Reviving medieval farming offers wildlife an unexpected haven

July 2, 2024 7:49 AM

Nature’s ghosts: how reviving medieval farming offers wildlife an unexpected haven. Agriculture is often seen as the enemy of biodiversity, but in an excerpt from her new book Sophie Yeo explains how techniques from the middle ages allow plants and animals to flourish.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (4 comments total)

I have an eye on those oil beetles, waiting to mug bees….
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:40 AM on July 2

Note: the Wikipedia article on oil beetles is very disappointing. They exude a poisonous blistering chemical as a defense, but the males also give it to the females to coat the eggs? For defense? Fun? OK, following up on the compound, Cantharidin, reveals it’s for defense, but also reveals that the Great Bustard is immune to the poison and hunts the beetles because, for them, Cantharidin is an intoxicant and arousal aid for the males. So the next time someone tells you humans shouldn’t do some sex thing because “animals do/don’t” ask them if it’s ok to get f-ed up on sex drugs on Friday night because the Great Bustard says it’s “cool, man.”

Ahem, back to crop rotation.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:51 AM on July 2 [8 favorites]

Sorry, people, it turns out that the Great Bustard was exterminated by hunting in the UK in the early 19th C. Maybe they could be reintroduced to allow these degenerate drug-seeking birds to eat oil beetles and protect bees and horses? That would no doubt improve the whole old-style field experience.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:55 AM on July 2 [3 favorites]

I work with a birding guide who says that one of the best things Americans can do for native birds is to support grass-fed beef, because grassland habitats here are declining faster than any other type of habitat and cattle farms are great refuges for those species.
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:37 PM on July 2