At 12:37 PM 2/3/98 -0800, wings at olympus.net wrote:

>Several years ago I was in conversation with a couple of Oregon Dept. Fish
>& Wildlife biologists. If I remember correctly, one of them reported a
>phone call he'd received, first from an irate state legislator who was
>following up on a request from a constituent, and his subsequent talk with
>the constituent. The person had found a Spotted Owl in their barn, and
>wanted it out of there. They were reluctant to do anything about it
>themselves for fear of the wrath of regulatory-types, and seemed angry that
>they had this problem on their hands in the first place. The biologist
>queried, "You say this owl is in your barn?" "Yes!" "What makes you think
>it's a Spotted Owl?" "Because it has these little black spots all over it."
>"Is the bird mostly white, with a sort of heart-shaped face?" "Yes" ....

ODF&W was plagued by such misidentifications when the nso issue flared up in
the late 1980s (ironically shortly after James Geisinger, a leading timber
lobbyist, virtually declared victory and allowed himself to be quoted in the
newspaper saying "we've not yet given up the dream of logging in National
Parks and designated Wilderness" - hah! no wonder I have no sympathy for
the industry!).

My favorite was an editorial in the Bend daily, though, that haughtily
proclaimed that nso not only don't need old-growth, but actually don't
need forests at all to nest in. "As recent months have shown, spotted
owls nest EVERYWHERE, even in junk yards like the pair in <a location
I've forgotten>".

Of course, folks were calling ODF&W with every pair of owls they found
anywhere, and our most obvious nesting owl is of course 'old Bubo the
great horned beast, which would probably do quite well in a junk yard...

I wonder if ODF&W, during this exhausting period, kept any data? When you
think about it, the eagerness of rural Oregonians to prove that spotted
owls nest everywhere probably resulted in the most comprehensive survey
of GHO, screech, and barn owl nest sites ever performed in the state! :)



- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net