Here is a FB conversation I wanted to keep for posterity.
I belong to a few "nature" pages, one of them being "Pacific Northwest Birders."
Like any other group that purports to be an association of people who "know" about something or "love" something, birders can be smug, bossy, superior and ruthless, and are not particularly reticent about putting these characteristics on public display.
Over 100 years ago, some idiot got the bright idea that they wanted to have all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works released in Central Park. Two of those European birds--starlings and English Sparrows--have flourished so well in the New World that they have spread in gigantic numbers across the continental US, to the chagrin of purist naturalists who are convinced that this has been an ecological disaster for native species that have been displaced or somehow negatively affected in the process.
So, these poor birds have been the object of a hatred and ire for decades. I remember my grandfather showing 10-year-old me how he had built special birdhouses to attract house sparrows, in which he would trap them and then shake them to death, presumably for the pure and laudable motive of "protecting" native species. I was appalled then, and am STILL appalled that there are supposedly educated, ecologically-minded adults who, 50 years later, subscribe to that cruel and violent solution to MAN'S ill-advised intervention with Nature.
I have had several debates about this question with the idiots, I mean, my fellow birders, on FB. Following is the transcript of one of those debates:
FB guy: I know that I wasn’t answering
your question, just adding to KL’s information about House Sparrows effect on
bluebirds. As for your comment, we as humans really screwed up and it is our
fault, so we should be doing everything to get rid of House Sparrows. We should
not be worrying about killing “innocent” birds or persecuting another creature.
Whatever can be done to benefit bluebirds should be done no matter what.
Me: I guess we'll have to agree to
disagree on this one. IMO, human beings are entirely too willing to kill
"innocent" anything, for whatever reasons we deem valid. I maintain
that this is NOT our right. It is not up to us to make conscious choices of
which species should live and which should die.
FB Guy: I think we should start viewing
how things might end up in the long run. Will bluebirds ever be seen in the
Willamette Valley ever again because of House Sparrows? If we don’t do
anything, what will the impact on the Western Bluebird population be in the
valley? I think it is questions like these that need to be addressed and
pondered over. I am with you on that it is sad and maybe cruel to kill these
innocent creatures, but benefitting the native species should be top priority
when it comes to bringing bluebird populations up in the Portland area.
FB Gal: so while your rationale comes
from an obviously larger scope of the world view, many of us who are
conservationist or work in the environmental restoration field will tell you
they are not just harmless creatures. They are not native here and we had
Western Bluebirds in the outer areas of Portland metro area when I was growing
up ...up until the late 70's depending on where you were. And things do change
that does NOT mean always for the better. House Sparrows do not provide to the
ecosystem the way that bluebirds do as they evolved in this area.
Also House Sparrows cause harm to
other species who they out compete. They are aggressive birds and push many
other species out of nesting spaces.and I think Weaver Finch is the correct
distinction for these guys. Hopefully no one will post a picture of a starling
lest the conservation get really ugly.
Me: All very well thought out, from
the point of view of humans who have learned to be very scientific and
convincing/convinced of their "duty" to act as if they are very
naturally in charge of which creatures are "worthy" and which are
not. There's nothing I could possibly say to convince you of your error. Let's
just say I don't buy into your conviction that humans should be in charge of
this sort of "environmental restoration", which I am perfectly free
not to do.
FB Gal: Actually we are trying to rectify
NOT doing what nature intended. We are trying to put back into place systems
that were nature created. So no we are not dictating what is best more trying
to throw ourselves on nature's mercy if we try to put back what she had in
place. so although scientific based on natures blueprint. And you are right you
will never convince many of us that we should not correct our errors and
restore what nature intended.
Me: Nature embraces her own. Were I
Nature, I would have a hard time associating "mercy" with a plan to
exterminate one species in favor of another, no matter how the species came to
be where they are.
FB Guy #2: you may not know that these
weaver finches were introduced to the US by a Shakespeare fan who decided that
we should have all the birds mentioned in the Bard's plays here in America. 150
years later we have these European birds everywhere, displacing the natives
Me: I am aware of the history. I am
also aware that the original "offense" took place over 100 years ago.
I'm not arguing that the action was an ecological blunder. My beef is with the
attitude so many humans have taken against the poor birds whose only sin has
been to flourish in their new environment. Human beings are the only "sinners"
here...but they seem to think that the damage done by the sin of humans will
somehow be absolved by punishing the birds. In this case, as always, two wrongs
do not make a right.
Hmmm.... Europeans displacing the
natives.... If we want to follow the reasoning that this is an ecological wrong
that must be made right, perhaps WE should all go back to Europe, or wherever
we came from...?
FB Gal: while there are some that would
applaud that thought going back to Europe as we did ruin things here, we are
still righting the wrongs we committed towards the indigenous folks should we
stop that since it occurred more than 100 years ago? I never suggested
eradicating house sparrows and starlings as that is impossible at this point,
but I will encourage ways to dissuade them from nesting, etc. I assume you have
issues with all efforts to save animal species. Do you suggest we just quit
trying and let whatever happens happen? What if that means allowing the web to
collapse as we allowed critters to become extinct not knowing their tie to
other critters, plants, etc?
Me: I do not have an issue with
"all efforts to save animal species." But I do believe that it is
NEVER ok to KILL animals in order to manipulate nature into some state of order
that human beings have decreed is "proper." YOU might personally say
that you don't believe in killing starlings and house sparrows, but you and I
both know that there are those who have taken the "discouragement"
philosophy as license to kill these birds whenever they encounter them. There
is something sick and twisted about a species that will concoct
"reasonable" and "scientific" excuses to kill off other
creatures. Human beings are so prone to indulge in that behavior, that they
habitually even come up with "reasonable" excuses to kill off
"unacceptable" members of their own species. Humans have not
historically demonstrated good judgment on questions of who/what should be
allowed to live and who/what should not. They would be the LAST creatures to
whom I would entrust that responsibility.
And a couple of days later, I discovered THIS article on the internet, put out by the Portland Audubon Society...which proves my point in spades:
The geniuses in some stinky little backwater county in Oregon have decided that HUMAN-CAUSED raven overpopulation is threatening endangered sage grouse, so their plan to eliminate thousands of ravens in the next three years consists of putting out poisoned eggs for the ravens to eat, killing the ravens (and, I would expect, anything else that came upon the poison bait, plus anything that fed on sickened ravens or raven carcasses...)
How to even begin commenting on such a stupid, irresponsible, needlessly murderous policy?
Mankind. Embraces any excuse...ANY EXCUSE...to assert dominance over other creatures through MURDER.
SMDH...
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