At 07:35 PM 11/18/98 -0800, ravenn at premier1.net wrote:

>I certainly believe that studies should be done on the affect of
>dropping off animals in unknown territory and their survival rate. Is
>there anyone out there who has been a part of such studies?

I agree. My impression is that owls, in particular young ones that
end up in weird places in winter, tend to be pretty successful at
surviving the season. The snowy that lived on pigeons in the Capital
District of Seattle. That great gray that was in the equestrian park
south of the city for a couple of months.

On the other hand, a species which is such a source of controversy
may've just gotten the bios nervous. Shooting is, in my opinion,
a definite possibility. USF&W doesn't attempt to relocate endangered
peregrines that take up city residence, so I don't think it's just a
knee jerk "move ESA listed species away from people" reaction.

My impression is that USF&W has acted out of some sense of paranoia,
and though I personally was surprised and disappointed that they took
the owl so quickly, I do have sympathy for that paranoia...


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