MAMMALIAN WILDLIFE, part #1

CURRENT CONTENTS:

Angwantibo

Bats

Beaver

Buffalo

California sea lion

Coyotes (plastic)

Cretan goat (kri-kri)

Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

(for continuation, see the link below)

Authors' Note:  The angwantibo (an-GWAN-tee-boh) or golden potto, Calabar angwantibo, is a small golden-haired primate inhabiting parts of Central Africa, including the country of Gabon. It undertakes its propagation rituals while hanging from the branches of trees. The results of attempts at such matings by unskilled participants are unrecorded.

  To some readers the name Geebo may seem unlikely, but the author assures you that for the first twenty years of his life this nickname (one of the few of which he approved) was in common use, at least by his siblings; it is still used occasionally in close circles.

Authors' Note: BATS, the flying mammals, are found in many idioms, which mostly give them unfavorable press, including:

batty,

old bat,

to have bats in the belfry,

(take off) like a bat out of hell,

as blind as a bat.

Authors' Note:  The California sea lion, Zalophus californianus, native of the west coast of North America, has increased in population considerably in recent years.  The marine mammal is sexually dimorphic, with males larger in size and having more commanding vocal abilities than the females. Both genders are larger and more socially active than the true 'earless' seals, which can move on land only by scooting on their bellies.

 Sea lions are highly intelligent, and positioning their front flippers, they can support themselves in a 'four-legged' walk; their ability to learn and perform tricks has given them a role as the (misnamed) 'circus seal'.

Follow-up note: As is often the case, e.g. with bears or raccoons, feeding wild animals can result in untoward behaviour. On our subsequent two-week visit to California in early April 2022, we saw no such disreputable behavior by sea lions (but it must be admitted that we saw no sea lions, although we certainly heard them barking, particularly around the piers at Monterey). 

Requests from many armchair naturalists, and career zoologic scientists have come to fruition; there is now a followup post continuing this theme that you can easily access by clicking HERE! 

To resume daily titillations on our blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2022, there are 1000 entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.)

Poems about Avian Life: BIRDLORE, part#1

CURRENT CONTENTS: 

American goldfinches

Birdfeeder (squirrel-proof)

Bird droppings

California scrub-jays

Cattle egrets

Cedar waxwings

Dawn chorus

De-snooding (domestic turkeys)

Eagles and eaglets

(for continuation, see the link below)

Authors' Note:  This common North American bird species, Spinus tristis, is often referred to as the "wild canary" owing to the male's bright yellow summer coat, set off by black wings with white ribbons and black forehead patch. As their diet consists almost entirely of seeds, nesting does not begin until mid-or late summer when weed seeds become plentiful. Thistle heads are used not only to feed the young, but also to construct the nest! The relative dietary habits of finches around the globe (insects versus seeds) has been an area of intense biologic study (see the verse "Darwin's finches” at OEDILF.com). 

The less intensely costumed female can be seen in a brief video on our daily blog HERE.

Authors' Note: Although its use appears cute, the term bird-turd displays your ignorance. The appropriate expression is pronounced as BEHRD drahp-ing in usual discussions.

Authors' Note: The cattle egret is a wading bird most closely related to the herons of Ardea species, but is also a cousin of the common egret and snowy egret. Unlike the latter birds, it may breed in drier areas further inland, and consume terrestrial insects as a substantial portion of its diet. Recently documented changes in its range include expansion to much of the United States, South America, southern Africa and Australia. In general, the bird's enlarged domain has followed that of domesticated grazing mammals.

As bovine may have the meaning of 'dull' or 'stolid', the author was delighted to ascribe more emotional responses to these beasts.

Authors' Note: 

 mohel (mo-HAYL, a more Hebraic pronunciation), or

 moyel (MOY-uhl, more Yiddish-influenced)   

 The current verse can be read employing either pronunciation.

(Ed. note) If you enjoyed these illustrated verses, you might also want to work your way through our collection of over thirty illustrated short poems about waterfowl. Proceed to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on this full-service blog, 'Edifying Nonsense'. 

Bird-watchers, academic ornithologists, wordplay enthusiasts, wildlife photographers, Giorgio's relatives, and just everyday folks have united in their demand for more verses on the topic of landbirds!

So, please follow this link! for 'birdlore, part#2' 

DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 

To resume daily titillations on our related blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2023, there are over 1200 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.) The 'Daily' format also has the advantage of including some videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

American Satire: A TERM OF ENDIREMENT #3

This post provides a follow-up to ...

"AMERICAN SATIRE (A Term of Endirement) #1"(Note that this first collection of poems gives helpful suggestions on how to SING these intriguing lyrics.)

and "AMERICAN SATIRE (A Term of Endirement) #2"

Authors' Note: 

sillery: neologism for 'silly tomfoolery'

Authors' Note:   “Sheriff Joe" Arpaio, a former official of Maricopa County, Arizona, had a long flamboyant career characterized by legal actions against colleagues, heavy-handed treatment of suspects and prisoners, and allegations of massive misuse of funds. The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) eventually brought suit against him for civil rights violations, and after refusing to comply, he was finally convicted of contempt of court.

 

   As an octogenarian, Arpaio had become a political friend and outspoken advocate of Donald Trump, who pardoned his criminal offence in August 2017, prior to the imposition of a sentence.

Author's Note:  The verse imagines an advisor or supporter picking up on an assertion by the contentious 45th US president. The latter had remained steadfast in demanding budgeting for a southern border wall with Mexico (putatively to decrease the unregulated influx of refugees), and was prepared to take the credit/blame for the pending global shutdown of government financing should it occur.

A venous cutdown is a maneuver to provide reliable access for fluids and drugs during a medical emergency. 

Authors' Note:  In August, 2020, “It is what it is” became a key U.S. presidential comment on deaths due to the coronavirus that were downplayed in the rush to 'reopen' the country. Subsequently, various explanations for the excess were squirmingly offered by the Executive branch of the U.S. government. It was purported, for example, that some doctors were rewarded by their hospitals for inflating the number of death certificates indicating COVID-19 as the apparent cause of death.

Authors' Note: Readers might want to check out prior posts, including that of Feb 9, entitled "Anagrammatic tribute to a Senator", and those of January 1, 9, 10 and 11, dealing with great egrets. The photos of birds were obtained from Giorgio Coniglio's personal collection, whereas those of political leaders were obtained from readily available online sources.

FOLLOW-UP

Owing to intense demand for more verses of this type, we have worked hard to accommodate your wishes; in fact there are now six such collections! So, you can view another collection of these philosophically-charged limericks by clicking this link !

DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 

To resume daily titillations on our blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2022, there are 1000 entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.)