On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:05:43 EDT, "a425couple"
wrote:

"dkat" wrote ...
Nick Cramer wrote:
- I saw a news story this morning about a town in N- California which
- (-) has been invaded by Egrets and Herons. I did a Google search for
- "egret heron invasion N- California" to find out more about it and
- got 15,000 hits. Many of them come from other continents.
- Their populations are growing everywhere in the US, thanks to
- their protected species status.
- They maim and eat our pond fish. Your tax dollars at work. sigh

-Currently the bulk of American taxes goes to the military.

Being very brief (since it's OT and divisive);
If you count SS, military under 20%,
if you aren't including SS, still under 30%.

- I had to LMAO or cry when I heard someone at the
- convention complain about our country becoming --
- -and -- - we just had to cut taxes before it was too late

The old philisopical debate is valid,
"Who is wiser in spending your money,
you, or some distant person on govt. pay?"
It cuts both ways. Somethings are best done
individually and locally, some best nationwide.

-Odd - --- African egrets came into this country
-naturally and are now well established. They are not a
-protected species as far as I could find. ----
-each cattle egret eats more than 600 grasshoppers and crickets
-a day-- equal to half its body weight --placing the species firmly
-among the farmer's best feathered friends.
-Some competition --- between the newcomers and native herons --
- cattle egrets -- snowy egrets, little blue herons, Louisiana herons
- and other wading birds -- beautiful African heron found an empty
-ecological niche where it could prosper, adding yet another
-chapter to the world's most astonishing avian success story"

OK.

But I do think that Nick's larger point,
(? perhaps, the 'box' we put ourselves in re;
wildlife/pests) is very valid.

Let's get back to ponds. Aside from the cattle egrets that follow my
tractor around when I bush-hog (mow) there is one that hangs around
the pond when I "weed" with my pellet gun. It almost seems to be
attracted to the noise. It stays either well to the left or right of
my line of fire (I don't change suddenly, I work one patch of weeds
before going on to another). I haven't the foggiest why it comes,
maybe the sound of the pellets makes the grasshoppers easier to catch
or something, I really don't know, but the egret shows up so often I
have to think it isn't just a coincidence.