing an uncanny number of human traits – have been flying, feeding, parenting and chortling when need be since at least 1987, when a federal researcher trapped them and attached ID bands to their legs.


I certainly mean no offense to those who named the birds, but my hamsters in 4th grade had similar names!

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