Peggi wrote:
>Well, I get the feeling I'm outnumbered here!

I do not wish to gang up against you or rehabbers in general.

>seems to be a great deal of discussion regarding the "saving oiled animals"
>thing. This is a very small part of rehabbing.

I understand. I specifically addressed oiled birds based on experience
and personal interest.

>I still maintain that it's
>not the rehabilitation of these animals that is causing the problem. The
>problem is greed on the part of the oil companys who WILL NOT spend the
>money to transport their product safely.

It's not just transport... Small spills are routine... Gulf War oil
spills killed lots of birds...

What troubles me about oiled bird treatment:
1) The people (volunteers, mostly) helping out often do not realize that
the grebe or scoter they are bonding with is likely to die despite their
efforts.
2) Many volunteers do not make the distinction between saving an individual
and restoring a population, and may equate the two inappropriately.
3) The public at large, seeing on TV the cleanup operation, falls into a
false sense of security about the true impact of oil on marine birds. The
public also has little opportunity to learn about situations 1 & 2.
4) A complacent public does not demand safer transport of oil, does not
curb petroleum use.
5) An oil company can obtain positive PR by contributing to cleanup centers
or operations.

There's probably a 6 and 7, but that's probably enough to get my idea
across.
I believe there can be more power in *not* saving these lives.
Now, when people see a crude-dripping murre or oil-encased loon, they
often think: "We must save them", or worse, "It's okay, we can save them."
What people should be thinking is, "This must not happen!"
Save those oily carcasses and deliver them to policymakers. Take an
enshrouded puffin into that classroom. Explain that the vast majority of
oiled marine birds never washed ashore alive. Explain that cleaning and
releasing birds doesn't mean everything is okay.
Treating oiled birds is good for some individual birds and most human
participants in the process, but it's a wasteful approach to conserving bird
populations and it's diminishing the message the public needs to hear about
the effects of oil on birds.
Cleaning operations are not so much a good thing as a "necessary" evil.
--
Scott Richardson
NE Seattle
salix at halcyon.com