Life

Stephen Colton's Take on Nature: What a wonderful world

Stephen Colton

Stephen Colton

Take on Nature columnist for The Irish News.

MOST evenings, I walk a short circular route with my dog Robbie around the edge of our home town Dromore, a journey which takes us past the town clock, standing tall at the head of the village.

Sometimes I take a moment to read a few of the montage of phrases which encircle the structure, words of wisdom from men and women of history, science, and literature, like Oscar Wilde's "Punctuality is the thief of time".

Reading the quotes often steers me to one of my favourite children's novels, Roald Dahl's Danny, The Champion of the World, the story of a young boy, who lives with his "marvellous" dad in an old caravan home, and their daring plan to thwart obnoxious Victor Hazell's annual pheasant shoot.

Danny reveals to his readers how exciting his father is and how he, "taught me the names of all the trees, wildflowers, and the different grasses".

He shares the joy of looking for birds' nests with his dad and listening to an old frog croaking as he walks with him to school.

Entering the school building each morning, Danny laments on the boredom of reading the words he sees on the block of stone above the door: "This school was erected in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of his Royal Highness King Edward VII."

He proposes the much better idea of a display with some interesting nature facts his dad could write like, "Did you know that the death's-head moth can squeak" or "Some bees have tongues which they can unroll until they are nearly twice as long as the bee itself". He suggests his dad could use chalk, to write something new every day.

This got me thinking about the multitude of intriguing facts from the natural world we might consider showcasing on boards in public spaces or buildings like hospitals, libraries, schools, government offices, tourist attractions and outdoor recreational areas.

This could help further inform a receptive public about the diverse plant and animal life on our doorstep and maybe encourage even more people to actively support the cause of looking after our environment and its wild inhabitants.

Examples of such messaging might include statements like: "Our hedgehogs can have between 5,000 and 7,000 spines." Or did you know that: "The peregrine falcon is the fastest bird in the world and can reach a speed of 200mph during its stoop or dive." Or maybe: "The sundew, common in our damp bogs and heaths, is a small carnivorous plant which uses a sticky 'dew' on its tendrils to trap passing insects."

Elsewhere we might see: "A Swedish biologist, has shown that swifts remained on the wing for a 10-month period migrating from Europe to Central Africa and back."

Maybe in a dental practice reception room, we could read on the wall: "Did you know that a badger has 34 teeth," or that: "The pygmy shrew, our smallest mammal has red-tipped teeth due to iron deposits which help make them harder."

What about reading: "The cuckoo has developed the ability to colour its own eggs to match those of the host bird, to reduce the chance of rejection when they are deposited in the nest."

On the confusion between weasels and stoats, we could view somewhere: "Did you know there are no weasels in Ireland, only the stoat, with its black-tipped tail and that the Irish stoat is a separate sub-species, slightly different in colour to its British counterpart."

Perhaps another statement we could do with seeing boldly displayed, is: "Earth, this precious planet we call home, really is much older than 6,000 years."