One of my favorite quotes is from Paul and Anne Ehrlich's 1981 book,
"Extinction":
"Many organisms have what might be called conventional beauty.
Birds, butterflies, flowers, and others are widely recognized as
esthetic resources...There is also a second kind of beauty, a beauty
of interest, which, even more than conventional beauty, develops in
the eye of the beholder...the beauty of intricacy, of sophistication
of design, of unusual behavior, of great antiquity--the capacity to
fascinate." (P. Ehrlich & A. Ehrlich, Extinction p. 38).
-- Linda Fink
Professor of Biology
Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar VA 24595
On Jan 6, 2009, at 1:48 PM, Warren W. Aney wrote:
On nature walks with kids I will frequently pick up a native banana
slug.
Their first reaction is inevitably a back-away "eeew!" But I then
ask them
take a closer look as the slug starts to extend its eyestalks and
feeler
stalks, waving them around to get a sense of the new world around
it on my
finger surrounded by human faces. I can't know what the slug
senses, but I
know these kids begin to see this slug as an interesting and
complex being
they can interact with at a basic level -- not something just to be
stepped
on or over. Too me, a slug has beauty and that beauty lies in both
the
simplicity and efficiency of its form as well as in the vital role
it plays
as a detritivore -- and in the way it complacently reacts to my
presence and
handling. It has a right to co-exist with me and these kids. And
yes, I do
get slime on my fingers, but it can be rubbed off.
Warren W. Aney
Senior Wildlife Ecologist
9403 SW 74th Ave
Tigard, OR 97223
(503) 246-8613 phone
(503) 539-1009 mobile
(503) 246-2605 fax
[email protected]
