Posted on 09/08/2007 7:05:51 AM PDT by Fawn
Cradling a loaded shotgun, Daniel Castillo stood in the bow of the airboat when a dark form burst from a clump of reeds.
As the wildlife biologist shouldered his weapon, he had only an instant to decide: does it fly like a duck, but look like a long-legged, iridescent chicken?
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
a long-legged, iridescent chicken?
Are they good eatin’?
Over hunting can wipe out species. Let’s over hunt on the side of the “Good Guys”.
I think the point is other birds native to the area die because these birds brought into FL form some other part of the globe compete with them for food, nesting sites, etc.
You don’t have to be an environmental wacko to see the havoc ‘exotic’ species can cause—Europeans all hate the racoons the Nazis brought to Europe, rabbits in Australia have caused untold havoc, African honeybees are not a good thing to have in North America, etc. Wildlife managers worry about this kind of thing on less obvious scales.
Taste like chicken
I love this statement...”they are not native for here...they are from another continent’. LOL...as if WE were here, dogs were here, or a thousand other creatures were here. We are all imports. This FWC just need to have something to kill....that’s why they took the job!
As for a guy's zeal regarding hunting, that is simply the raw instincts of a real man.
Can't go walking, fishing or take the grandkids to the playground - goose sh*t all over the place.
Some things just need killin’,,
These are not a native species. They are an invasive species that pushes out native birds.
Invasive species like these can do massive harm to the local ecosystem. They have an opportunity to eradicate these birds before they spread throughout the state.
...”they are not native for here...they are from another continent’
illegal aliens are like that too?!?!?
Umm, don’t know how to break this to you but “we” were here as well as dogs. Native indians? Wolves, coyotes and dogs the indians used?
Cite your proof for that statement, please.
You forgot Himalayan Blackberry and Kudzu.
Exotics get folks all worked up, but it’s folly. Ever read James Michener’s Hawaii? In order to stop exotics we would have to become so isolationist we couldn’t breath and the technology isn’t here to stop the migrating birds, ocean currents, tradewinds, etc., etc.
It is fun to watch the libs get all worked up over this issue. My favorite is watching the plant nazi’s duke it out with environmental scientists that use genetically modified plant matter for “wetland” AKA swamp restoration projects. Priceless.
Get over it.
I’ll bet Fawn saw “Bambi” when she was a child. Made a lasting impression on her, too. One of the most wussifying flix ever made. Ruined a whole generation or three...SSZ
There is not one thing - NADA ZILCH - in that article about aerial spraying killing birds. Its purpose is to kill mosquitoes. If this isn’t done, perhaps thousands of birds may die of West Nile Virus and other avian mosquito vectored disease, not to mention potentially spreading it to humans (along with the number one killer in the world, malaria).
Fawn, your love for animals is extremely misguided and actually naive. If you’re proposing that nonnative invasive species be allowed to flourish over threatened native species, as well as advocating an end to insect spraying, then your “love” may well cause the death of many, many more than you think you’d save.
Grow up and start using your head.
I agree with that!!
Non-native species competing and threatening the native wading birds. Some irresponsible a-hole brought a few over from Asia and let them get loose, and they have been multiplying like crazy. Good to wipe them out, along with the pythons and prickly iguanas.
Bird repellant?
L
My old apartment complex in Miami was infested with ferals, thanks to the lonely old ladies that would feed them. No better than rats in my opinion.
I don't like it that the FWC decides what can live or what should die. They are lowlifes if you met them. I have.
Or no better than people who want to blow away homeless creatures instead of trying to help them.
Have you ever stepped on an ant..?
You don’t “help” creatures by making them dependent on humans (in the case of bears, birds, or feral cats past the first year) or increasing their population beyond sustainability. Feral cats are not meant to be, uh, feral. I wish the “animal lovers” would realize that the eradication of feral cat populations is good for the quality of the ecosystem (less dead birds and destroyed shrubbery) and for the cats as well (all those feral kittens that are born have a low survivability rate, and an unpleasent life compared to domesticated cats).
Add Spanish moss to that list.
Making the tough but necessary choices can be hard for people who let their emotions rather than reason control their actions.
That’s true for killing non-natives, feral cats, or a whole host of other necessary but hard decisions.
(Fawn) Or no better than people who want to blow away homeless creatures instead of trying to help them.
Yea, what's wrong with you, Clemenza?
You should be helping the widdoe kitties, not shooting them.
You big meanie, you.
Lol.
“Can’t go walking, fishing or take the grandkids to the playground - goose sh*t all over the place.”
We have that problem here in Colorado. They are vile-tempered, filthy beasts that will attack in a heartbeat. We have people here that the city hires to chase them off with dogs.
I didn’t see anything in that article that made any claims about bird fatalities caused by spraying. Did I miss it?
True words, and responded to with a logo:
And I luv BBQ'd chicken every Sunday for dinner.
“I want open season on those %$%&ing protected ‘native’ geese. I HATE those rats with wings.”
I once worked in an office building in a northern suburb of Detroit. The geese found out that the lawn had lots of tasty stuff to eat, and they moved in. I remember a goose following me into the building one day.
The solution was to round them up during their flightless season, and make them into meals for the local homeless shelters.
Hey Fawn, this week I killed three coyotes, four ravens and one bobcat - all pests. I also killed one antelope which is for conservation and eating (dinner tonight). Scouted for bird hunting in three weeks and will be deer hunting next weekend. I wait all year for this. If I lived in Fla. I would be python hunting every month.
No, you'd only like it when you and your PETA friends get to make life and death decisions, then, because not spraying would result in the death of far more birds than you SAY (without merit or source, except your own observation of unrelated cause and effect) kills them!
I was perhaps a little harsh when I said you were naive. You are just plain ignorant. My suggestion is to go back and read what I have written. You need to educate yourself about the natural world, man's impact upon it, and the way we can make it better, without resorting to raw emotion and thoughtless observations.
Or no better than people who want to blow away homeless creatures instead of trying to help them.”
Fawn, if your house becomes infested with ants, fleas, ticks, rats, etc, what are you going to do?
Vile tempered is right. Years back, one actually bit me in the butt. We were taking the kids for walk around one of our lakes to see the Ducks and a friggen goose attacked me. The kids thought it was cute, I wanted to break its 'honking' neck (If I was alone I may have).
“Europeans all hate the raccoons the Nazis brought to Europe”
Brought them from where?
I didn’t know raccoons were of pure Aryan blood.
;^)
Let me guess -- you read Silent Spring in about the 4th grade, and you still believe it.
"I focus on the goal, not the bird itself," said Castillo, 33, of the colorful exotic bird. "And the goal is to restore this area to its natural state, and protect native species."
What part of this don't you understand? Or did you not read the whole article?
I think I would get suspended if I posted the first thought that came to mind when I read your comment.
Just stop worrying and learn to love the shotgun.
Likewise at the university where I work. Several female members of the clerical staff daily put out cat food for the skulking little beasts. The university refuses to do anything, so the cats keep multiplying.
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