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| Photo by Thomas S Mann |
Happy as I am to see the bison designated our National
Mammal, I have to wonder why our nation went so many years without one. We have
had a national bird, the Bald Eagle, since 1782. That set me to wondering about how other countries choose to
represent the nation’s soul in animal form -- and how many animals they need to do it. With the help of Wikipedia, http://bit.ly/1snxmMa, it was easy enough to find out – but here’s the shocking part: not only do lots
of other countries have national animals, but at least ten have a greater
number of national animals than we do and/or have National Animals in
categories the US has neglected to fill. Take a look:
Antigua & Barbuda
National Mammal: Fallow Deer
National Bird: Frigate
National Sea Creature: Hawksbill Turtle
Bangladesh
National Animal: Bengal Tiger
National Bird: Magpie Robin
National Fish: Ilish
Bhutan
National Animal: Takin (gnu-goat)
National Mythical Animal: Druk (dragon)
Costa Rica
National Mammal: White-tailed Deer
National Bird: Yigüirro
National Marine Mammal: Manatee
India
National Mammal: Bengal Tiger
National Heritage Animal: Indian Elephant
National Marine Mammal: Ganges River Dolphin
National Bird: Indian Peacock/Peahen
National Reptile: Indian Cobra
Japan
National Bird: Green Pheasant
National Fish: Carp
Latvia
National Bird: White Wagtail
National Insect: Two-spotted Ladybird
Norway
Royal Animal: Lion
National Bird: White-throated Dipper
National Mammal: Fjord Horse
Serbia
National Mammals: Wolf AND Lynx
National Mythical Bird: White Eagle
South Africa
National Mammal: Springbok
National Bird: Blue Crane
National Fish: Galjoen
United Kingdom
National Symbolic Animal: British Bulldog
Royal Animal: Barbary Lion
National Bird (England): Mute Swan
National Bird (Wales): Red Kite
Mythical Animal (Scotland): Unicorn
Mythical Animal (Wales) Welsh Dragon
With the US Congress in utter gridlock nearly all of the
time, its recently-displayed ability to come together to name a national mammal
appears as a small but hopeful sign of progress. How great it would be if that
august deliberative body could do it again by rallying around the designation
of American animals in other categories. And what better way to trumpet the
greatness of our land (something they all seem to agree on) than to put forth
more categories of greatness for our animals than any other country on earth. With
that lofty goal in mind, I propose that the US designate another SIX National Animals
– with the suggested candidates for the honor as follows:
National Marine Mammal: Orca (like the one in the movie “Free
Willy”)
National Mythical Animal: Sasquatch, a/k/a Bigfoot
National Insect: Grasshopper (I hesitated between the unstoppable High Plains Grasshopper and the swarming Monarch Butterfly, until I remembered that
the Monarchs are migrants from Mexico)
National Reptile: Rattlesnake (It’s on the “Don’t Tread on
Me” flag)
National Fish: Big Mouth Bass – This one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WC6EbRQmJ0
National Amphibian: American Bullfrog
We could also have a National Protozoon and a National
Bacterium, but I could not come up with any iconically American candidates for
those categories of animals. In point of fact, I’m not even sure that “animal” is
the right term for single celled organisms – so let’s stick with the list
above. Onward!
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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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