Hi Scott and other Tweeters!
Arthur Grimes' comment on trapping children allude to Johnathan Swift's satire, "A Modest Proposal," which suggested that the "problem" of "excessive" reproduction by poor Irish Catholics during the late 1800s could be solved by farming them for profit--fattening up their children and selling them to the British Protestants as a delicacy. It is a truly _gruesome_ thought, but this work is widely taught to be an example of satire as a literary technique. (Sadly, the fighting in Ireland continues.) I do _not_ wish to instigate discussion of the above topics, but provide them merely as the possible context of Grimes' comment.
Regarding traps and nets, I strongly agree with Jon Anderson that they must be very closely monitored (even 20 minutes in a trap is too long for my liking). A wild bird can become severely stressed upon capture -- I write from experience -- and cannot be equally compared to a domestic chicken that has been raised in captivity and caged throughout its life. The Ornithological Council's GUIDELINES TO THE USE OF WILD BIRDS IN RESEARCH, Edited by Abbot S. Gaunt & Lewis W. Oring, says that even Starlings and other non-native species should receive humane treatment (see Section C: Methods for Collecting Specimens). The full text can be found at http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/GuideToUse

Lisa Godina
LMGodina at iname.com
Olympia, WA

---- Scott Underwood wrote:
> Wow, I was Jon's side of the question, but in no way can I fathom the:
> child = starling
> equation, as much as I truly love our feathered friends :-)
>
> There are more rational arguments.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Scott Underwood
> Bothell, WA
> mailto:sunderwood at horizonsoft.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
> [mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of Arthur & Meg Grimes
> Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2001 7:47 PM
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu; stevendkimball at home.com
> Subject: RE: More on Starlings
>
>
> Well..... maybe Michelle is right.
> We could all build larger versions of the "trap" and set them up in
> local parks and school yards to catch all those children that are
> "over-populating this planet" and are "the very base of all our
> environmental problems".
> Hey, maybe even Gail Norton will stumble into one.
>
> I agree with Steven, "me thinks the lady doth protest too much"
>
> arthur
> agrimes94 at earthlink.net
> Edmonds, wa.98020
>


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