Saturday, February 4, 2023

And Faithful

I still recall my amazement many years ago when I learned there were actual marijuana seeds in Hartz Mountain Birdseed. It was in an age when this factoid more than passed the 'oh really?' test. 

Stop looking at my album collection and wondering why anyone would need either The Electric Prunes' "Mass in F Minor" or the debut of Lothar and the Hand People. File my interest in aviary nutrition and those records under 'indiscretions of youth' and leave it alone, okay? 

Anyway. 

Because of how the various seeds that made up the bird food were collected, marijuana seeds were part of the mix, literally and figuratively. You didn't have to be enrolled in the local chapter of Junior Achievement to imagine what some of the more enterprising of us figured out that you might be able to do. 

However, it turns out Uncle Sam was one step ahead of us. There were people in the birdseed factory whose job was to sterilize the marijuana seeds. I spent a lot of time trying to imagine what type of a person would have a job like that and how you go about recruiting for it. 

I mention this because I read a story on birth control for elephants and, no joke anywhere in here, why controlling the population in certain locations is critical for the animals and their habitat. I would imagine the recruitment of 'quality-control experts' in that specialty is quite the eye-opener, particularly as I recall my Dr. Seuss since an elephant never forgets.
-bill kenny

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