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It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature
Derek Broughton wrote:
"Thanks" to their protected species status? Hardly that. aiui, birds in the US are treated much as they are in Canada - if they're not considered "game" (essentially Ducks/Geese, Turkeys & Grouse/Partridge) birds, they're protected. Don't farmers need permits to destroy pest birds? Now, some birds have greater protection - you can't disturb their habitats, but afaik that doesn't apply to Herons and Egrets, so why are Herons and Egrets multiplying while all sorts of songbirds are decreasing? Probably habitat modification. Generally there are 2 main causes to bird population decreases: Habitat reduction is one, but is in 2nd place. Predation is the other and is in 1st place, by a fairly large margin - especially among ground nesting birds. Natural predators (birds of prey, skunks, foxes, coyotes, etc) account for a fairly steady percentage of this and have not changed significantly for a very long time (hundreds of years). So what new predator is accounting for the losses of birds? A: pets who are allowed to roam free (mostly cats). Note that I am NOT referring to feral cats - those essentially become part of the wild animal environment where natural selection weeds out those who are "bad hunters". The REAL danger are pets who can kill one day, miss the next, but get a nice meal at home with a safe place to stay on both days. These animals are predators with impunity. Which explains why I shoot cats - ALL CATS - straying on my property (yes, I live out in the country). If they are wearing a collar, I shoot them twice. -- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes "Usenet really is all about standing around and hitting the ground with clubs, on a spot where many years earlier a dead horse lay." |
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