TB-Shadow of a Dodo Bird

To Travel around the world, going from cache to cache, from geocacher to geocacher. Pls move it around as soon as possible. TB-Dodo bird wants people to know about his species' terrible history. Pictures of his journey are welcome!

The Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about 20 kilograms (44 lb), living on fruit and nesting on the ground. The dodo's legs were short and stubby and yellow in color. On the end of the legs were four toes, three in front and one acting as a thumb in back, all with thick, black claws. The head was a lighter grey than the body, with small, yellow eyes. Many words have been devoted to the long, crooked and hooked beak, which was light green or pale yellow in color and was one of the most distinguishing features of the dodo. Those who saw it, marveled at the unique shape and size. One witness went so far as to describe it as grotesque. (Strickland and Melville, 1848) (Fuller, 1987) (Greenway, 1958) (Britannica, 1986) The dodo has been extinct since the mid-to-late 17th century. It is commonly used as the archetype of an extinct species because its extinction occurred during recorded human history, and was DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE to human activity. In the year 1598 AD, Portuguese sailors landing on the shores of the island of Mauritius discovered a previously unknown species of bird, the Dodo. Having been isolated by its island location from contact with humanity, the dodo greeted the new visitors with a child-like innocence. The sailors mistook the gentle spirit of the dodo, and its lack of fear of the new predators, as stupidity. They dubbed the bird "dodo" (meaning something similar to a simpleton in the Portuguese tongue). Many dodo were killed by the human visitors, and those that survived man had to face the introduced animals. Dogs and pigs soon became feral when introduced to the Mauritian eco-system. By the year 1681, the last dodo had died, and the world was left worse with its passing. The dodo was not the only Mauritian bird driven to extinction in recent centuries. Of the 45 bird species originally found, only 21 still survive.

********* Poem found on the internet: ___Poet’s Goodbye___:

I am the last, and Poet is my name. With my friends and family gone, I am left to wonder why you came, To this island we called our home.We had never seen the likes of you, So we greeted you as a friend. We had no where we could run to, To save us from our end. Before you came we died naturally, But we didn’t know how to be sad. Then you killed us all so callously, And taught us the meaning of “bad.” In the beginning we all wondered why You came here to see all of us die. It is sad that this was to be our fate. I am so grateful I never learned to hate. But I did learn to how to mourn, and to cry. We could have been friends, but that was not to be, This is Poet, saying goodbye, as I leave quietly. All I ask now is to please remember us, and me.