love nest

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"Birds do it, bees do it

Even educated fleas do it

Let’s do it, let’s fall in love"

Sang Broadway composer and songwriter Cole Porter

The renowned French philosopher René Descartes believed that animals were “insensible, soulless machines” to be lorded over by humankind. They experience neither pleasure nor pain but are merely “animated mechanically, like clocks." Perhaps it is wrong to use the word "love" when talking about animals but that is precisely what is happening here and there when discussing non-human pair bonding.

I received this nature story from my naturalist friend Michelle Wilson. I first thought, "Is this for real?" Yep. It surely was.

Michelle emailed, “All of sudden in the tree behind my living room, all the birds were gathered and alarming. I knew something was up when my two cardinal guys were together and not fighting, and looked out to see some wrens mobbing a rat snake. We watched this snake for hours, up and down the tree it crawled. Waiting to see what it would find. But it got dark."  

"I got up this morning, and I looked out thinking, it surely had moved on, the birds are really on this," continued Michelle. "But I was, again, surprised. Now I seem to have an unexpected love nest. And I have a front row view. As far as I know there hasn’t been a bird nest in the top one, and the chickadees fledged two weeks ago.”  

And so for now it seems the two pair bonding snakes used the lofty hideaway for their tête-à-tête. 

So if you believe Descartes and that snakes do not feel pain when they are killed or comfort when they are bonding, then look at the inset photo to the left. I certainly think that they feel the solace of each other's company. Sorry René, but they sure look happy.

Thanks Michelle. And Happy Birthday in two days!

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