WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.040 align:middle line:90%


00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:06.460 align:middle line:84%
Well, there are some
students here today from--

00:00:06.460 --> 00:00:07.650 align:middle line:90%
high school, middle school?

00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:08.720 align:middle line:90%
High school.

00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:10.660 align:middle line:90%
High school.

00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:13.210 align:middle line:90%
So they might like a laugh.

00:00:13.210 --> 00:00:17.320 align:middle line:90%


00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:19.060 align:middle line:84%
And I think they've
already might

00:00:19.060 --> 00:00:21.130 align:middle line:84%
have had one over this
poem, but maybe they'd

00:00:21.130 --> 00:00:24.040 align:middle line:84%
like to hear me read
it, a poem about one

00:00:24.040 --> 00:00:28.660 align:middle line:84%
of my favorite
animals, mosquitoes.

00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:31.390 align:middle line:84%
I try to love all the creatures,
but some are a little more

00:00:31.390 --> 00:00:34.630 align:middle line:90%
difficult to love.

00:00:34.630 --> 00:00:37.150 align:middle line:84%
I was up on the
aforementioned island

00:00:37.150 --> 00:00:40.360 align:middle line:84%
and went with my friend,
Peter Cunningham,

00:00:40.360 --> 00:00:42.220 align:middle line:90%
who's a wonderful photographer.

00:00:42.220 --> 00:00:44.560 align:middle line:84%
We were real eager to
go to this remote island

00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:47.890 align:middle line:84%
off of our island to
photograph this lighthouse that

00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:49.420 align:middle line:90%
was about to fall into the sea.

00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:53.443 align:middle line:84%
And we went out there about
dusk, and I was going to write,

00:00:53.443 --> 00:00:54.860 align:middle line:84%
and he was going
to take pictures.

00:00:54.860 --> 00:00:59.170 align:middle line:84%
We didn't think, we're going
out to a wetland at dusk.

00:00:59.170 --> 00:01:00.230 align:middle line:90%
Insect repellent?

00:01:00.230 --> 00:01:02.680 align:middle line:90%
It didn't occur to anyone.

00:01:02.680 --> 00:01:06.340 align:middle line:90%
Well, this is what happened.

00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:09.670 align:middle line:84%
And for you, students, there's
natural history in here.

00:01:09.670 --> 00:01:11.770 align:middle line:84%
As your teacher
may have told you,

00:01:11.770 --> 00:01:14.070 align:middle line:84%
the mosquitoes that
bite us are the females,

00:01:14.070 --> 00:01:15.820 align:middle line:84%
and they are getting
proteins so that they

00:01:15.820 --> 00:01:19.060 align:middle line:90%
can make their babies.

00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:19.720 align:middle line:90%
OK.

00:01:19.720 --> 00:01:20.590 align:middle line:90%
Mosquitoes.

00:01:20.590 --> 00:01:22.173 align:middle line:84%
Birds and the bees
and the mosquitoes.

00:01:22.173 --> 00:01:23.410 align:middle line:90%
"Mosquitoes."

00:01:23.410 --> 00:01:27.970 align:middle line:84%
"First came the scouts, who
felt our sweat in the air

00:01:27.970 --> 00:01:32.710 align:middle line:84%
and understood our need
to make a sacrifice.

00:01:32.710 --> 00:01:36.220 align:middle line:84%
We were so large and burdened
with all we had carried,

00:01:36.220 --> 00:01:40.360 align:middle line:84%
our blood too rich
for our own good.

00:01:40.360 --> 00:01:42.820 align:middle line:84%
They understood that
we could give what

00:01:42.820 --> 00:01:45.640 align:middle line:90%
they needed and never miss it.

00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:49.660 align:middle line:84%
Then came the throng
encircling our heads

00:01:49.660 --> 00:01:57.520 align:middle line:84%
like acoustic halos droning
with the me-me-me of appetite.

00:01:57.520 --> 00:02:02.590 align:middle line:84%
We understood their pleasure
to find such hairless beasts so

00:02:02.590 --> 00:02:05.670 align:middle line:90%
easy to open and drink.

00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:09.840 align:middle line:84%
We understood their
female ardor to breed,

00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.180 align:middle line:84%
and how little
they had to go on,

00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:15.510 align:middle line:84%
considering the protein
required to make

00:02:15.510 --> 00:02:18.580 align:middle line:90%
their million-fold eggs.

00:02:18.580 --> 00:02:24.910 align:middle line:84%
Vibrant, available, and
hot, we gave our flesh

00:02:24.910 --> 00:02:28.860 align:middle line:84%
in selfless service
to their future."

00:02:28.860 --> 00:02:30.000 align:middle line:90%