Puffin Palooza!

When Stephen Kress saw these toys like creatures on the shoreline of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, he fell in love with them. These animals were called puffins. A puffin is a bird that is short, stocky, has black and white feathers and has orange feet; along with a triangular, red and orange beak. Puffins can live on land or at sea. On land, they scamper across rocks burrow in the ground like a groundhog. At sea, they can drink salt water with no harm and the ability to dive 200 feet down in the water allows them to live at sea for years at a time. The puffins’ diet consisted of mainly fish and in the winter, zooplankton, a crustacean or fish larvae. But, Kress noticed that many puffins were disappearing and becoming extinct due to hunting and being pushed out of their homes due to their rival… the seagulls! Kress could not stand this anymore and took action! Kress extracted puffin chicks from their burrows and safely secured them in soup cans until they reached the United States, where they were deposited. When these chicks finally fledged, or grew feathers and wing muscle, they did what young puffins naturally do and flew away towards to open sea. About five years went by and one July 4^th, 1981, Kress saw what he had longtime waited for! There, on Eastern Egg Rock, were two puffins, a pair, and their chick! His experiment was a success! By setting up wooden, broadcasting puffins and setting up mirrors to give an illusion of more birds, Kress was able to bring back more than 1000+ puffins. Now, using the same technique, people are bringing back other species of birds all across the globe!

Do you think that Kress's experiment was a sucess? How did you feel when they said they placed the young brood of puffins into soup cans before taking them to the United States? Do you think this movement will last or do you think people will just hunt them down again? I want to hear from YOU! Leave a comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

~*KRISTINA*~