Your tax dollars at work, killing cowbirds!
January 24, 2011 6:54 PM Subscribe
Remember those mass die-offs of birds a few weeks ago...? It may have not be such a mystery at all. The USDA has played a role in those events, all in the interest of protecting YOU as part of operation Bye Bye Blackbird.
2009 Program Data is interesting, thanks to the relentless efforts of the USDA, you may never again be accosted by cowbirds, now that they've killed off over a million of them. Not to mention that you're now safe from the 27,000 Beavers, nearly a million red-wing blackbirds, 30,000 assorted doves, 336 American Kestrels, five hairy woodpeckers and thousands of other furred, feathered and scaled creatures they intentionally killed.
I'll sleep better tonight!
I'll sleep better tonight!
This post was deleted for the following reason: might be a good idea to put this together in a post with a little less editorializing. It's definitely a shitty thing that happened, but this is not a great tone to set for a MeFi post on the subject. -- jessamyn
U-S-A! U-S-A!
posted by Joe Beese at 6:56 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Joe Beese at 6:56 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
You're doing a heck of a job!
posted by amethysts at 6:59 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by amethysts at 6:59 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Needs more chemtrails.
posted by Kinbote at 6:59 PM on January 24, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Kinbote at 6:59 PM on January 24, 2011 [2 favorites]
Killing just five of a species sounds oddly personal. Did that woodpecker family live in a researcher's backyard?
posted by 2bucksplus at 7:04 PM on January 24, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by 2bucksplus at 7:04 PM on January 24, 2011 [3 favorites]
Jesus Christ, editorialize much?
posted by paisley henosis at 7:09 PM on January 24, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by paisley henosis at 7:09 PM on January 24, 2011 [4 favorites]
Reminds me of the D-Squads in Headhunter, by Timothy Findley.
Needs more chemtrails.
I thought the link was going to be cranky, but the data seems to be pretty solid.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:10 PM on January 24, 2011
Needs more chemtrails.
I thought the link was going to be cranky, but the data seems to be pretty solid.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:10 PM on January 24, 2011
Your tags are intentionally misleading, i'm afraid.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:11 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:11 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
paisley... actually those are just facts, my editorializing on that would have been a bit more harsh.
posted by HuronBob at 7:11 PM on January 24, 2011
posted by HuronBob at 7:11 PM on January 24, 2011
27K+ Beavers killed? Is this all population control or are some of kills part of the fur trade?
The idea of Feral cows is amusing though.
Interesting also is they only report a few hundred mice; I wonder what the threshold is that had those animals reported and not the millions of others killed every year.
posted by Mitheral at 7:15 PM on January 24, 2011
The idea of Feral cows is amusing though.
Interesting also is they only report a few hundred mice; I wonder what the threshold is that had those animals reported and not the millions of others killed every year.
posted by Mitheral at 7:15 PM on January 24, 2011
I don't believe the USDA is out there trapping Beavers for the fur trade. These are listed as "intentional kills" in their data.
I wish the data included the reason for the kills, it would be interesting to know why they targeted (damn, can we even use that word any more??? :-\ ) single animals.
posted by HuronBob at 7:17 PM on January 24, 2011
I wish the data included the reason for the kills, it would be interesting to know why they targeted (damn, can we even use that word any more??? :-\ ) single animals.
posted by HuronBob at 7:17 PM on January 24, 2011
All the bird deaths are not linked to this incident. Nor were all the creatures in the spreadsheet killed by poison, some may have been trapped or shot. Even a few were relocated. You can't relocate every creature though because there isn't enough habitat. So you do what you have to in order to manage the population. It sounds like this is a local incident.
I can sympathize with the farmers though as a someone who grew up in the farm country and had some issues with beavers. For example 27K beavers were killed across 39 states. Perhaps if you depended upon irrigation ditches and water rights for your livelihood you might feel a bit differently about the fucking Beavers. After they've cut down a few thousand dollars worth of trees and blocked the irrigation ditch for the 3rd time this month you'll find that your perspective has changed significantly.
Also I came home this afternoon and the fucking rabbits in my inner suburb far removed for the wilderness had eaten every last fucking winter cabbage and kale to the ground. In the country it would have been a my .22 and rabbit stew. Instead I'm eating store bought cabbage and waiting for spring. My cousin the rancher has offered to send me wolves from his place in Wyoming. I suspect this would violate several laws as well as create a bit of kerfuffle at the neighborhood association meeting.
posted by humanfont at 7:22 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
I can sympathize with the farmers though as a someone who grew up in the farm country and had some issues with beavers. For example 27K beavers were killed across 39 states. Perhaps if you depended upon irrigation ditches and water rights for your livelihood you might feel a bit differently about the fucking Beavers. After they've cut down a few thousand dollars worth of trees and blocked the irrigation ditch for the 3rd time this month you'll find that your perspective has changed significantly.
Also I came home this afternoon and the fucking rabbits in my inner suburb far removed for the wilderness had eaten every last fucking winter cabbage and kale to the ground. In the country it would have been a my .22 and rabbit stew. Instead I'm eating store bought cabbage and waiting for spring. My cousin the rancher has offered to send me wolves from his place in Wyoming. I suspect this would violate several laws as well as create a bit of kerfuffle at the neighborhood association meeting.
posted by humanfont at 7:22 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's becoming apparent that there's some corollary to Rule 34 that, if you can imagine it, the U.S. Government has a taxpayer-funded program for killing it.
posted by mhoye at 7:22 PM on January 24, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 7:22 PM on January 24, 2011 [5 favorites]
They were to meet in the dark corner of a parking garage in a quiet part of town. The man looked around, shaking his head at the cliche this location was, this cloak and dagger that he'd read in mystery novels a hundred times. Behind him, he heard a faint, snorting chuckle. Turning, he saw his contact, and spotted the crown gleaming dully on his green head. "I'm Mr. Ro..." He stopped as the green head shook, its snout wrinkling up as if in distaste. "Ah, very well then, no names. You have the money?" The head nodded this time, a gleam in its eye that he tried to place. "Good. I have confirmation from my partners. We have the people in place at the USDA. As soon as we've determined that you've brought the full amount, it will begin." The eyes across from him closed once, as if in prayer, then opened. There was that gleam again... ah, he had it now. Revenge. Revenge, and relief. He picked the suitcase off the ground. "Assuming this checks out, the birds should be dead in a matter of weeks. Pleasure doing business with you." He turned and left, hearing that snorting laughter louder now. The big grin he had seen just before he'd left would haunt him the rest of that day.
posted by booksherpa at 7:27 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by booksherpa at 7:27 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Those doves had it coming.
THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:27 PM on January 24, 2011
THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:27 PM on January 24, 2011
humanfont.. I'll take the wolves, and I know someone that will foster the rabbits, we'll do it in trade for some great greens grown in my local organic coop farm... win/win/win/win!
You're right, to some extent there are probably some legitimate controls taking place... but, too often, I'm afraid, we error in favor of business and convenience instead of what's just plain right. It was the magnitude of the project that got my attention.
posted by HuronBob at 7:29 PM on January 24, 2011
You're right, to some extent there are probably some legitimate controls taking place... but, too often, I'm afraid, we error in favor of business and convenience instead of what's just plain right. It was the magnitude of the project that got my attention.
posted by HuronBob at 7:29 PM on January 24, 2011
HuronBob writes "I wish the data included the reason for the kills, it would be interesting to know why they targeted (damn, can we even use that word any more??? :-\ ) single animals."
The single or very low number kills can make sense. Every once and a while an animal will fall in love with some particular thing (last year a woodpecker fell in love with the rain cap of my shop's B-Vent and would drive me crazy hammering away at it) and sometimes that thing is a hazard. So if, to make up an example, some hawk decided to set up house at an airport the airport authority might be forced to kill it after relocation attempts were unsuccessful to prevent damage to airplanes and the people inside it.
posted by Mitheral at 7:30 PM on January 24, 2011
The single or very low number kills can make sense. Every once and a while an animal will fall in love with some particular thing (last year a woodpecker fell in love with the rain cap of my shop's B-Vent and would drive me crazy hammering away at it) and sometimes that thing is a hazard. So if, to make up an example, some hawk decided to set up house at an airport the airport authority might be forced to kill it after relocation attempts were unsuccessful to prevent damage to airplanes and the people inside it.
posted by Mitheral at 7:30 PM on January 24, 2011
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