Circle of Life Story

[BrokenolMarine]

Back in the early 80s I was stationed at Kaneohe Bay MCAS in Hawaii with the Search and Rescue Unit. While there, I was a member of the KBAY Rod and Gun Club, and had several Volunteer activities aboard the base as well. One of these involved a Federal Law Enforcement Position. Thru that, I became involved in a Conservation Program that gained me access to the Wildlife Conservation Area on the base called Nuupia Ponds. These brackish water ponds were the King's back in the day, and were home to the Hawaiian Stilt, the State Bird of Hawaii. We were trapping Mongoose, which were stealing the eggs of the ground nesting birds and eating them. The numbers of these near extinct birds had dropped below 100. Through our efforts, the numbers climbed back to nearly 1,000 in two years. We won the National Wildlife Federation's Conservation Organization of the Year for our work during the second year ... But that's another story.

mongoose 2.jpg (344.97 KiB) Viewed 1455 times

The story I wanted to share happened while making my rounds of the dozen traps I had set in the swampy area surrounding the ponds. I had my six year old stepson with me, and we enjoyed watching the wildlife as we made our way around the edges of the King's Ponds. We had sat quietly watching a large bird as he worked the shoreline, hunting his dinner. He had caught several small fish. My son was fascinated by this birds skill. Suddenly, the bird took flight, then dove and attacked. He took flight again with a large swamp rat in his grasp. The rat wasn't giving up easily, he rolled in the grasp of the raptor, and started to bite at the birds legs and the raptor released him from a height of several hundred feet. The rat fell, and fell, and fell. He hit the water and did a cannonball. Boom... big splash.

We stood at the edge of the pond amazed. I was sure the fall had killed him... but swamp rats, nature's gangsters, are tough. That big sucker started swimming hard for shore. The dive bomber rolled in for the final attack, and came in talons extended. He hit the rat hard, and was floating on the surface of the water, holding the rat under. You could see the struggles of the drowning rat shaking the bird's body... then diminishing... getting weaker, and weaker, fading...

Suddenly, there was an explosion of water, a topwater blowup.
The rat and bird both disappeared in a huge flurry of action, water and black mass of fin and power!
The brackish ponds were fed by both fresh and salt water access. I don't know what took them, but it was huge!

The water was frothed with foam and ripples, then the ripples spread out.. out, out, to the shore, then disappeared.
Flat and calm again. No evidence that anything had happened. Not even a stray feather.
The rat was attacked by the large aerial predator, then the pair was taken by a shark? A large barracuda? The creature? Who knows, something farther up the food chain. I knew one thing... I wasn't wading the edge of the ponds.

Years later, when the lion king came out and everyone was talking about "The Circle of Life," my son was well into his teenage years. He busted out laughing.

"WE once got a visual display of the Circle of Life in Hawaii, didn't we.." he said.
I guess kids don't forget much, do they?

[daytime dave]

That was a good story. Thanks for that.

[CT_Shooter]

I guess kids don't forget much, do they?

Neither do their dads. Thanks, Marine. You are a born story teller. This one was great.

[Shakey Jake]

Great story.