Tuesday, June 13, 2023

A fascinating aspect of the pandemic lockdowns

 "While humans were in strict lockdown, wild mammals roamed further".

At one point in 2020, 4.4 billion people—more than half of the world's population—were under lockdown restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19. This was such a sudden and substantial event that it has become known as the anthropause.
Many bustling cities fell silent, often with restaurants, shops and schools closing, and only essential services allowed to operate. It was around this time when people started to report animals appearing in unusual places. For example, cougars were seen prowling through the suburbs of Santiago, Chile, golden jackals became more active during the day in Tel Aviv, Israel, and dolphins appeared in the normally busy harbor of Trieste, Italy.

Now, if we can just get a few more coyotes to start prowling the neighborhood, maybe I can get rid of my rabbits. 

3 comments:

  1. Stephen A SkubinnaJune 13, 2023 at 12:02 PM

    Huh. Same kind of thing that happens during a period of social decay.

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  2. Paco, since you can't get rid of the dreaded floppy-ear diners, why not protect against them. Put the crops in decorative, protective planters. Then you'll get lower blood pressure, and better sleep.

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  3. PS It works for birds and bugs too.

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