GHOULS NEED LOVE TOO

Birds in flight possess flawless instinct. I don’t believe this; after thirty years of daily soaring activity and twice as many on the ground looking up, I know it. Not to say birds are incapable of error, but next time one does something that appears graceless or counterproductive, keep watching. Was it a fledgling’s ungainly first attempt at what will become its specialty for as long as that keeps it alive? Even nimble Bambi stumbled a bit her first day. I watched.Or might it be a creature of any species, sex or age indulging in idle playfulness? We see that a lot too.Go to a park and feed the birds until they don’t want any more, then sit back and observe. Once they’re finally bored some get grumpy and quarrel, but smart ones continue to indulge the curiosity that got them there.

The exquisite art of idleness, one of the most important things any university can teach.Oscar Wilde

Vultures, despite a grotesque boot leather face designed for goring rotted flesh, hardly deserve their odious reputation. It’s they after all who remove the nastiest messes that other carnivores won’t touch. And say what you will of their diet or personal habits, they are consummate sailors of the sky! Seen from below, their planform can be mistaken for that of an eagle, but in lieu of the raptors’ strength and ferocity, vultures resort to physical exertion only when there’s no other choice. Twice, years apart in the very same place, I saw a vulture circle slowly down to within fifty feet of the ground, never flapping, while a thermal gathered strength to carry it back up. It could flap and climb, but saw no need to bother. (Was it the same bird? Doesn't matter.)Lethargy in wild animals does not merit the same negative connotation we apply to people. Your house pet probably spends more time sleeping than not, though maybe it's more lazy human than torpid beast.Anyway, like many ‘higher’ animals, vultures occasionally exhibit what seems a playful aspect unrelated to their grisly business of feasting on carrion. I sat one day in the shade of a stone pinnacle admiring how a dozen vultures soared over and around it. Their movements showed clearly where the lift was, and also the sink. Each bird turned, lofted or dove exactly in the right place as if choreographed – except one individual who repeatedly made an obvious wrong turn, falling out time and again in the same predictable downdraft.At first I thought, ‘Youthful inexperience.’ Second time, ‘Dumb bird, it should have learned.’ Even some humans know to avoid making the same mistake several times in a row.Oh that red-faced ghoul knew what was up, it just preferred down. This implies intelligence beyond the needs of survival or procreation, and therefore curiosity. What creatures do with such a resource, that’s where the story lies.We’ll never know of course, but if you could squawk its tongue, don't you suppose that contrarian's thoughts would be the most interesting?