May 17, 2024
Friday Open Comments
Jon Ronson is a favorite read and listen for me. I’ve read a couple of his books and listened to a couple of his radio stories. I like his writing and approach to interviews.
Early this year he released season two of his BBC Radio 4 show “Things Fell Apart.” Here’s the show’s second season preview page, with links to the rest of the episodes there.
Although I think of him as mildly on the left, what I like about his reporting is his willingness to let people speak for themselves. I do not believe he uses editing trickery to put them in a poor light. My sense is that he cites them in good faith.
The series is professionally done radio reporting and thus easy on the ears. The episodes are lively and to the point, in large part because Ronson has a good sense of human drama. The second season is about the distant ripples (as he says) that created culture war waves during lockdown. The first season was about similar distant ripples that produced culture war issues prior to lockdown.
I don’t agree with all his analysis, but because I feel like he reports in good faith and has a style I like, I’m willing to listen.
Today's special animal friend is the ostrich, one or two species of very large, flightless birds in the genus Struthio. The one or two species are S. camelus, the common ostrich, and S. molybdophanes, the Somali ostrich. The two-species classification has been accepted by "most authorities"; make of that what you will. Ostriches are the only members of their family and order. They belong to the "ratites" subclass, which includes emus, rheas, kiwis, and some lesser-known flightless birds found on distant isles where everything is bizarre.
Ostriches are native to Africa. They are found in a wide band across the continent south of the Sahara and north of the equatorial forest belt, as well as in a large area of the southern tip. S. molybdophanes is found in the Horn of Africa, that little bit sticking out toward Arabia that includes Somali, Eritrea, Djibouti, and stuff. Their habitat is open or lightly-forested grasslands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YTeasbvJ2E
Males grow over nine feet tall and females over six feet tall. Adults usually weigh between 250 and 300 lbs. They have a round body with short wings and a bit of a plumy, brown tail. Males have black feathers, while females' bodies are brown. Their muscular legs, long claws (up to 4" long), snake-like neck, and strong beaks remind us that the ratites are the most obvious descendants of the dinosaurs. Around 7 people per year are killed by ostriches. At the Tulsa Zoo, one hissed at me in a very entitled way and pecked my knees, which the sidewalk by the exhibit placed at the ostrich's head height. I had bruises. Johnny Cash was nearly killed by an ostrich in 1981. This is true:
https://folsomcasharttrail.com/the-trail/blog/did-johnny-cash-fight-an-ostrich-10-outlandish-but-true-cash-stories
Ostriches can run over 40 miles per hour. Some people have more fun with this than seems wise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kotWv4MCxNI
Unlike Velociraptors, ostriches are largely herbivorous, feeding on grass, leaves, seeds, fruit, and flowers, with some opportunistic snacking on insects or small reptiles. They consume pieces of rocks – gastroliths – to help grind their food in their gizzards. They can go several days without drinking, but they enjoy regular drinks and water baths.
Ostriches are polygamous. Males establish a harem of several hens. One hen will be the primary mate, while the others are side chicks. After mating, the male scrapes a nest in the soil, and all the females lay their eggs in the communal depression. The senior female will discard eggs of lesser females until about 20 in total remain. The eggs are incubated by the least-conspicuous parent: females during the day and the male at night. They hatch in 35 to 45 days, and all the adults help to guard and rear the young. Infant mortality is high: only about 15% of chicks survive the first year.
Nature is red in tooth and claw in the African savannah. Predators of adults include cheetahs, lions, leopards, wild dogs, hyenas, and crocodiles. An adult ostrich can outrun most predators; they are most often taken by ambush. Predators of nests and young include all the above plus jackals, birds of prey, warthogs, mongoose, and vultures. The Egyptian vulture will throw rocks at ostrich eggs to crack the shells and eat the embryos. Despite all this, ostriches are a species of Least Concern.
Good morning.
"... because I feel like he reports in good faith and has a style I like, I’m willing to listen."
I find that quite reasonable, and one could substitute "read" for "listen," as well.