I thoroughly enjoyed Wendy Williams's article on the ocelots in southern Texas ["The Ghost Cat's Ninth Life," July-August]. How far removed I often feel from magnificent creatures who are continually struggling just to survive. Articles such as this bring heartfelt issues close to home. Thank you for "giving" me the ocelot. 

Intellectual Stimulus 

"The Power of Parasites," by Carl Zimmer [True Nature, July-August], was the best article you've done since the one on the evolution of birds a few years ago ["The Origin of Birds: The Dinosaur Debate," March-April 1997]. It offered real intellectual content, a challenge to the mind, and insight into just how complex life on earth really is. Keep up the good work.

Failed Mathematicians

Ted Williams's excellent article on the Upper Mississippi River [Incite, "Trouble on the Mississippi," July-August] leaves me a bit perplexed. The proposed lock expansion will cost $1 billion; the benefits will be only $750 million. Any fool can see that's bad. What exactly does the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mean by "cost/benefit ratio"? Who gets the benefit? Will money from "additional tolls" go into the U.S. Treasury? Perhaps Williams could enlighten those of us who have to foot the bill about just how bad a deal this really is. 

"Trouble on the Mississippi" is superb--you've found a true hero for our time in Donald Sweeney. Are you sure the Army Corps isn't armed and dangerous? 

After reading Dan Whipple's article on the intentional, useless poisoning of blackbirds by Wildlife Services [Field Notes, "Bye-Bye Blackbirds," July-August], I thought: "Huh? I buy hundreds of pounds of sunflower seeds a year--I wonder where they come from?" A quick trip to my back porch revealed that they come from the Dakotas. I was enraged! I am supporting this heinous behavior by Dakota farmers and the federal government. Well, we bird feeders have weapons: the checkbook and the credit card. We spend millions of dollars a year on seed for bird feeding. I urge all bird-feeding folks to boycott seed from the Dakotas or Minnesota; tell your local retailer why. Write to the manufacturers and tell them. Write the Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota chambers of commerce, and to George Linz, at the National Wildlife Research Center, who proposed the killing of the blackbirds. Tell them you care more about birds than the price of sunflower seed. Write your congressman and senators; tell them you do not want your taxes spent on this wasteful and useless effort. Which bird is next? 

Three cheers for the National Audubon Society's efforts to halt the poisoning of red-winged blackbirds. Hopefully, future permits can be denied as well. Although there may be many redwings in South Dakota, there are too few in other places. Keep up the good work.