Pater Familias

Theories, observations, and articles, by Philip Schaefer · All posts · Categories

KEEPING TRACK OF THE SEEDS.

August 26, 2009 at 8:02 PM · Economics, Science

KEEPING TRACK OF THE SEEDS. I liked this article by Jack Sanders in our local Darien Times for two reasons. First, I am delighted to know what a chickadee is capable of doing. Sanders writes about how: “A study several years ago by Purdue University biologist Jeffrey Lucas found that a Carolina Chickadee could keep close track of its thousands of seeds, stashed in bark, rock fissures or even under roof shingles, over many acres of territory.” The second reason relates to my posts (such as here) in which I expressed my astonishment that months after the bankruptcy of the Lehman bank, the administrators had not yet located all of Lehman’s assets. Accordingly, I cherished Sander’s comment on the ability of the Carolina Chickadee to keep track of thousands of seeds which it has stashed: “Could Deloitte’s best bean counter keep track of accounts like that?”