Subject: Re: Proposed dog runs at Magnuson Park
Date: Nov 8 13:38:59 1995
From: "M. Smith" - whimbrel at u.washington.edu


On Wed, 8 Nov 1995, Emily & Leonard Mandelbaum wrote:
> where all those cliff swallows nest in summer (where do the swallows go
> year trial. Will the swallows return and try to next another year if the
> dogs scare them away during the trial year? Last winter I saw a couple
> snow buntings on that beach altho I have no idea if it's a preferred
> area for them.

Emily, I doubt the swallows will have a problem with dogs, unless the
dogs figure out how to climb cement walls. Swallows seem to not mind
interacting with humans. A building I used to hold classes in had Barn
Swallows nesting in it, and they coexisted with us, no big deal. And as
for the Snow Buntings, congratulations on seeing them, but that can
hardly be considered a 'preferred area' for them.

> Maybe I'm over reacting on this but I don't see the non-significance
> of this project, so please let me know. Thanks. I typed this awfully

I think many people will overreact to this issue. Just to clarify
things, I don't own a dog, but I am certainly a dog fan. Still, I
believe objectively that this proposal is a good thing. The real thing
that needs to be monitored is how much poop the owners leave laying
around. If that gets to be a nuisance, no more leash-free area. Or
perhaps charge dog-owners a small fee to pay for a poop picker-upper (any
volunteers?). But I think using wildlife as the justification for
keeping dogs on-leash at Magnuson isn't really objective. That place is
full of species which are there because people are (or because people
have altered the area). And as for dogs chasing rodents around, I think
the only ones they'd catch there would of the genus _Rattus_.

Just my humble opinion.

And yahoo for defeat of 48!!!!!

-------------
Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html