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June 25, 2009 Summer, School is out, vacations are being planned and extra money is being made by mowing lawns or doing odd chores. Those spring and early summer yard sales, just to get rid of junk and make some spending cash are all upon us. Summer is a time of relaxation for some, new work, gardens that need watering and a lazy time. Not much to do, whether playing at the pool or lake or stay in doors and enjoy television and air conditioning. Yes it is summer and while you hear the screams of joy at school being out and kids playing too do you hear the other sounds of summer? Other sounds you ask, what other sounds? Lawnmowers, weed whackers, the spritz spritz tish tish of the automatic sprinklers, bicycles, and laughter maybe even the sound of the ice cream man. What other sounds could there possibly be? Well come, bring your recorder and your binoculars and lets us look at the sounds and in some case’s sights of summer. As we make our way through the average suburban working class we notice the Typicalis Suburbans male of the species. Using a grass eater. Watch closely. What do you see. That jerking motion is not a mating call. It is a reflex called, damnulawmowerwontstartus. "What is this. Exactly professor"? Apparently the item has died and he continues to pull the cord over and over again. With the resulting stomping, grasping of the shoulder and vocalizations of unintelligible nature. We will notice the subject going back into the house and if we wait long enough he will come out with an offering to the mower. But it is not an offering at all. Small cans containing a liquid that he drinks while he nests in a swinging nest between two trees. No one has ever discovered eggs in this nest, apparently the male sits here and incubates small multi colored cans. Moving along to the next subject’s habitat we notice posturing of young immature females of the species. Dressed in brightly colored covering in hopes of attracting something. We notice as the day goes by a unique transformation. We will check back later. Strolling down the street we come to another subjects house. The large hulking item is called Ram is open ready to accept or receive small bundles and large items are placed all around it. Are they offerings? No if we watch closely they are trying to feed it. Each bundle of different sizes; at first we notice they are being placed carefully and one by one they are accepted by RAM. But it seems as though it is getting full. We watch closely as items are now being stuffed and shoved and pushed. The gaping openings are being closed so to make it accept the offerings without regurgitation. The keepers seem to be in a heated talk about items that the RAM did not want. And yet they insist that it has to have it. So they lash it to the top with rope. The keepers all get into the RAM and it takes them down the street. As we watch a variety of items were left on the ground behind it and it seems as though some of the items offered were too rich as some spill out as it goes down the road. As we watch our attention is turned to the billowing smoke from another habitat just next door and a variety of individuals pulling long yellow, green and blue items and running. A glimpse of a flame can be seen from above a smaller habitat and a male subject with an odd shaped hand walking stunned from the area covered in a black splotches. To the next place we visit. We notice smaller versions of the big version of both male and female of the species frolicking in a large above ground pond. We hear laughter and more laughter. Suddenly there is an ear piercing scream and a gush of water coming from the area where once there stood this pond. Small brightly colored items floating on top of the gushing water scatter the street. Small bodies come along with it and some are laughing. The grown females are grasping their ears and talking to someone who does not appear to be there. And shouting to the ones floating past while trying to catch their offspring as they head down the street which is now a small stream, some coming to rest against a variety of objects. AS the day grows long we head back to the second subject. As you can see we have a color change. The Subject apparently unaware as to the color change. Is this part of their molting season? We will soon find out. Let us look at another subject in the meanwhile. This subject pair is a male and female.. This male is large wearing a white plain covering, foot coverings that protect the sole and bottom coverings that are only half there. We can watch and listen as his summer ritual begins. He enters a large open barn like area and removes some objects. One is large piece of equipment and he opens it up, leaning it against the habitat. He then carries only once small container at a time up onto a platform on this leaning access. He then comes back down and carries back up some feathered fans. His covering on the bottom can hold some of these of varying sizes. He then dips the fan into the small container and the liquid is applied to the habitat. He continues to do this for a little while. Nothing remarkable. The female then arrives bringing him a drink and he continues on his task. We watch as a small other creature runs under the leaning access and the subject species falls into a small pond and the container spills into that pond and onto him. Lucky he is alive but now he is re colored a yellowish green. Try as he might he cant get up and appears to be as large turtle on his back. Now back to the second subject for a final time. Ah another female has come out to get the younger one. The younger one has yet to discover the coloring process has been complete. The older female has touched the younger one. Listen. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (insert other vocalizations here) Achhhhhhhhhhh, ohohohoh We can hear the spray of small aerosol can and a higher pitch of screams and sobbing and more screaming.
So there you have it, an anthropological insight into the sights and sounds of summer.
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