Posted on 08/18/2016 2:07:15 PM PDT by nickcarraway
If you want to paint your nails, furniture, house, whatever – knock yourself out.
But, stop painting birds and turtles; they don’t need to be prettied-up.
That’s the message from Florida officials, who rescued a painted white ibis bird this week, days after they found turtles and gopher tortoises illegally decorated in hues of blue and red.
“Please keep your paint on the canvas and off of wildlife,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission posted on Facebook. “Tortoises and turtles don’t need touch-ups!”
While it may sound harmless, unleashing your inner artist on wildlife could land you in jail.
“White ibis are protected in Florida. Not only is it illegal to paint them, but it is cruel to paint any wildlife,” the commission said.
Not only is the gopher tortoise considered a threatened species protected by state law, painting its shell can have a major effect on its health.
“The paint can hinder their ability to absorb vitamins they need from the sun, cause respiratory problems, allow toxic chemicals into the bloodstream and more,” Florida officials said.
Humans have been meddling with wildlife a lot lately, and it never ends well.
In May, park officials euthanized a bison calf after tourists who thought they were rescuing it loaded it into their car at Yellowstone National Park.
Instead, the encounter led to its death.
Just last month, a crowd of onlookers snapping pictures of a mountain goat chased the animal to its death in Alaska.
negative effect of watching too many Disney movies as children
They are touchy feely liberals,it doesn’t matter.
Confiscatory fines need to be put in place.
Hopefully they go out west and paint a grizzly bear
Morons. Painting a tortoise or turtle shell stops the shell from growing. They strangle in their own shells, which are really their rib cages.
I had a pet gopher when I was a kid in the 50s. I could pat on his hole and he would come out. I would play with him a while and put him back near the hole.
I would often give him an unshelled pea.
They were remarkably easy to tame. I painted my name on his shell and don’t think it harmed him a bit.
A gopher has a shell?
They just can’t face up to the world as it is, so they try to remake it in ways that make them feel more comfortable.
Here is my pet Florida gopher.
You can still paint a grizzly bear if you want to. Well, that’s what I tell my liberal friends, anyway.
A Method For Color-Marking Birds At Resting Sites
Journal of Field Ornithology 76(2):204-207 · March 2005
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297967514_A_method_for_color-marking_birds_at_resting_sites
They dig burrows around 15 feet deep. They like to share them with rattlesnakes in the Winter.
They were almost wiped out in NW Florida during the depression. People called them “Hoover Chickens”. Many rural people had a gopher pulling rig. It was simply a long heavy steel wire with a small 90 degree bend at the end. The tip was sharpened. I have seen them but do not know how they worked.
Looks similar to a box turtle. My sister and dad carved her initials and date on the bottom plate of one in our yard in VA back in the late 70’s and it turned up out there like 20 years later still running strong.
They are obviously kin to turtles but look almost identical to other tortoises.
“White ibis are protected in Florida.
...
Don’t know why. They’re all over the place.
Very strange. How did they even catch the ibis?
...
My question, too. And are they sure it was painted? I’ve seen an Ibis with coloring like that, but not nearly as saturated.
I sure agree with you.
They are common as crows around here. I guess they are a beneficial bird as I can often see them in my yard eating insects.
Also wading in the pond near me.
You thread it down the hole and rotate it around like a drain snake until it digs in and pull out dinner.
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