On Sep 5, 11:59?am, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:54:58 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:
On Sep 5, 8:34?am, tsi-yu wrote:
They are all semi tame. Not much sport
in shooting caged bambis.
Make that BAM(!)-bye.
More and more people can live a lifetime without actually encountering
any wildlife.
Chuck, how is it you can go through life being so correct all the
time?
http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/urban_w...ild_neighbors/
http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/wildlif...ction_programs...
http://tinyurl.com/3bqoa4
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/603.html
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/backyard/
Hang on to your hat, Tom. Low flying point just went overhead. :-)
I draw a distinction between urban deer, coyotes, raccoons, possums,
bears, cougars and other animals that have adapted to life in
suburbia, or even the central cities, and their cousins living with
little or no human contact.
In my opinion, an animal that has lost the natural fear of human
beings is no longer "wild", and therefore doesn't behave in the same
instinctive manner that actual "wildlife" would.
Most people consider a bear, for instance, an example of "wildlife".
But if you put that bear in a circus, in my opinion, it's now a circus
bear and no longer wildlife.
I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to round up urban deer, etc, and
try to relocate them into some remote wilderness. I suspect that the
tame deer would have some difficulty finding food, eluding predators,
etc. Don't know, not an expert on deer or etc. But that doesn't
prevent me from holding an opinion that forest animals that move into
urban areas aren't really "wildlife" anymore. I appreciate that you
may hold a different opinion and that's great- the purpose of a forum
is to share ideas and opinions.
It's like the hatchery-trout fishery they have every spring up this
way.
They spend $millions breeding trout in state hatcheries, where for a
year or two the fish are taught to associate people with food. Even a
fish (one of the dumbest animals around) eventually learns that
responding to a certain stimulus (the presence of people) by eating
anything the people throw into the pond will result in high times and
easy livin'. They stuff these trained fish into tanker trucks and will
dump thousands upon thousands of them into a variety of lakes -many of
which are *not* really suitable trout habitat). Opening Day of fishing
season comes around, and it's elbow-to-elbow along the shorelines of
these recently stocked lakes. The Game Department usually opens the
season on a Sunday, so some of the fish haven't been fed for several
days prior and they sign the piscatoral version of the Hallelujah
Chorus when people/food appear. Little old ladies, five year old kids,
and everybody in between hauls in the poor confused fish as fast as
they can cast a hook. The fish bite worms, flies, marshmallows,
spoons, chunks of rubber or plastic, you name it. Among the highly
effective products is "Power Bait", formulated to smell and taste
exactly like the stuff the fish were trained to eat at the hatchery.
People walk around bragging about taking a "limit" of little 6-8 inch
fish. The upside is that it introduces a lot of people to fishing, and
kids in particular need to actually catch a fish in the first outing
or two or they are likely to lose enthusiasm for it. I know of serious
fishermen who deliberately *avoid* the annual madness and look for
more challenging conditions.
Um....never mind.
You're both an avid fisherman and a staunch conservationist. It would
be interesting to read about your perspective of stocked-pond hatchery
fishing. It might be different than mine.
The feeding operation is a good observation. There didn't seem to be
any empathy expressed by the people for the deer, just training them
to depend on people for food. Send the rough tough hunter out into the
woods in his BMW SUV- but forget about the "deer call". Tell him to
start a fire, cook some bacon, and make a noise like a sandwich. The
highly conditioned "game" will walk up to within a couple of feet
looking for a handout. Even a once-a-year hunter will have a tough
time missing from 4-6 feet away.
Um...well....er...
Back here, it's a little harder.
Maybe it's because our deer aren't trained. You aren't a deer trainer
by any chance are you? Sure sound familar with the process-
The "trained" deer I run into are up in the San Juan Islands. Despite
dozens of signs reading "Please Don't Feed the Deer!" a lot of people
do.
It's to the point where the deer come running down to the dinghy dock
everytime somebody rows in from anchor, and they will walk up to
within less than a foot of a person and stand there expectantly
waiting for food.
Once did feed a few deer at a resort marina. We were having a picnic
with some friends and the herd of resident deer wandered over to stick
their noses into the food. One animal ate right off my wife's plate
when she wasn't paying attention. We tried to show them away, but they
wouldn't go as long as there was food available. In the end, we fed
them some carrot sticks to distract them from the food on the table
and our plates.