Hubby and I were on the road home yesterday, (a lovely country road I might add), and there in the oncoming traffic lane was a dead Grouse. If you remember, last week I was making bookmarks and they were quite lovely since I had used Grouse feathers to decorate them... I love grouse feathers. I think thay are some of the loveliest feathers out there. I diligently save them when Hubby has been hunting and brings home a grouse. They make lovely decorations for all kinds of crafts. So when I spied the road kill I quickly informed Hubby that I wanted to stop to get the bird for feather removal..... By the time Hubby realized I was serious we had gone a half kilometre or so down the road. Since there was no sign of taffic, we made a quick U-turn and headed back to where we saw the dead grouse. (I know, I know, I hear you calling me a redneck... suits me! Do you know how much those things are to buy?) Anyway, as we turned around and headed back to where the dead grouse lay, we noticed a truck coming toward us from the opposite direction. As we got closer to the dead grouse we noticed that the other truck was slowing down, but by that time we were already there. So we stopped and Hubby got out and picked it up and threw it into the back of our truck. The other gentleman driving the truck that had slowed down had obviously been about to do the same. He had pulled over to the other side after he had passed us and was about to get out when he realized what we were already doing. If a truck could huff in disgust that is what it did as it peeled out from the side of the road flicking dirt everywhere.
Hubby started to laugh because, as he said, "Ohhh there's ruffled feathers over roadkill!" Never, I expect, was that poor grouse so desired as he was in death. Said grouse is waiting to be plucked and fed to our big dog. The feathers will be sprayed with insecticide, and then hung out on the clothesline in a mesh bag, before being soaked in very hot water and then dried carefully for future dyeing or use as they are.
There are all kinds of lovely feathers that can be used for interesting embellishments. Besides liking grouse feathers, BlueJay feathers and Wood Pecker feathers as well as several kinds of duck, eagle, hawk and owl feathers make beautiful embellishments. I don't kill the birds to get the feathers but I will raid nests after they have been abandoned to get them. I also take advantage of already dead birds as I did with the grouse.
Once, I found a bird nest that was lined with bear hair. It was very coarse and very black. I have often thought about how cheeky the bird that built that nest must have been since plucking hair from a grown bear would be a feat indeed. Perhaps the bear was dead and the bird was plucking the fur from the carcass. But I like to think that these wonderful creatures can get away with doing things like stealing fur from an animal while it is still alive.
I remember seeing, one time, swallows divebombing our big old cat. I thought at the time that the birds were harassing him because he was their natural enemy and they viewed them as a threat to their nest. But since finding the bear fur lined nest I wonder if they were trying to pluck hair from my cat to make a softer nest.
Many animals will use fibre from other animals to line their nests. I used to live near a river, and when I was finished washing and sorting wool fibre, I would take the bits that I didn't want and throw it down over the bank of the river. I did this because seeds will grow in wool and seeding the steep slope of the bank was a stabilizing technique. Once the wool was thrown over the bank I would then throw down wildflower seeds into the wool and sometimes the seeds would take and grow. During the night a few days later I heard foxes crying and yelping quite close to my house. The next morning I investigated the area where I had heard the sounds and I discovered that they had been stealing the wool that I had thrown over a few days before. I had no idea why they had been doing that but thought that maybe they were just playing in it. Later, I was hiking through some nearby terain and discovered the foxes lair. It, by this time, had been abandoned and so I had a look. Inside and all around the area were little bits of the wool that I had thrown over the bank. They had been collecting that fibre for their lairs the night I heard them yelping. I like to think that they were looking to keep themselves and their young warm and of course wool would do the trick.
Animals may have to rely on their own fur and skills to survive.... but I think they are just as capable as humans of using what is in their enviroment as tools to aid their survival. We humans think we have the edge on nature.... that we are at the top of the food chain but sometimes I wonder. We go beyond the animals by polluting and overusing what is available to us. We are killing our planet. There has to be a way by which we can live that is more planet user friendly.
I will not go into a long speel about recycling or reducing our footprint. We hear tips and pointers every day for that. It is just nice to know that the animals are already using the things that are provided by nature.
When I stop on the road to pick up a dead grouse I feel proud that I am using something that is there to be used and ruffled feathers or not I am pleaased that there was somebody else who had the same idea. We may or may not be at the top of the food chain but we could sure take some lessons from the animals, we just have to be willing to watch and learn.....
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