Posted: Friday, April 3, 2015 11:32 am | Updated: 11:34 am, Fri Apr 3, 2015.
Bryan Stevens | For the Birds | Special to the Herald Courier
Have you ever gone on a wild goose chase? Do you have memories of being taken on a snipe hunt?
If so, I don't need to tell you that our feathered friends have inspired a lot of unusual sayings and activities. The snipe hunt is widely regarded as a rite of passage. I'm not sure if these "hunts" are still organized on moonless nights to pull a playful prank on unsuspecting or naive adolescents. The gist of this practical joke is that these would-be snipe hunters are given a bag or sack to use in capturing the supposedly elusive, perhaps mythical snipe.
The "snipe hunt" has also come to symbolize a lesson in futility since the target of the hunt is never found despite some diligent efforts. It's all harmless fun, but what bothers me is that the tradition of the snipe hunt reinforces the mistaken idea that this evasive creature is a make-believe bird.
That's not the case, and I've seen plenty of snipes over the years to prove my point. There are some things about this unusual bird that makes it understandable how this creature became the focus of the long-running tradition of the snipe hunt.
The Wilson's snipe is one of North America's more elusive birds. It's an aberrant shorebird that doesn't exactly fit the mold of the birds any coastal visitor has probably seen running along the surf's edge on a beach. It's an odd, gangly bird with long legs and an even more absurdly long bill. It's also remarkably well camouflaged to blend with its preferred surroundings in flooded fields and wetland marshes. It is one of those shorebirds that usually makes its home far from beaches and the crash of the ocean's surf.
No comments:
Post a Comment