November 22,
Curtis, Griffin and I went on a mid day dog walk. Griffin pointed out (evolution happening right before us) an egret hunting for food (in the neighborhood). Egrets normally hunt frogs and fish near edges of bodies of water. Hunting near four way stop signs is a change in eating habit. This egret is evolving to eat the Cuban brown anole. Houston has had an abundance of brown anoles the past few years. The brown anoles are so abundant they have pushed the green anoles to a higher habitat niche. The egret has apparently seen an opportunity and is evolving his diet to the current food environment. I hope we are not having a shortage of fish and frogs in the bayou. I do wonder why an egret would venture into a urban environment eat.
This artful moment of evolution proposes so many questions and opportunities for artful expressions. I
There is a lot of information regarding the anoles on the arboretum website.
http://houstonarboretum.org/2015/09/new-lizard-cuban-brown-anole/