Reading J.R.'s account of the buffalo-fish runs up Citico Creek reminds me of a conversation we recently had about them.  Surely, we concluded, the Cherokee were aware of these annual events.  The buffalo, for one thing, tastes good, so it would have been a highly regarded food item. They're big, too.  Twenty-pounders would probably have been common a couple of hundred years ago. Secondly, the fish are so preoccupied with spawning, you can wade right in and catch them with your bare hands.  The males, covered with breeding tubercles, become as rough as sandpaper, and consequently are easy to hang on to.  Surely, with dinner being handed to them on a silver platter, as it were, the Cherokee awaited the annual runs with great anticipation.  Here we have another example of humanity's "connectedness" to Nature that has largely been lost in our modern society.  Every bit as spectacular and interesting as the well-known salmon runs of the Pacific Northwest, the buffalo spawning in our mountain creeks should be well and widely known. Yet, how many reading this were aware of buffalo runs?  I wasn't, and I've been hanging out with fish biologists for about 35 years!

   One of the greatest threats to the biodiversity of the Southeast is ignorance.  People cannot be motivated to support the protection of habitats if they are unaware of the biological wonders those habitats sustain.  For this reason, our friends and neighbors here in the South are more likely to think about tropical rain forests and coral reefs than of their own backyards when someone mentions "endangered species."  As conservationists, we must do everything possible to correct this troubling lack of knowledge on the part of our fellow citizens.  One place to start is with our children.  Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder (2005, Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, NC), puts it this way:

[Members of environmental groups] have done a great job of raising money, but not new members.  And most of them look like me--in their 50s with grey hair.  So I think that they are starting to realize that for our long term health it is very important for the future generation to have the experience of nature.

   If you remember a special experience with Nature when you were a kid, I'd like to hear about it.  Especially if a creek was involved.  Email me your story, and I will share it in the next issue of the newsletter.

   Until then, please remember that we need your financial support.  Any amount you can spare will benefit rare southeastern fishes.  To Donate, Click Here

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