Is The Dodo Bird Extinct? Maybe Not
Posted: Sunday, August 03, 2008
by Mark Parsec
Wordcasters
The Dodo Bird
Although I have never shot an elephant, I have shot at birds and cats with pellet guns when I was a young boy. However, I believe I ended those activities when I retrieved a lifeless robin that had fallen dead to the ground one day, after my pellet had found its mark. I never could bring myself to once again fire upon an innocent and defenseless creature, and to this day I have never gone hunting. Even the thought of shooting a deer sends shivers running up my spine.
I can remember an episode in my life which may have somehow affected my attitude toward hunting. It was the Autumn of 1976. I was living in the Mojave Desert. A good friend of mine, by the name of Jim Fulmer, had come up to me early in the morning and invited me to go hiking with him along the so called Mojave River. And so, being young and ever willing to go on an adventure, we took off into the rocky hills that cradle this thin sliver of a river in the desert.
By noon, we had ascended up to the top of a cliff overlooking the Mojave River below us, which provided an oasis of lush green life in this otherwise desolate land. The sight of oak, cottonwood and elm trees offered a welcome change to the sand, sage and cactus of the desert.
Slowly, we worked our way to the very edge of the cliff and sat down on a ledge. We hadn't been sitting there for very long when I noticed a group of seven or eight young men, all brandishing weapons, walking up the other side of the river.
When Jim noticed the men, who had by this time arrived to a location directly beneath us and across the river, he looked at me, smiled and said, "Watch this." He then proceeded to squat down, perching himself precariously over the edge of the cliff with his hands tucked under his arm pits, and his elbows sticking out like stubby wings, which he flapped up and down. He stretched forth his neck, in a manner which reminded me of a Dodo Bird and suddenly sang out with the loudest and oddest squawking sound I have ever heard.
Jim chuckled intermittently between his squawks as I asked him to stop his foolishness. But, he just laughed at me, with his short blond hair dancing in the breeze, and while his bright blue eyes filled with delight he squawked ever the louder.
I watched with uneasy apprehension as two or three of the men below slowly took aim at this Dodo Bird beside me. "Jim!" I yelled, "Stop it! They are going to shoot us!"
"Awe... No way." Jim snickered. "They couldn't possibly hit us all the way up here."
Then the bullets began ricocheting from the rocks behind us as gunfire echoed through the canyon. I immediately ducked down and before I even knew it, I had scurried with lightning speed over the rocks like some kind of mountain goat and ran until I finally found a cave in which I took shelter.
I must have been hiding in that cave for a good, shaking and praying, before I got the courage up to step back outside. It was immensely quiet, but the sound of flying bullets was still ricocheting through my head. Then I heard him...
"Mark... Mark, where are you?"
Slowly, I walked in the direction of his calling voice until finally Jim appeared, stumbling over some rocks with one hand to his head.
"Where did you go?" He asked as I approached him.
I was too ashamed of my cowardly behavior to answer him. He was still holding his hand to the side of his head. I looked for traces of blood.
"Are you OK?" I asked.
"Oh, sure" he answered. "I fell off of some rocks when I was looking for you. Where did you go?"
I explained to Jim how I had ran off and hid in a cave. He laughed and squawked a few times at me. I, somewhat nervously, looked around to see if there were any more hunters in the area and he laughed some more. We then turned on our way back to our homes.
Jim was rather quiet as we walked along on our way. Somehow, I think, at least I hope, that Jim realized his insane behavior had just about gotten the both of us killed. We were easy targets up there on those cliffs, with nowhere to go, but down. Like a couple of flightless birds we too could have fallen victim to the thoughtless actions of hunters.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)What a learning lesson Mark. I am glad Jim was okay.Thank you for your comments, Michelle.
What the Hell did that have to do with anything? Your title implies that you have reason to believe the Dodo bird may no longer be extinct, yet all you give us is a little anecdote about your life, and soap box stand against hunting? You sir, are a liar and a charlatan.Hey Joe, There are many styles of writing. This article indicated how my friend, Jim, had acted like a Dodo. Sorry you didn't get it. God bless you.
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