The Rolling Stone’s “A Bigger Bang Tour” recently lived up to its name by attracting 1.2 million spectators in Rio De Janeiro. But why did these fans show up? Was it for the cutting edge music? No—most of the songs on the set list were pre-1970. Was it for the counter culture experience? No—the Stones are now completely mainstream. The reason all those people showed up was simply because they were amazed the Stones were still alive (at least most of them). People wanted to see for themselves the three guys—Jagger, Richards and Watts—rock and strut as they have for 40 years.
The fact is that the Stones are members of a dwindling breed of ’60s rockers, famous because they have survived piles of drugs and heaps of promiscuous sex.

In a similar way, endangered animals have gained notoriety as they battle the odds and teeter on the brink of oblivion. Whoever heard of the snail darter until it took on the Tennessee Valley Authority (and lost)? Here in New Hampshire we have 24 species of animals listed as endangered by the N.H. Fish and Game Department. Some are easy to name, like the bald eagle, but others are rather obscure. A handy trick to remembering a few of these is to match them up with songs and members of the Rolling Stones. This pop culture mnemonic device will also help you be ecologically hip as you listen to your classic rock station.

For example, when you hear the classic drumming of Charlie Watts in “Start Me Up,” let your mind consider the dwarf wedge mussel. The dwarf wedge mussel is a small yellowish-brown freshwater clam that looks sort of like a rock on the stream bottom. It’s a sedentary creature that spends most of its time buried in the muddy gravel. Watts is also a sturdy little creature who spends most of his time buried behind his drum kit. The similarities continue. Both Charlie and the wedge mussels enjoyed travel in their youth. Charlie joined the band in 1962 and traveled the world as he tagged along with the flashier band members. Young dwarf wedge mussels also rely on others to travel widely. When freshwater mussels are born, they are parasitic and must attach to a fish to survive and be dispersed —a microscopic mussel looks like a tiny, toothy Pac Man that clamps onto a fish’s fins or gills. The dwarf wedge mussel won’t hook up with just any fish, though. They look for only three types of fish to help ensure their success: the tessellated darter, slimy sculpin and Atlantic salmon. The reason wedge mussels are endangered is largely due to habitat loss and environmental pollution. Watts is endangered by throat cancer, diagnosised in 2004. The cancer has gone into remission.

Now let “Sympathy for the Devil” run through your head and think of Keith Richards. He is the guitar player who has done his share (and a couple of roadies’ shares) of drugs and naughty behavior. His looks reveal his hard-knock life and, given the pharmacopoeia that he has ingested, it is a miracle he is alive. At certain times in his life, the toxic levels of his bodily fluids have made him a good reminder for another endangered critter: the timber rattlesnake. This venomous snake is a large one (the longest among them are just over 6 feet) and was once common in this state. But bounty hunting, pet collection, habitat alteration, sport hunting and malicious killing took their toll. The pressure was too much in the northernmost part of their range. The snake was wiped out in Maine in the 1860s, and in New Hampshire there appears to be only one known den site left, with fewer than 30 individuals. Keeping the location of this last population hidden is vital because the snakes need to be left alone if they are to survive. Richards also needs his privacy protected, and recently the town of West Sussex agreed to relocate a footpath near his country home to discourage paparazzi from hunting him down.

Next is the charismatic front man, Sir Mick Jagger, (he was knighted in 2003 for “services to popular music”). He is a perfect match for the endangered shortnose sturgeon for one particular trait: the lips. The sturgeon, a primative estuarine fish, is one of the few animals that can rival Mick’s prodigious pucker. A sturgeon’s mouth is located on the bottom of the fish’s head and drops several inches down, like a large, fleshy vaccum cleaner hose, when it feeds. It is truly an impressive orifice. To get an idea of how this ancient fish swims, get “Beast of Burden” in your head and saunter down the hall. Sturgeon do nearly everything slowly. Gradually migrating between salt and fresh water, they reach sexual maturity in about eight years, but only reproduce every five years or so years after that. Mick, too, spreads out his spawning. He fathered his first of seven children in 1971 and his last in 1999. He seems to be going strong, but shortnose sturgeons are not doing well in New Hampshire. According recent surveys, no spawning appears to be taking place in New Hampshire waters. Biologists trying to restore shortnose sturgeon populations recommend removing dams to allow migration up coastal rivers.

Lastly and sadly, to the tune “Miss You,” there is one more Stones/endangered species pairing to consider. On July 3, 1969, Brian Jones, a founding member of the Rolling Stones, was found dead in his swimming pool from an apparent accidental drowning. He was the original lead guitarist, whose fashionable mod image and wild lifestyle gained the Stones much of their early notoriety. He was a rising rock star when his life ended at the age of 27. In New Hampshire, we too have a star that burned out too soon. The official state butterfly, the Karner blue butterfly, was declared dead in New Hampshire in 2000. Actually, it was extirpated, which means it went locally extinct, but still exists in some other states. Most of the critical Karner blue habitat in the state was lost to development, and with it went the butterfly. But, like the Stones who use Ron Wood as a substitute, N.H. biologists have substituted native Karner blues with some from New York. A captive breeding program was established and adults are released each year to breed in the wild to re-establish a population. Coincidentally, the Stones are familiar with butterfly releases, too. A few days after Jones’ death, the band paid tribute to their lost band mate by releasing thousands of butterflies during a concert in London’s Hyde Park.

So, the next time you are at a party and a Stones tune begins to play, take a second and drink a toast to the endangered creatures struggling to survive in New Hampshire. To learn about the other 20 species of endangered N.H. animals or to make a donation to help restore them, visit www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/nongame_and_endangered_wildlife.htm. To learn where the Stones are playing next and to hear a recording of one of the songs performed at the Rio concert, go to www.rollingstonesnet.com/ABiggerBangSetList.html.