|
 |
By
the end of the week I sometimes find my self looking
feverishly for some topic or another to write about before the
weekend is over. I don’t know why I tend to panic since I’ve
been at this for over fifteen years and haven’t missed a week
yet that I can remember.
What I do when I get stumped for something to expound upon, I
usually just read some of the daily news and invariably I
manage to find a topic worth commenting upon.
This week is no exception.
While most of us are blindly going about our daily lives
worrying about the trivial matters of the day such as global
warfare, rising taxes, our personal health, mortgages, job lay
offs and our kids test scores, we are for the most part
completely oblivious to the ever pressing dangers of the
alarming increase in the population of the double-crested
cormorant.
Yes, I’d like to draw your attention away from the news of
terrorism and possible suicide attacks in our neighborhoods
and have you take a moment to consider this little noticed
fact.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the current
population of the previously mentioned bird is now at a
resounding two million birds. Yes, fellow Americans, you read
it correct…..TWO MILLION BIRDS!!!!!
Now, for the benefit of those out there who aren’t familiar
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they are not an
agency working on behalf of the seafood restaurants and
collegiate nightlife of America. No, this is a serious agency
who actually hires real people to count birds and fish. How
they actually do this is a national security secret and cannot
be discussed in a family newspaper, or anywhere else for that
matter.
Yours truly has learned that this protected and almost at one
time extinct bird is now responsible for millions upon
millions of instances of fish-napping.
Do not confuse this issue with somnambulism among bass, it
isn’t the same.
Apparently the now prolific double-crested cormorant has
reverted to snatching fish (napping) from the areas that it
inhabits.
This has angered many groups.
Obviously the fish are most likely the most angered, but since
we can’t find a spokesman for them as of yet, we have only to
listen to the complaints of disgusted fishermen, fish farmers
and one other unnamed federal agency as to how they are
affected.
We do understand that a lawyer from Alabama is now claiming he
is on the verge of obtaining a contract to represent the fish
populations for an undisclosed fee arrangement. He is also
work with Disney Studios on the movie rights as well.
Anyway, these naturally hungry birds which have increased
dramatically in numbers since they were placed on the
endangered species list back in 1972 are back to their old
tricks of looking for food in the waterways where they live.
The nerve.
I mean, here is this species of bird about to go the way of
the Passenger Pigeon, the Do-Do bird and who knows whatever,
when it gets listed as endangered and has now made a
spectacular comeback only to return and be treated as a menace
because it does what?
Yes, it actually eats fish.
Can you believe it?
Yes, my friends the sad story is that this bird is now on the
‘bad bird’ list in no less than seventeen states as being a
nuisance.
This of course causes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
make a dramatic decision which includes, hold your breath, the
‘use of lethal means’.
To us, I think this means these birds can now be killed if
they are caught with a fish in their little beaks.
The Fish and Wildlife Service refers to their guidelines as
‘public resource depredation orders’. In other words, a
hunting season on these critters. They go on to
say….”populations are increasing and cormorants have been
shown to cause localized impacts to natural and economic
resources…”
So, there you have it. Another good plan gone bad. No telling
how much we spent to identify and count the declining bird
population in the years before they were declared endangered.
Then how much more did we spend to enforce the ban on any harm
to the double-crested cormorant? Now we have to come along and
perform another survey to find that the increased number of
birds eat more fish, so we have to thin the population to make
the fishermen and fish farmers happy, which costs more money.
Looks to me like we could have just used all of that federal
money to go to the pet food store and buy something the birds
liked and kept them happy on it while saving us a bunch of tax
payer dollars.
It makes me wonder if there isn’t some poor guy sitting in
some federal prison cell after having been convicted of
shooting one of these when they were on the endangered list.
You think one of those people charged with counting these
birds or how many fish they eat remember him?
|
