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On 6/24/2014 9:39 PM, Fred Schueler wrote:
> * I trust it will be okay with you if I quote this to the Ontario Herp
> Atlas page? My main thought about 'coons is that, charming as they may
> be individually, the main ecological response of humanity to their
> numbers should be to exploit their delicious character - it's not just
> dogs that used eat them.
* sorry this went to the list - I don't fully understand the reply
functions on my two e-mail.
fred.
=====================================
>> a key message that I have attempted to convey many times, with
>> limited success it seems, is the overriding importance of habitat and
>> this includes air, water, climate and freedom from disruptions.
>>
>> If these necessary conditions are out of whack and getting
>> whackier then the only thing protected when you deliniate a 'protected
>> area' is the delusion that the life forms within that area are thereby
>> protected.
>>
>> The Painted Turtle is a good example of an animal that has a dim
>> future due mostly to good intentions gone sour. Some 70 years ago they
>> were abundant in every pond on our Cornwallis River meadow in
>> Cambridge. Seeing a Raccoon track there, in any of the numerous muddy
>> areas, was a big event. Dogs were not chained then and any Raccoon
>> that came near settlement was likely to be given a canine escort to
>> elsewhere. We grew corn every year, some fields ~1/4 mile from the
>> nearest house and never lost a cob to Raccoons.
>>
>> Unfortunately we now have the mirror image of the above, dogs not
>> allowed to run and Raccoons abundant everywhere. This would all be
>> harmless enough except for one circumstance. Raccoons are fond of
>> turtle eggs and quickly learn when and where to look for them.
>>
>> Raccoons numbers were lowered by disease recently but that will be
>> temporary. As I noted some years ago on Naturens ~15?), those who want
>> to save Painted Turtles should build Raccoon barriers over turtle egg
>> laying sites.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
> Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
> Vulnerable Watersheds - http://vulnerablewaters.blogspot.ca/
> study our books - http://pinicola.ca/books/index.htm
> RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0
> on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W
> (613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
> striving to be, with Rachel Carson,
> "fanatic defender[s] of the cult of the balance of nature"
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
--
------------------------------------------------------------
Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
Vulnerable Watersheds - http://vulnerablewaters.blogspot.ca/
study our books - http://pinicola.ca/books/index.htm
RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W
(613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
------------------------------------------------------------
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