Rare whooping cranes in U.S. face enemies large and small

[xchrom]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/26/rare-whooping-cranes-in-u-s-face-enemies-large-and-small/




Jane Chandler raises the rarest cranes in the world. For them to have a chance at surviving in the wild, the young birds must never see her face, hear her speak, or know her to be a human being.

If they did, these whooping cranes, named for their characteristic calls, would come to think of themselves as human. Then they would not find a mate in the wild, or understand the true danger that people represent.

So Chandler dons a disguise whenever she comes near the chicks.

Her bird suit is made up of a sheet-like drape that covers her from neck to ankles, and a full white head covering with a camouflage screen hiding her face. She wears a puppet of a crane’s head on one hand, using the beak to pick up food pellets, grapes, mealworms or corn to feed the young birds.

[lumpy]

1. My high school zoology teacher was actively concerned for the apparent demise of the whooping

crane.. that was 70 years ago. Glad, thanks to the work of people like him, they are still holding on.