Subject: Exotics and Anthropomorphism
Date: Aug 11 08:30:58 1999
From: Steven Kimball - sdkimball at earthlink.net


Great post Jon.

Of course it would have been better if humans hadn't thoughtlessly
introduced these species into new climes, but some people did and now we all
have to live with the consequences. We should focus our attention not on
bashing species that have already established a niche for themselves in new
environments but on not repeating the mistake with other species.

And, lest we forget, change, not stability, is the rule in the natural
world. Species migrated and went extinct long before the rise of
humankind, climate and topography changed, and all of this will continue to
occur long after we are gone from the planet. My gripe with human induced
change isn't that change takes place but that we change things so
thoughtlessly and carelessly. This is the area where WE need to change,
soon.

By the way did anyone else catch Attenborough's remark last night that all
of those stunning and amazing birds of paradise in New Guinea probably
evolved from some type of starling? Maybe a million years from now when we
are extinct, North America will be home to many other spectacular
descendents of these highly successful birds.

Steve Kimball
Federal Way, WA
skimball at halcyon.com





----- Original Message -----
From: Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney <festuca at olywa.net>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 2:25 PM
Subject: Exotics and Anthropomorphism


> Rahne Kirkham wrote:
>
> "I've hidden this from my fellow tweeters as long as I can but no more! I,
> Rahne, am really a starling and, as a card-carrying member of the
> N.A.S.A.L. (Non-indigeneous Avian Species Anti-defamation League),
> I must protest all the calumny, insults and threats heaped upon my
> species and my friends the Brown-headed Cowbirds, English Sparrows,
> Rock Doves etc. We have feelings, just like any indigenous birds. If you
> pluck us, do we not bleed?"
>
> Hi Tweets,
>
> I have to agree with Rahne's sentiments. I wonder when we're going to
> realize that Starlings, House Sparrows, Eastern Gray Squirrels, Nutria,
> lawn grasses, yellow iris, and Eurasian-Americans are all now a part
> of the Pacific Northwest native environment. They (and we) ain't gonna
> go away, and the dynamic populations of 'native' species will forever be
> required to interact with the 'exotics'. I usually get a bit of grief
from
> the 'serious' birders I go out with when I comment on how well the
> Starlings are feeding on the Crane Fly (another European exotic)
> larvae in my yard.
>
> Heck, I even get it from the Earth Goddesses when I put on a banding
> demonstration here in OlyWA. People who would pick up a bug in their
> house and remove it outside go into conniptions when I get a Starling or
> House Sparrow in my net and band and release it. "Don't you know that
> these are EXOTIC species that compete with the "native' birds?"!!
> When I explain that these 2 species are now part of the 'native'
> ecosystem and that killing a handful every year won't put a dent in the
> population but will make me feel bad (Dad taught me never to kill
> anything that I wasn't going to eat), they just consider me to be Not
> Ecologically Correct... Of course, these folks all plant their yards full
of
> Eurasian shrubs, ivy, and flowers, have fine "English" lawns full of
> Kentucky Bluegrass and other exotic species, and none of my local
> detractors - as yet - have had a drop of Salish blood in their bodies.
>
> >From sea to shining sea, we of the "conquering races" have done a
> fine job of completely changing the habitat. Even if we were to all re-
> emigrate back to London, Dublin, Bavaria, Castille, the low countries,
> Hong Kong or Shiba prefecture - this land would not revert back to the
> Pristine Condition of pre-Columbian America. The valley bottoms will
> have a myriad of non-native plants budding and blooming all around
> our rotting dwellings, ivy will force its tendrils through the forests,
and
> a thousand species of insects 'new' to this continent will remain long
> after our species has died away, evolved away or blasted ourselves
> off the face of the earth. The Earth is as it is, and as it will be: It
will
> never again be as it was.
>
> I don't think that we should begrudge a couple of 'exotic' species the
> courtesy and respect we would rightly bestow on a Robin or Song
> Sparrow....
>
> Jon. (thanking the group for letting me rant & rave) Anderson
> Olympia, Washington
> festuca at olywa.net
>