A New Friend

[wingnut]

Mark, I completely agree with you .... and it bugs me every day when I drive into town to work .... here in Michigan it seems there's no restrictions on selling off farm land, so gradually, the roads I drive on are being hemmed in with houses on lots the farms sell off.
Hopefully I'll be retired before there's none of the farmland left on that drive.
Although we're well known for the number of deer/car accidents, I enjoy watching them (or even for them) ... last week we had a beautiful day and Carolyn and I were driving into town to visit her mother ... one of the fields had over 30 deer out there pawing the snow searching for feed ... and another field had an estimated 100+ turkeys. [img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img]

[Pat]

I seem to have a way higher than usual number of hawks on our quarter section this year, 2-3 different species. So many people around here think hawk = bad and try to shoot them that maybe the negative pressures haved driven them to our place as a sanctuary... I hope so because I don't shoot at them. Lots of folks think hawks are responsible for low quail population etc. These are many of the same people who shoot turtles in fishing ponds so they won't eat the fish.

The most common turtle here is the red ear. Sure they don''t have external ears but they have a red blotch where it would be. These are carnivorous when young but are too small to do much to game fish and become omnivorous as they begin to mature and are STRICT vegetarians by the time they get large enough to attract the attention of the turtle shooters.

I rehabilitated a horned owl once. It had been caught by someone who cliped one of its wings but it had escaped and turned up on someone's back porch and then turned over to the animal control folks. I got wind of it and called them claiminmg it was "MY OWL." They charged me 85 cents a day for the chicken parts it ate and turned it over to me. I built it a large cage and raised rats to feed it till it could fly OK and then took it up in the mountains and released it after the snow had begun to melt and there wre lots of rodent sign. I had it for several months and resisted the urge to get close and personal as I wanted it to be wild as possible. It was a beautiful animal and I have to admit I liked to watch it kill and eat adult rats.

Now I am told it is a federal violation to posses an owl feather unless you are specifically liscensed or are an American Indian using it for ceremonial purposes.

PS, I saw a bald eagle in a tree right next to the road last week.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[wingnut]

<font color="blue"> PS, I saw a bald eagle in a tree right next to the road last week. </font color>
Last fall, our goldwing group did a "fall color tour" north of here, and one of our "rest stops" was a lake that has a resident group of baldies .... there were too many people around for them to light ... but I got some decent pictures of them flying their circles ..... that's the only way I'll shoot any type of raptors.

By the way, Cindi, good to see you posting again ... I really enjoyed your posts when you originally joined our "little" group and forgot how much I enjoyed the stories while I was on my long hiatus .... always manage to bring a smile ...

[itsmeCindi]

I think it is extremely sad and unforgivable to kill an animal for any reason other than food. I have an affinity for turtles that goes way back to my childhood and to this day will stop on a busy highway and retrieve one from the road because I know some people make a game out of running over them.

It is our duty to help and protect any wild animal we see that is in trouble and as hunters and country people, to house and harvest farm animals responsibly and humanely. Some people think that you have to be one way or the other; either animal rights activist or blatant abuser. That there is a fine line between protecting and harvesting...but that's simply not true.

There is a very broad line between hunting, and farming responsibly and waste and misuse. We are not as a species stupid. We know how many deer we need from season to season in our freezer. We know better than to kill a buck just for a rack. We know better than to kill a turtle to protect a fish. We know that it is wrong to run down an animal in the road unless there is absolutely no safe way to avoid it.

It makes me boiling mad and has made me many enemies when I find out that someone treats an animal inhumanely. We can, as the "smarter" species, avoid stupid mistakes and carelessness by following our hearts and common sense, and I never miss an opportunity to preach on that very subject. Of course in this case, I know I am preaching to the choir. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[spunkey22]

I used to ride with my husband, He is a truck driver, Up to the midwest, and we would count the hawks we would see. I counted up to 60 one day. just perched on a limb or powerline just waiting for a meal to come along. They'er awsome, are'nt they? That is what i miss the most since my better or should i say badder half has left, [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] no more rides...I also saw an eagle in Iowa. Most of the hawks we saw were in Mo.

[itsmeCindi]

I think one of the intriguing things about hawks is that they can't rotate their eyes. Being raptors, (or hunters) they have no need to be able to look to the sides to get away from something that is after them. Their eyes are set in the front of their heads, so they have to turn their head to look at what they want to see, so when they look at you...they really look at you. Full on. It gives you a chance to see their whole face. I like that.

[mfaley]

Peter,
We just continue to see large chunks of land being sold off for large homes. I am not putting anyone down here but I cant see a family of four needing a 4,000 sq ft house. My inlaws live down the hill from us in a gated community and they share a 4,500 sq foot 2 bedroom house. I just dont get it....

100+ turkeys [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] I thought the 30 or so we would get are a lot so I cant even imagine what 100 would look like.

Mark

[wingnut]

Mark .... we're continuing to see the large herds of deer at dusk ... turkey flocks depend on whether we're in the right place. One field close to a new church being built on the outskirts of town continue to provide very large flocks. If I want small amounts like 10-20, I just need to leave work a little earlier. Our office building is in town, but there's a large "green belt" beside us that seems to house a large amount of turkeys and quite a few deer. I have to hit the brakes for birds and deer more often just before I turn in the drive to the office than I do out in the country.
I'll have to start carrying the camera (usually don't because they're forbidden at work) so I can show you what a large flock looks like. In the snow ... it looks like a lot less snow [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ... those are pretty big birds!
I don't recall many days out in the pasture that I don't hear them in the woods. Hard to believe they were almost in danger of being wiped out at one time ....

pete