by Jaques Cilliers

Created on: August 11, 2010

Life, as we know it, is changing. Everyday. Sometimes for the better and at other times, for the best. Now we are faced with a new and challenging challenge.

It seems that the Burrowing Parrot is steadily making it's way into the Great Book of Extinct Animals. Yes...  What is a Burrowing Parrot? Well, it's a bird, a parrot, to be precise, that apparently makes a life in Argentina. Why are we so worried that it's about to leave the earth once and for all? Good question. Maybe we're not worried. Did you know what a Burrowing Parrot was before I asked? The name is easy enough to figure out - apparently it's a parrot that burrows. That's clear. But is it a big issue? I didn't notice the wipe out of the Irish Deer. Don't even know what it is (was) or what it looked like. Probably a three legged antelope that kept itself busy hanging out in shaggy bars, slopping unbelievably high amounts of Guinness down it's throat in an irresponsible manner.. Who knows? The only thing clear in my mind is that I don't care, or didn't, until a couple of environmentalists made a fuss about it and caused me to spill a perfectly healthy cup of coffee on my cat.

They were getting upset because the other local inhabitants near the Rio Negro were keeping themselves amused in what the environmentalists felt was an unacceptable fashion: some feel that eating a bird before you shoot it is uncalled for, others agree but are upset at the prospect of killing the innocent flying diggers in the first place. "They destory our crops, florreck the skies like a swarm of locust and make a heck of a lot of noise! They have to go!" Fair enough. Standing on the valley floor next to their nests, one might get the impression that you're attending a Linkin Park rock concert and the only open space worth being in is four hundred miles away from the nearest speaker system.

Solutions? Well, why don't the farmers move? The birds were there first. They can pick up their fields and go to some other vegetated spot. However, the meer mension of this simply enraged them further and a lot of angry ones turned up infront of parliamant house armed with molotov coctails, stinger missiles and cuban cigars, ready for a workout. This didn't upset the government enough to do anything about it though. All they did was politely ask the lot to head

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