Hometown News and Views

Rick McKenzie  and Dr. Roger Reep will explore the thoughts of animals and their behaviors Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Broward County Main Library, 100 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale.
“More and more, scientists are figuring that animals have some kind of consciousness because of the things they do,” says McKenzie. The sea otter uses tools to bust open shell fish. And in California, otters have learned to look for octopi in beer cans> They learn this from other otters. It’s not genetic.”
McKenzie adds that the Blue Whales have the loudest voices in the world. They communicate over hundreds of miles.
These curious behaviors have led both poets to jump in with poetic theories that the scientists can’t.
“They don’t have the tools to go there,” McKenzie adds. “But poets can.”
Both men have travelled a natural path in their curiosity and affinity towards animals.
McKenzie works at Fern Forrest as a park aid where he encounters numerous species of native animals.
Dr. Reep is a professor of veterinary neuroscience at the University of Florida.
He is the author of The Florida Manatee.
McKenzie’s poems have been published in the Wisconsin Review, Minatonka Review and other literary journals.
Call 954-357-7386.