Predators and Prey

by Eileen Dolmage

We shouldn't be killing them both

If you who didn't have a chance to read the first part of Eileen's offering, click here.

(Editor: This is Part Two of Eileen Dolmage's Guest Column. Those of you who are familiar with Aldo Leopold and Barbara Kingsolver will recognize a kindred spirit.)

What have I learned as a science teacher and a farm girl?

Every critter has a life cycle. Break the cycle and you break the critter. Adaptability of some species is the only saving quality. Adapt or perish. Since the human head louse has been around for a very long time – I suspect that they are masters at adaptability. I am sure that there are head lice laughing at us right now!

Eggs require incubation, and the parameters for successful incubation vary by species. Louse eggs do not survive well off of the human head. This is why they are cemented close to the scalp – insurance for the species.

"Poisoning " with chemicals has a residual effect that results in a variety of unintended outcomes. Resistance, long term health problems, death of predatory species that feed on the poisoned species – are but a few of the unintended outcomes.

Manually removing the leaf skeletonizer from my grape vines allows me to harvest a crop of grapes before the birds find them. Also, plants require leaves to make the energy for all other crops, so my grapes won’t be very good if the critters eat the leaves. Insecticides will kill the caterpillar, too, but then I have to eat the residual poison, or watch the birds as they die eating the grapes. It is more fun watching the birds as they eat the caterpillars while I eat the grapes – sans poison.

For further information about the general topic of head lice, here's a link to the American Academy of Pediatrics web site.