FWS and the killing of Barred in the spotteds territory...

Hey y’all,

See, here's the thing...as a species, unless you are able to adapt to a changing environment (rolling with the punches, so to speak) you will go extinct, which is what's happening to the Northern Spotted owl, so killing all the Barred owls in the area won't magically fix their problem. Sometimes, I believe that the 'smart' people who have all these letters after their names have completely taken leave of God given common sense, not to mention pissing away vast amounts of tax-payer money all in the name of job security.

Extinction is a naturally occurring process and usually brought about by changes to the environment (volcanoes/earthquakes/drought, etc). And last but not least, humans exacerbate the rate of animal extinction 100 fold with our unique ability to change the environment artificially by carving out the land to fit our needs, rather than having to do as the animals, and adapting to the given area.

Humans are the best and worst thing about the planet. We can see something bad happening and fix it, (ie - Invasive European Starlings taking over Eastern Bluebird nesting cavities, so we promote a major nest box campaign with a slightly smaller hole...VOLIA', problem solved) or we can completely gum up the works and fail miserably as we have with the logging and forest fragmentation in Spotted owl territory... I think most of that area is now protected, but it's too late to help the Spotted. This is all in the name of ‘economy’ because the guys out there have to have something to chop down so they can sell the wood to foreign companies in exchange for fiat currency to feed their families. Well, I hate to break it to you, but the time will come when you will have to figure out something else to do to generate income.

Enter, the Northern Barred owls.

The Northern Barred owl doesn't have the same 'delicate' nesting requirements as his cousin, the Northern Spotted owl and I don't care how many Barred owls Fish and Wildlife Service slaughters, it won't stop the eventual extinction of the Spotted owls because of what's already been done to their environment. Nature abhors a vacuum and the Barred owls are just doing what is coming naturally to them (and us); breeding, spreading and dominating. They are more adaptive to the human-altered landscape than their precarious cousins...

Here is the link to the article. The idea was first brought up during the Bush Administration, so this isn’t a left/right thing, OK? http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ap-newsbreak-obama-administration-plan-would-kill-rival-bird-to-save-spotted-owl/2012/02/28/gIQAvxAUgR_story.html

Regardless of the species, it's thirsty work becoming an owl...

Please send Mouse Money when you can spare it. Thanks! :)

Monteen McCord
www.hawktalk.org
P.O. Box 130
Holly springs, GA 30142

From 2 years ago...

Thank you, Alan, for such a nice video clip...

Having some grapes with the girls...

2 CRAZY GA Laws...

Hey y’all,

Here I am being long winded again, but this is important, too. :)

I need your help.... and 10 minutes of your time to do something for me and Georgia's Wildlife.

I am trying to motivate change for two laws that are on the books in Georgia. One created back in the 30's which still holds the mentality of something from the days of the depression. It is 27-3-62 (d) and it's entitled "Open Season". This allows chicken farmers to put up pole/leg traps and trap and kill "birds of prey". The other, 27-3-90, entitled "Transportation or shipment of wildlife prohibited, exception permits", disallows anyone to transport an injured animal to us (rehabbers) unless they have the proper paperwork. Essentially this could mean a raptor or any other animal could be sitting somewhere dying before someone could legally take it to a vet or rehabber.

Both of these law are extremely outdated, and outright stupid. I have included their language below for your perusal. I have personally been exposed and/or involved in too many cases where people have found owls and hawks with horrific injuries that were caught in leg traps. They have witnessed them standing on the highway/roadside dying with old rusty traps on their legs. Imagine driving your children to school seeing a suffering majestic Great Horned Owl, bloody in the broad daylight dying on the road you live on. This is true story from someone that contacted me here in Cherokee County.

I have an idea......I want to find at least one person (more would be better) from every county in Georgia (159-161 depending on who you ask), to record their reaction on a piece of paper to these outdated laws.

Here is what I need you to do:
• Read the laws below.
• Write your reaction on a piece of regular 8 x 11 white paper with a black Sharpie
• Hold up the paper in front of you, and have someone take your picture. I need/want your face! This is not a glamour shot. But it should be a serious shot.
• Make sure to put your first name on the paper right hand side bottom AND your county.
• Send me the picture as an attachment - does not have to be high resolution just a good clear shot
• In your e-mail to me, tell me "I allowed you to use my image in the creation of your video". Without your consent I can't use it.
• Hints: If you like, have your kids, the dog, anyone in the picture. The paper should represent your personal feeling, and it needs to be written clearly and with black Sharpie. What you could say could include: "This is just wrong, OR please advocate change for 27-3-62 and 27-3-90, OR stop killing our birds, OR please find a better way, ammend the law today, etc. Your could also get creative and take one with your cat saying something like: Please save the birds! OR have a group shot together holding a large sign saying something like "firefighters/policeman/nurses for re-writing laws: X & Y in support of our suffering wildlife, ..." You get my meaning.

I am going to be creating a video montage of all of our picture, which will be entitled "It's just wrong". I will add-in web links, education on the laws, and what we are proposing in change to the legislators. I will include some of the pictures of the wounded animals in our care, and why this needs to stop.

At the end of the video, we will add information on how you can motivate your own legislation in support to change these outdated laws. Every legislator will be receiving a link to this video on YouTube from me. My hope is that they will watch it and this will go viral!

Remember, I need your written reaction and your face on a picture! I can't do this alone. We can all stand together to move for change.

Current Laws on the books in Georgia which need to be CHANGED

§ 27-3-62
TITLE 27. GAME AND FISH
CHAPTER 3. WILDLIFE GENERALLY
ARTICLE 2. TRAPPING, TRAPPERS, AND FUR DEALERS

O.C.G.A. § 27-3-62 (2011)

§ 27-3-62. Open seasons


(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Code section, it shall be unlawful to trap any wildlife in this state between March 1 and November 19.

(b) It shall be unlawful to trap any wildlife during the period between November 20 and February 29, except as otherwise provided in this Code section and except that it shall not be unlawful to trap a fur-bearing animal during that period or a portion thereof if that period or portion thereof is designated by the board as an open trapping season for such fur-bearing animal.

(c) In accordance with subsection (b) of this Code section and as may be appropriate in accordance with sound wildlife management principles, the board is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations establishing open seasons for the trapping of fur-bearing animals on a state-wide, regional, or local basis.

(d) Notwithstanding subsection (a) or (b) of this Code section, it shall be lawful to trap beaver, rats, and mice at any time during the year. It shall also be lawful for any person to set steel traps within 200 yards of the residence or dwelling of any such person for the protection of livestock, ratites, poultry, or other fowl or domestic animals from any predatory bird or animal.

(e) Notwithstanding subsection (a) or (b) of this Code section, it shall be unlawful to trap raccoons in that area north of and including Carroll, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Barrow, Jackson, Madison, and Elbert counties at any time during the year.

(f) Any person who violates any provision of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

HISTORY: Code 1933, § 45-601, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 396, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 1270, § 3; Ga. L. 1979, p. 800, § 4; Ga. L. 1980, p. 323, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 244, § 31.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
§ 27-3-90

§ 27-3-90. Transportation or shipment of wildlife prohibited; exceptions; permits http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusgast27_3_90.htm#s27-3-90
It shall be unlawful for any person to remove, ship, or transport from any point within this state to another point within this state or from any point within this state to any point beyond the borders of this state, except as otherwise provided, any wildlife taken in this state unless the wildlife is in the personal possession of or is carried openly by the person who took such wildlife and unless the person has in his possession a proper license or permit as prescribed by the wildlife laws, rules, and regulations.

CREDIT(S) Laws 1911, p. 137, § 13; Laws 1916, p. 114, § 3; Laws 1955, p. 483, § 45; Laws 1977, p. 396, § 1. Formerly Code 1933, § 45-305; Code 1933, § 45-401.

Thanks tons from HawkTalk Headquarters!

"Richard" - Wayne Newberry

Monteen McCord
HawkTalk
P.O. Box 130
Holly Springs, GA 30142
www.hawktalk.org

My email address to send the photos as attachments
monteen@hawktalk.org

How NOT to properly hold a hawk

And this person calls themself a rehabber with SIX years experience...

Cradling the bird as shown makes for a nice, warm and fuzzy photo op, but it's a good way to ruin your day and it sends out the wrong message. This photo was picked up from a social internet site and I blurred the face so the moron can't be identified.

The legs are twice as long as you think because they are hinged like our arms, so the reach is surprisingly long.

The feet are the business end with the toes being strong enough to bury the talons up to the hilt on whatever flesh they happen to be standing on, essentially having the capability of penetrating through your forearm if the feet are positioned just right. (where the main nerves and arteries run). Or if the person who is restraining them while you are working on them happens to lose their grip, under your eye socket and through the cheek bone is another dangerous position to find yourself in. The latter happened to a vet when the inexperienced tech lost her grip.

Since your eyes are forward facing like theirs, they see you as a threat, so when you lean over to help them, they will usually attempt to defend themselves by grabbing you with their feet. By far the safest method is to poke some holes in a cardboard box, upend the box over the bird, slide something underneath and after gently turning it right side up, duct tape the top down securely. A loose raptor in a closed vehicle is an interesting experience and one that you aren't likely to forget. It happened to me once and it lends new meaning to the phrase "the rapture". :)

Fireplace or welding gloves are good, but get ready for an intimidating experience of the bird lock down on you with their feet, sometimes bruising you through the glove, and then you have a hard time extracting the glove from them after you've gotten them in a box or your basic airline kennel. Ratcheting down or "Binding" (proper term) of the feet is an evolutionary adaptation to help prevent the prey from escaping, but it really sucks when it happens to you. Pull down and away, down and away, as soon as you think they might have hold of you, because once they have 'bound' to you, they can't open their own feet for a few minutes. This is how Osprey get into trouble and drown if they catch a fish that is too heavy for them to carry out of the water.

You can throw a blanket over them, but then you don't know where the feet are, so it's a crap shoot.

When you 'bare-hand' them, you need to first get control of the feet...approaching from the back, place the index finger between the birds legs, high up on the legs as close to the body as possible, wrapping your thumb and middle finger around the front, enclosing both legs and DON'T LET GO. Folding in the wings, you can then place them either on their side or their belly in the box, (or slide them into the airline kennel), then pull you have back quickly before they have time to lash out.

If you're using a plastic airline kennel, cover it with a sheet as to cut out visual stimulus, which will keep them calm.

NEVER put them in a wire cage because they can ruin their feet and cere (the fleshy part that seperates the beak from the face) and they can break off primaries and tail feathers.

NEVER offer them food because if they are down because they are starving, solid food will KILL them because their gut has shut down and won't be able to produce the proper enzymes to begin the digestion process. Their systems have to be jump started by administering sub-q fluids and tube feeding a high protein gruel.

Q - What's red and white and goes a thousand miles an hour?

A - Mice in a blender! (Margarita Night came to an abrupt halt once my friends discovered what the blender was used for besides frosty adult beverages!)

If it's possible to do it safely, you can offer them some water with a syringe/straw/pipette. Get thee to a computer terminal and start looking for a licensed (QUALIFIED) rehabber so the diagnosing/treatment can begin.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you can spare some "Mouse Money", please go over to www.hawktalk.org and click on the 'donate' button, or you can snail mail us a contribution to:

Monteen McCord
HawkTalk
P.O. Box 130
Holly Springs, GA 30142

Update from HawkTalk Headquarters!

We all have a story to tell...

...and this is mine.

David...

I will always love you...

Denise Release! Woot!

A perfect send-off!