We all want the best for our children. We want them to be healthy and happy and well prepared for the world when they grow up and leave home. Assuming they ever do leave home.
The animal kingdom is no different. This month, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources announced that pheasant numbers have hit a 20 year high. Just last week, I was minding my own business, enjoying a leisurely stroll in the Cedar River Crossing park when a gigantic pheasant leapt up from its hiding place, squawking furiously as if in mortal danger and hurtled past me so close I could feel the wind from its wings! I’m just glad there was nobody around to see me squeal and fall to the dirt in terror. Other birds fly as a matter of routine, without much fanfare. Why do pheasants have to make such a big deal about it?
Anyway, there are more pheasants in Iowa than there have been in a long time. Mild winters may have something to do with it. But probably more important is good pheasant parenting. The DNR survey has recorded more than 1,038 pheasant broods. A brood is a group of young pheasants that stay with their mother after hatching, instead of going out and getting a job like their dad keeps suggesting—but nobody listens to him and why would they leave home when there’s always food and free rent? This year, the group Pheasants Forever is celebrating 100 years of pheasant hunting. Maybe they could change their name to “Pheasants For As Long As Supplies Last.”
The Iowa DNR has made another remarkable discovery lately when they identified two pallid sturgeon fish below the dam in Ottumwa. Who cares? Well, it so happens that the pallid sturgeon is one of the rarest fish in North America. It is an ancient species—practically a dinosaur. They are long and skinny with an elongated nose and can grow up to six feet long and live 40 years.
Pallid sturgeons are not in any particular hurry. While young, they just drift downstream, nibbling on whatever little bits that come along. The females don’t reproduce until they are 15 to 20 years old. Good for them. Take your time, girls. There are always more fish in the sea—um, dam. The males don’t even try to swim upstream until they’re adults. After all, there are always leftovers floating by and Star Trek reruns on Netflix.
Current statistics show that forty-two percent of humans in the US between the ages of 18-30 live with their parents. This may be important for survival during these uncertain times, but also it is a testament to mutual tolerance. And there is something kind sweet about a 30-year-old child living in his parents’ basement with glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and his mom cheerfully calls down, “Dinner’s ready!” like he’s still 12.