Adult-onset Attention Defecit Disorder 2: photos, birds, snakes and hippos

I've made some decisions in the last few days:

1. I am longer dealing in written words. Ever. Text is no longer where it's at. In the future, I will only read books with pictures, and examine the pictures only. Or maybe I'll purchase a book if its cover is so compelling that it warrants ownership of the entire book. I will communicate through photos and diagrams, when necessary. Photography and images are the only proper way to convey anything with any degree of accuracy and impact. I won't be making this changeover until I've finished all of the books I own, otherwise I think it's wasteful. It's not fair to myself and it's not fair to the environment.

2. I've taken up amateur ornithology. It's a fairly simple, but enthralling undertaking that requires only a field guide, elementary knowledge of plumage patterns, a pair of eyes, and a passion for God's most beautiful creatures that live above our heads and inside our hearts. Some of the choice sightings I've logged in my watcher's journal:

• Silver-Breasted Nuthatch: collecting his dinner feast of seeds and insects.
  
• Tawny Morning Thachet: basking in the late evening glow with a friend.
  
• Velvet-Plumed Pearl Swallow: singing me a jaunty song; boasting her shimmery coat.
• Eastern Albuquerque Migratory Turkey Hawk: he has provided his family with an ample plate of musky carrion.
• Mexican Lizard Sparrow: her brilliant tail is colorful enough to hoodwink even the slyest of the scaled predators and poachers alike.
• The elusive Desert Oriole: don't mind my prying eyes, friend. I only seek to gaze at your brilliant pattern, rarely seen at this altitude.
  

3. I would go up against the Black Mamba snake before facing a hippopotamus. Despite the irresponsible portrayal of the herbivorous hippo as a plodding, friendly creature, it kills more people than any other mammal. Territorial males kill more humans than any other African creature. Faster than a human, silent while hidden underwater, and wielding 20-inch, razor-sharp incisors, the hippo kills man seconds after his presence is even known. The corpse goes uneaten, but mangled beyond recognition.

The Mamba snake, easily the most feared, kills with venom in minutes. It's especially dangerous because rather than slink away from humans, it sometimes chases after them at 12 mph if the tree-dweller feels threatened. The adult reaches 8 feet long and delivers 100 mg of venom. 15 mg is enough to kill a man. An attack begins with the snake rising up to six feet tall, balancing on the rear third of its body, and ends with its victim's suffocation through paralysis of the breathing muscles.

Humans are no match for either animal, but I think with the Mamba, I could maybe deflect an attack with a stick, or maybe even flee the snake's territory before it catches wind of me. The hippo is also fast, but has brute force and two-inch thick skin that leaves me with no recourse. So I would face the bird-killer before the vegetarian. Also, reports from the sparse survivors of the snake testify that its neurotoxin brings about a dreamlike euphoria as it lulls victims to an endless sleep.