Originally posted by grandpa2:
Another shining example of politically correct feel good policies gone wrong is the silly protection of the terns in the lower Columbia. The Corps of Engineers dredges and creates and island that is a gathering place for 10s of thousands of terns who feed on salmon and steelhead smolt by the ton. So we move them to their own little island further down...we artificially protect them so they can further imbalance nature. If you think about it it is a big joke...Once again I will say we could introduce pigs to the islands and soon there would be no more terns or they would move.
G'Pa you are SO right on this point. Having guided on the upper Columbia for years taught me that Seagulls/Terns are good for cleaning up, but too many with not enough dead stuff to eat is TROUBLE! Used to watch THOUSANDS circle around the dam snatching up smolts all day long. Found one that hit a wire and broke a wing and put it out of its misery. When I netted it and it got all panicky it started puking out smolts and there were like 8 smolts in that damn bird. I'm talking chunky 6-8 inch smolts too! Do the math!
Now they have somehow got the Pelicans exploding on the Snake/Columbia systems. How did this happen? I never saw them growing up. Did they introduce, or re-introduce them??? I shiver to think of how many smolts a grown Pelican can eat at one time. Beautiful birds and nice to have around, but lets keep their numbers in check. Really all boils down to a common sense issue, but as I have said so many times on this board before, we are not a common sense nation anymore......
Buzz
Previous Topic
Index
