Not Extinct~

             
A Galapagos Tortoise  Picture credit: Matthew Field        A Sierra Nevada Red Fox  Picture credit: NPS


Extinction is a dirty, ugly word and usually we, the two-leggeds are to blame, but this week is a time to celebrate, for two rare and exciting sightings have caused great joy around the Globe.
This post is about two extremely rare and endangered creatures who have just shown up after many years, a very, very rare Sierra Nevada Red Fox in Yosemite National Park and also some very rare Tortoises in the Galapagos Islands.
Neither of these creatures had been seen in these particular places in about a hundred years.
So the fact that they have both made public appearances nearly in the same week, gives those of us who take such great delight in their very being, a reason to cheer.
My personal only sight of a Red Fox was in the West, just this side of the South Dakota border in Wyoming nearly twenty years ago.
It was a truly beautiful creature, and it made me sad to know how very few of them are still here for us to see in America.
In both of these instances, we disturbed and/or destroyed their habitats, their food sources, their air, their water, everything in the Environment of these critically Endangered animals, making their lives so unbearable, that they finally just disappeared for a century or more.
But, now, once more, we have been given, like with the American Bald Eagle, the majestic, magnificent National Symbol of our Country, a second chance to say we are truly sorry and promise to make things right.
Yes, DDT has been banished forever from this Country and the Bald Eagle finally did recover.
But there are new toxins, some even worse than DDT, like  ” Round Up “  to take its place and we must have the courage to tell those who make and sell them, and the others like them, we will not tolerate it, not never again.
We must promise to never take these precious creatures for granted, or abuse them again.
We may never get another chance if we mess this up, can we please, for their sakes, show them the dignity and respect that they deserve?
No, we  don’t deserve it, but maybe this time, we can say  “no, not for these two,”  we will not allow them to become extinct!

Places to learn more:
Baby Tortoises Found On Galapagos Island For First Time In Over 100 Years
Galápagos tortoise
Rare fox seen in Yosemite
Sierra Nevada Red Fox
One of North America’s rarest mammals spotted in Yosemite for first time in nearly 100 years