Should the American Robins or Blue Jays, or any creature most humans can readily identify and see with regularity, rapidly decline in numbers, alarm bells would be rung near and far. However if the American Elms rapidly began to sicken and die, few but the most botanically astute would likely even notice until it was far too late.
When it comes to explanations, recollection, and communication of information deemed to be important by a society, long before most people could read and write, folkloric stories were the method by which it was preserved and transmitted between people and across generations. And among the most common information contained in folklore are explanations of the what’s, how’s, and why’s of the natural world.