Kill the eagles!!!

[Eric F]

Here's the article

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090516/ap_on_re_us/us_predator_eagles

Eric

--- On Tue, 5/19/09, Paul Schlagheck <pschl...@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Paul Schlagheck <pschl...@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: This Afternoon
> To: interb...@googlegroups.com
> Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 7:37 AM
> Oh boy... kill the bald eagle? 
> next you will say that the flag is scaring people off and we
> should torch that too :)
> We the people have upset the natural balance of
> nature, which makes it more difficult to have a sufficient
> number of prey/predatory animals.  I can cite several
> examples of the introduction of non-native predators
> that are destroying the balance due to lack of predators
> that prey on them... IE the monitor in south florida
> and that walking toothed fish (can't remember the
> name now) that was introduced to the potomac.  Not to
> mention africanized Bees and such.
>  
> To Eric... reference to taking my word :)
>
> Paul
> pschl...@gmail.com
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 9:03 AM,
> Eric F <bize...@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To Paul,
>  
> I read an article which claims that bad eagles are now
> TOO numerous and no longer on the endangered species list.
> In fact, they are terrorizing or "bullying" other
> bird species and are even killing off young cormorants and
> herons cuz they compete for fish...
>
> It's time to kill off some bald eagles...the
> damned over-achieving conservationists have created a new
> problem.
>
>  
>
>
>
> >
>
>
>

[Rick McFarlane]

I vote for not killing them.  Especially if they're eating cormorants.

Maybe eagles aren't endangered anymore, but they're still pretty rare.  But any time someone makes a change in the eco-system, someone else will complain about it, even if they're just making things right.  I've got a neighbour who objects to the peregrine falcons they released near here, because they eat sparrows off his bird feeder. 

I've seen a few eagles over the years, but I can only remember two wolves I've seen previously in the wild, and both were just for a second or two, from a long distance.   I bet I've been near them a number of times without being aware of it.   They don't seem to like us for some reason <g>. 

We also saw seven moose and (co-incidentally) seven bears on that trip, including a momma bear and a itty bitty cub.  Nothing rare about those guys.  OK, I just have to include a picture of them, even though it's not up to the same standard as the wolf shots.  He's standing behind her, not on her back <lol>.  Tylar (my granddaughter) thought he was "a real cutie".

Eric F wrote:

      

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[Eric F]

I know...they are still rare enough around here that I would I vote against killing our local pairs too. But, they need to be balanced (culled) in areas where they are too numerous. And the way to do that would be to remove their egss and put in false ones. Just to keep things in balance. We wiped out the passenger pigeon or whatever it was called and now those raptors don't have enough prey. --- On Wed, 5/20/09, Rick McFarlane <ric...@sympatico.ca> wrote:

[Eric F]

Now we can kill those eagles real legal-like...YEEEEHAAWWWWWW   http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090520/sc_mcclatchy/3237180;_ylt=Anz8DUFg3EF66oa_QH.u22O2GL8C;_ylu=X3oDMTJodWtqY2xwBGFzc2V0A21jY2xhdGNoeS8yMDA5MDUyMC8zMjM3MTgwBGNwb3MDNwRwb3MDNwRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2hlYWRpbmd0b2FuYQ--   I swear I don't make this stuff up...haha Eric

[Rick McFarlane]

I don't think controlled culls work very well.  We've managed to eliminate some species accidentally, but when we try to get rid of a pest species on purpose, it doesn't seem to work (sea lamprey in the great lakes for instance).  Most species can reproduce rapidly enough that if the conditions are right for a population increase, it will be a major ongoing effort for us to keep it stable.  Not that I think Eagles have reached that point.

The cormorants you mention are a great example.  I remember the first time I saw one, 10 or 15 years ago.  They were very rare before that.  Now they're everywhere, like black seagulls.  Something changed in their environment that made a population increase possible.  If the eagles are preying on them, maybe they're a replacement for the passenger pigeon.  Speaking of which, the closely related mourning dove also appears to have undergone a population explosion in the last couple of decades (at least in these parts) that pretty much parallels the cormorant population.  If the populations of the raptors are responding to the increase in available prey, then it's just nature taking its course, balancing itself, and we should stay the hell out of it.  Otherwise we'll just screw it up again.

Last year a red tailed hawk took a mourning dove off our bird feeder, and, pulling out of it's dive decided to make it's exit through our patio door.   It was a hell of a loud bang, but the patio door stood up to the impact.  Out on the deck there were feathers everywhere, and a very stunned red tailed hawk, with a dead mourning dove in its talons. 

I think it's usually best to let nature take it's own course.

[Eric F]

Well, yeah...we basically agree...but these are not common cormorants, they are the great crested booby ones...or whatever they are called.
We have at least one colony of the common ones here in Erie, but our herons are on the decline. I used to see 5 or 6 in the lagoons of Presque Isle, now I'm lucky if I see 1.

The location of the eagle's nest is supposed to be a secret...but I'm not stupid, I found it. Since there are only 2 pairs near here, I don't think we should declare jihad on them just yet...we can support 2 pairs.

But, think about this...I had 2 eagles near me in Florida, Paul and I saw 2 in Georgia and I have seen 2 in Erie...so, technically, I have seen more eagles than herons. Hell, I have seen more eagles than redtailed hawks.
Something is out of whack.

Let nature take it's course? Normally, yes, but when the biggest threat doesn't have an equal or a superior, i.e. it is at the top of its food pyramid, then man has to step in. Just imagine lions becoming too numerous...all hell would break loose.

--- On Thu, 5/21/09, Rick McFarlane <ric...@gmail.com> wrote: