Martin Sykes wrote:
This may be a bit mercenary, but wouldn't Darwinism support an
argument for just not worrying about .........

........supplying chicks with small but contaminated nut pieces

............... on the grounds that the birds can differentiate what is
and what is not good for them.

This really is the nanny state taking over. How ever did the birds
survive before we superior humans evolved to look after them?

--
ned

This really is the nanny state taking over. How ever did the birds
survive before we superior humans evolved to look after them?

Well in those days they didn't have to cope with all the stuff that we put
out for them thinking it will be good for them.and helping to make them
dependant on us to keep up their numbers above that which "Natural" food
would support, especially as we have removed so many of their "Natural "
food sources.

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

david wrote:
This really is the nanny state taking over. How ever did the birds
survive before we superior humans evolved to look after them?

Well in those days they didn't have to cope with all the stuff that
we put out for them thinking it will be good for them.

................. I doubt very much that birds consider our generosity.
We provide alternative food sources and let them choose what they will
sample and what they will not. I believe the original post in this
thread was about birds choosing to ignore what was being offered.

and helping
to make them dependant on us

.............. Don't fool yourself that wild life is dependent upon us.
Remove humanity from the planet and the wildlife will celebrate. Sure
we may help a few birds to survive a cold snap by providing
breadcrumbs or whatever but we are hardly responsible for the survival
of the species. What proportion of the population feed birds? - An
insignificant percentage.

Filling up the feeders probably gives us as much self gratification
and satisfaction at seeing the birds in the garden than it benefits
the wildlife in general.

--
ned

............. Don't fool yourself that wild life is dependent upon us.
Remove humanity from the planet and the wildlife will celebrate.

True. I can't think of anything which owes its survival to us that couldn't
also credit us with its plight in the first place. Personally, I'm trying to
keep a'a few birds' alive through the winter so they can breed next year and
help to keep my pests down. Once the plants are established in my garden
though ( I moved into a brand new development last year), and there is
plenty of natural food, I'll stop feeding as well so that I can get a more
natural equilibrium.

Martin.

In article ,
says...


"K" wrote in message
...

snip

A squirrel has just managed to chew through the wire mesh of one of our
brand new indestructible-squirrel-proof feeders :O((


The ingenuity, determination and learning abilities of grey squirrels are
quite staggering. I'm not sure there's really any such thing as a 100%
squirrel proof bird feeder, I think the little beggars' motto is 'Where
there's a will, there's a way' :-)




Suspend it from a 2ft length of wire.
--
Jonathan Ward
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