harolds1@ihlpa.ATT.COM (Schessler) (12/06/88)
I witnessed something unusual yesterday. I was standing, silently watching "nature" at my somewhat rural home. The sound of geese, far away, caught my attention. After scanning the sky for a few minutes, I spotted them; perhaps a hundred or so in their classical V formation headed south They were barely visible at the height they were flying. Suddenly I noticed a jet plane! Its path was intersecting their path. My anxiety grew. I suppose that its impossible to judge from the ground what altitude the geese and plane were flying at. What I could see was, although they weren't hit, they were thrown into turmoil. Their formation was completely destroyed by the air turbulence. It seemed to take them 10 minutes to begin to make headway again. And, as long as I watched, they didn't regain their formation. The more I pay attention to wild creatures, the more respect and admiration I have for them. These geese seemed to me to be heroic in what they had to do. Flying for hours at a time at an incredible height. And every step of the way, humans add to their difficulties - whether its planes, polluted water and air, or chemical pesticides on the ground where they must eat. I couldn't help but contrast the lives involved. The birds and the humans.