Orville Taylor | John Crows to the rescue

Sunday is a day of rest for them, because the popular Jamaican folk song reports; our turkey vultures, “John Crow, say him no wuk pon Sunday.”

Her logic might sound as if sucked into the eye of hurricane Melissa. However, during the press briefing our colleague Zahra Burton raised the question of introducing these beautiful birds into the western part of the country, to help with the cleaning up of carrion.

Persons cringed. We might still have not recovered all corpses of the missing, given that up to 22 communities were still inaccessible up to Friday morning. Therefore, having this scavenger disembowel the remains of loved ones, while watching helplessly on the other side of a ravine, stranded and unable to retrieve them, is a horrific prospect.

It is assumed that she is not using similes and metaphors. After all, the name of this graceful creature has too often been used to describe an erstwhile partner, often a maligned ‘babyfather’, delinquent in his responsibility as Minister of Minding.

Even that imagery is misguided, because since they typically feed on carrion, the derogatory reference is also an act of implicit self-deprecation.

Yet, she might be unto something, because she opens up a door to knowledge and allows us to at least have the larger ecological conversation about the role of these creatures.

They are a keystone species, and their absence could be due to pesticides, toxins from industry and agriculture. Vultures abound in healthy ecosystems. We should be concerned. John Crows have received a bad rap, due to misconceptions, misinformation and myths, deeply rooted in traditional ignorance.

True, they are the main consumers of animal carcasses. But surprisingly, they are not obligate eaters of rotting meat. Like some nasty readers, they like slightly ‘touched’ pork and salt beef. Yet, incredibly, they will eat fresh meat, if given a choice and very readily eat freshly discarded fish and other animal innards, as long as other animals, including us, are not threatening or competing with them.

Indeed, they and crocodiles have the strongest stomach acids in the animal kingdom and therefore can devour decaying flesh, giving them a unique place in the biosphere. Of course, cringe again, but feral or even reasonably-fed, free-roaming domestic pigs have no compunction in gobbling up two-day-old carcasses of goats, chicken or even their own piglets.

These birds have among the best senses of smell too. Able to detect both decomposing and fresh flesh from two kilometres away, they are a major natural asset in locating cadavers in shallow graves or on the surface. Many a corpse have been discovered by detectives, simply because they see them circling like speeches of politicians avoiding a touchy subject.

SENSE OF SMELL

Thus, having the vultures within the general environs of the disaster zones, could certainly enhance the location of missing bodies. Remember, these are birds; not dogs or crocodiles, whose senses of smell are also very good. Not limited by land, they can soar for hours and kilometres until they catch a whiff and then follow the trail.

Believe it! Contrary to the stupid imagery, often used about flying with eagles and leaving John Crows below; they can soar around 6,000 metres, almost three times the heights of the Blue Mountains. No eagle flies as high as the bald head bird in black.

Given the size of Jamaica, relocating a flock of nesting pairs to the west, from Kingston and St Andrew to St Ann or St Elizabeth is not far-fetched.

Unlike eagles and hawks, whose nests are more vulnerable, they often nest in crevices and lay their eggs on the floor of small caves. Moreover, distinct from raptors and other vulture species, Jamaican ‘Janckro’ is not as cantankerous as his human namesakes and only shows aggression when nest are threatened.

Notice I did say nesting pairs. Catching single birds could be disastrous. Nothing like promiscuous exes, who give ‘jackets’ or ‘abundant’ to their women and children, John Crows generally live in monogamous pairs and mate for life. Furthermore, each animal alternates in the incubation of the eggs, usually just as many as they can tend to. After hatching, they are doting parents, with each taking turns in feeding hatchlings regurgitated ‘gut milk’ and later pieces of meat stored in their crop (craw) when the nestlings can eat solid food.

And for the record, they are more truthful than most Jamaican pastors, who post pictures of a white Jesus. It is absolutely true when, ‘Janckro say him pickney dem white.’ The chicks are cuter than baby pigeons and have a fluffy white down like a kind of furry cotton ball.

Apart from the obvious image issues and misleading grand narratives, what Ms Burton has raised is a larger ecological crisis which comes after Melissa.

In our zeal to recover, we need to be careful and meticulous and use science as we tinker with the environment. John Crows may seem innocuous. However, introducing more creatures into the habitat, without examining if they will be sustainable after normality is restored, could have a yet unforeseen impact. Even though it is the same country, bringing eastern vultures to the west could possibly shake up the balance.

The John Crow comment points to other biological challenges. Mosquitoes are going to proliferate. Yet the wanton use of insecticides including fogging, runs the risk of killing off honey bees. They pollinate, melons, tomatoes, legumes, pumpkins among others.

Damage to coral reefs and mangroves from the hurricane and land pollutants will reduce fish stock. Crocodiles will follow the rising surface water to find the carcasses Janckro missed.

Watch the John Crows, they follow the dead, but they may be our lifesavers.

Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com