Loon

New Hampshire lost 11 Common Loons to lead poisoning. Knowing the deaths would be detrimental to a severely threatened population, an investigation of dead loons, collected from 1989 to 2010, was carried out by the Loon Preservation Committee, Dr. Mark Pokras of Tufts University, and Tiffany Grade, a graduate student from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Necropsies and tissue samples showed lead poisoning was responsible for nearly half of all the dead birds examined. Despite legislation in place to ban lead fishing sinkers and jigs, the population of the Common Loon in New Hampshire’s freshwater areas was being adversely affected, which New Hampshire couldn’t afford. Loons are important to the economy as a draw for tourists, but also act as an indicator species. Ultimately, the research showed that the deaths attributed to lead poisoning by fishing tackle occurring in New Hampshire of Common Loons can be prevented by prohibiting certain tackle manufactured with lead. Keywords: lead poisoning, tackle, Common Loons, New Hampshire Native Americans called the birds “Spirit of the Northern Waters”, while the French used the name “Diver with the Necklace” (Lake Champlain Life, n.d.). The Common Loon is an iconic symbol of New…

Some might ask, “What is a project loon?” A project loon is described as “balloon-powered Internet for everyone”. (2) The balloons are fifteen meters across and are filled with helium. The altitude of these balloons is about twenty kilometers. The balloons contains solar-powered electronics inside a boxy gondola. These electronics send high-speed cellular Internet coverage to devices. The balloon has special software that guides these balloons while they are in flight. Project Loon is named for…

Stereotypical norms within society today play a vast yet unjust role in shaping individuals perspectives regarding diverse topics. While true that some individuals are informed to an extent so strong they are able to develop empathetic feelings regarding fragile topics easily, for the most part the majority of society is left in the dark, with only stereotypical knowledge, allowing for an individual 's resilience to develop mostly through empathy and maturity. Clearly evident in Margaret…

In her essay, “Chasing Loons,” Jessica Walden informs us that she did her research on the loons in Oneida County, Wisconsin, in the town of Rhinelander. She states that in Oneida County, there are 1,129 lakes (par. 2). She indicates that she spent three months researching loons, which have five different varieties of. Ms. Walden also indicates that each lake or territory can support only one pair of loons (par. 4). In paragraph 5, Ms. Walden starts to describe the birds. Some of her descriptions…

In the second semester of the class English 1201 Representative Literary Works, I read a short story called “The Loons” by Margaret Laurence. Published in a collection of stories, entitled A Bird in The House, published in 1970, “The Loons” is one of Laurence’s most controversial and talked about stories she has written. While Laurence claimed that her writing was influenced by her anger at the treatment of the Métis people by Canadian society, many still call the short story, and specifically…

One of the most if not the most important factors to consider when writing your autobiography is relevance to the reader, or will the reader care about a particular story or sentiment you’re writing about. Failure to consider what the reader cares about has historically been the bane of many aspiring writers attempting to construct a quality autobiography. Let’s look at two case studies from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, to demonstrate what to do, what not to do, and how to determine relevance…

Margaret Laurence’s short story The Loons is focused mainly on the relationship between its two main characters: Vanessa MacLeod and Piquette Tonnerres. The two are from very different backgrounds – Vanessa being the daughter of a rich white doctor, and Piquette being the daughter of a poor Métis man. As a result, although the girls are connected in several ways, they only interact a few key times during their lives. With each passing encounter, the girls grow older, and as they do, Vanessa’s…

Margaret Laurence’s “The Loons”, and in Emma Lee Warrior’s “Compatriots”, similarly display the many adversities of the Native civilization throughout Canadian history. Struggling to find their place in this world, the Natives are forced to integrate to the dominant culture. Although they battle to find who they truly are, the Natives remained determined to dictate how they should find their identity. In both short stories, the protagonists, Piquette and Lucy face many hardships towards their…

While she is walking her dog she meets Nate, the boy who lives in the next house over. They start to talk and they soon become friends. Lucy finds out that all Granny Relda wants to do is watch the loons, but she cannot get in the boat to go out to see the loons. Lucy begins to think of ways she can help. She finds out about the photography contest her dad is judging and decides that if she wins she is going to use the prize money to buy something that will help Granny Relda get out on the lake…

a huge part if Thoreau's legacy, where he had so much self-reliance when he acted upon it that it impacted today's society and they way we currently view him. The sometimes crude nature of Thoreau can define him as a crazy man, but his works and his education at Harvard has proved otherwise. He had worked his entire life to become self-reliant and, to him, that means not conforming to the crowd and growing away from convergent groupthink to more divergent self-think. While in the jail, he states…