Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 02:26:36 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Frank Boyle Subject: Introduced Birds - A Naturalist's View In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.2.20020411220800.045411d0@127.0.0.1> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Interestingly enough, in regards to exotic or introduced species' becoming "agricultural pests", keep in mind that the same rationale was used to exterminate the Carolina Parakeet during the 18th and 19th century. Sadly, it seems that if a bird or mammal or insect or any other living thing, for that matter, native or not, does not fit in with our own short-sighted and often outright irrational human "needs", we eradicate it from the face of the earth. It was proven many years after the last Carolina parakeet died in captivity that in fact the impact of the birds on agriculture was minimal, at best. Far more damaging to the farmers were their own practices; monocultures that could not stand up to disease and infestation, and poor crop rotations that depleted all the minerals out of the soil in a few growing seasons. I find the same argument being used in the deep South today to kill hundreds of thousands of Red-Winged Blackbirds that are blamed for eating the rice crop (among others) in Louisiana. Will we ever learn? I think not. I for one am sick and tired of the human animal placing itself outside of the environment (we expend enormous energy and millions of dollars fighting natural fires every year to save what?????) and the sooner we fade away from the scene the better, in my humble opinion. Not that I am against us succeeding as a species, but our track record is pretty dismal in the short time that our "civilizations" have been here. Sorry for preaching to the choir, but... *********************** Frank Boyle Laurel, MD ravenfrank@earthlink.net *********************** ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================