Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated May 7, 2008
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of
salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
The second thing I do every morning is drink a lovely cool glass of
water. I have never quite understood why anyone would want to turn
water in to wine! I also like it with a curry. The birds too,
appreciate a drink, especially in the coldest weather, and watching
the Starlings, plunging in to a bird bath in the altogether, I mean
altogether, like Rugby players, is such fun! The Blackbirds are more
sedate - two at a time and the rest queue in an orderly fashion. I am
told this is to keep their feathers in good order. Others like shallow
running water for a drink. Whatever water restrictions are placed on
us in the UK or anywhere else this Summer please, please, continue to
put water out for the birds. Other creatures like foxes, badgers and
even cats appreciate it too. I find myself thinking hard every time I
turn on the tap now even though my area is not under any restrictions
as yet.
In spite of the drought we have pipe leaks and floods all over the
place, still not fixed, yet we face having to fetch our water from
standpipes in the street! Here in the UK we live in a 'green and
pleasant land' but some parts of it are dry, cracked and barren.
Fish, invertebrates, mammals, birds and insects, trees and plants too,
suffer in these conditions.
It is strange how some things you learn in childhood stick with you
forever. My generation learnt Times Tables, Shakespeare and Poems by
rote. One of those poems was the very long 'Rime
of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. One verse
made a huge impact on me, and I have never forgotten it:
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
The thought of being marooned in The
Doldrums, surrounded by salty sea water, with no fresh water to
drink has haunted me ever since. It is a worry only too real for round
the world yacht racers if they are becalmed and their water making
machines break down. If we don't take care of our fresh water the UK
could be that yacht!
I hear from friends in other parts of the world where water 'on tap'
is not available and it makes me very conscious of how lucky we are.
Every time we turn on the tap, out comes copious amounts of clean,
clear water. We take it for granted. Yet we shouldn't. In parts of
Western Australia, water is scarce and my friends rely on rainwater
from a tank in the garden, yet other parts have flooding. Every drop
is precious in case there is no rain in the foreseeable future. Yet
Governments still finds water sources for new Golf Courses and
Vineyards! There's that 'water in to wine ' thing again. Other
friends, in the cities, tell me that the golf courses and vineyards
are needed because people need the work. So there is no easy
answer.
Friends in Florida, USA tell me that Florida has experienced the
driest March on record. This has been accompanied by above normal
temperatures causing rapid drying of the marshes that Cranes and other
water birds rely on for nesting and feeding. Their favourite food,
blue crabs, disappear into the deeper bay waters and are unavailable
to the Cranes. Animals too suffer, as other food sources disappear
along with the water.
On the radio the other day I listened to a young woman talking about
her work with Water
Aid - an international organisation set up to help people and
animals in underdeveloped countries obtain clean water. It really
touched me. She said that women in some countries spend their entire
day walking many, many miles just to fetch water for their families,
livestock and crops. Carrying that often filthy water in containers,
they have no choice but to do it in order to survive. Trotting off to
a standpipe in the street doesn't sound so bad after that does it? The
small cost involved to bring them clean water closer to home is
heartbreaking.
We are so obsessed with food and diets in the western world that we
are not thinking straight. What is more important - a constant supply
of stodgy food 24/7 or clean water on tap? Only 1% of the earth's
water is available for drinking, so shouldn't we treat it with more
respect as the precious resource that it is? Well, here's some food
for thought!! The adult human body is composed of approximately 55 to
60% water; the brain is composed of 70% water; so is skin; blood is
82% water, and the lungs are nearly 90% water. That is how important
it is to us. Wildlife too.
Another titbit to digest: 'You can survive about a month without food,
but only 5-7 days without water'. So many people tell me they don't
drink water I wonder how they survive! They do drink tea, coffee,
wine, spirits, beers and soft drinks by the litre though! All water
based and costly to produce. And almost all with additives you really
wouldn't want if you knew.
A dripping tap can waste as much as 60 litres per day or 1800 litres
per month. The average bath holds between 150 and 200 litres of water
when filled to the brim. So can we cut down on wasteful consumption,
and more to the point, can we force the water companies to repair the
leaks? They don't seem to be listening, I hear you say. So let's make
them!
Now, I ask you, 'Are you a drip?' - 'Most certainly not,' I hear you
say indignantly. Well, how about joining me, and becoming one?
Because if a dripping tap can waste that much, and a bath can hold
that much, just think what all we 'drips' could achieve if we jumped
in the bath together and poured scorn (sorry, water!) on the water
companies who want to make us queue in the streets. Perhaps we could
also spare a minute, and a dime for those not so lucky too, so their
dreams can come true.
The silly buckets on the deck,
That had so long remained,
I dreamt that they were filled with dew ;
And when I awoke, it rained.
My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
My garments all were dank ;
Sure I had drunken in my dreams,
And still my body drank.
- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 1797
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