Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Latestarter]

If they're useless and destructive I'm surprised the govt out there hasn't listed them as endangered and put protection on them. On the front range in CO (starting in the peoples republic of boulder) they did that with black tailed prairie dogs. Results were farmers lost their land because the pests destroyed crops and land. One thing I never understood though... the protection never stopped govt agencies from mass destroying the colonies if they interfered with something the govt wanted to do... Strange huh? You know, another thing I never understood was how all that "open space" land came to be govt owned, which used to be farmers/ranchers properties... or huge corporate developers for massive subdivisions & malls... Kinda makes one wonder, doesn't it?

 

[babsbag]

If they're useless and destructive I'm surprised the govt out there hasn't listed them as endangered and put protection on them.

So true

 

[animalmom]

Sp you ARE on a tear today aren't you @Latestarter! Not that you've said anything I wouldn't agree with, mind you.

 

[misfitmorgan]

If they're useless and destructive I'm surprised the govt out there hasn't listed them as endangered and put protection on them. On the front range in CO (starting in the peoples republic of boulder) they did that with black tailed prairie dogs. Results were farmers lost their land because the pests destroyed crops and land. One thing I never understood though... the protection never stopped govt agencies from mass destroying the colonies if they interfered with something the govt wanted to do... Strange huh? You know, another thing I never understood was how all that "open space" land came to be govt owned, which used to be farmers/ranchers properties... or huge corporate developers for massive subdivisions & malls... Kinda makes one wonder, doesn't it?

Kirtland Warbler......or should i say kirtland warbler recovery plan that was put into place 40+yrs ago. The "plan" now has 220,000 acres of land devoted to this bird. There are approx 5,000 birds total and they only use the michigan breeding groups in spring/summer and fall/winter is in the bahamas. 5,000 birds doesnt seem like a lot but there have been 5,000 since 2007 while more ground has been added to the plan's reserves. The entire reason they supposedly were almost extinct started in the Ice Age because the great lakes trapped them in michigan and these birds only nest in trees a certain age and height and location...etc....

It's all a load of bull because they have found the birds successfully nesting in places like Walmart signs. I also find it hilarious that they say the birds were "trapped" by the great lakes....the birds that fly to the bahamas and back yearly. And also they capture and kill approx 4,000 cowbirds a year to keep them from laying eggs in the kirtland nests. Maybe there is something wrong with my thinking but im thinking if you have to catch and kill 4,000 other birds a year to keep another bird alive....mother nature didnt intend for it to be around any longer. In 40+ years they have only gone from approx 500 birds to 5,000...thats pretty poor by most endangered species programs. I am however not a fan of cowbirds...but thats another story.

 

[Bruce]

Oh, come on, tell the little guy to hold still while you count the bands. They are like snow...nice in someone else's yard; and cute too.

Our ground squirrels aren't exactly chipmunks. The are MUCH bigger and dig tunnels and caverns everywhere. They live in colonies like prairie dogs and you can be walking through a field and all of a sudden the ground gives way and you just found a tunnel. My dogs kill them but they are too big for the cats. We shoot and poison as they do severe damage to structures and orchards. Also, the rattlesnakes will get in the entrance to the holes and then the poor dogs get bit when trying to get to the squirrels. Useless creatures all the way around.

You want holes? "Get" some woodchucks. Their tunnels are about 9 or 10 inches wide. They love layer pellets.

 

[NH homesteader]

Everyone around me has woodchucks.... I have never had one here (I know, I'm totally going to end up with 50 of them now). They're so cute! On someone else's land...

 

[farmerjan]

You want holes? "Get" some woodchucks. Their tunnels are about 9 or 10 inches wide. They love layer pellets.

Yeah, we have the equivalent of "woodchucks" called "ground hogs" here in Va. They can get like prairie dog towns in fields - okay maybe not for miles - but in 2 different years, BROKE the front spindle on 2 different tractors dropping the front end into an unseen new set of holes in 2 different hay fields. To the tune of $1,000 a spindle not counting time and effort to replace, downtime when hay needs to be made....GRRRR
I hate them about the worst of anything. They undermine the foundations on buildings, can run like all get out, and can devastate the garden in a hurry. Way too big for the cats and I don't have a dog right now...apples and peanut butter in the live trap and a date with a .22. They are mean too, will turn on you if cornered. They don't attack the chickens at least...

 

[farmerjan]

Everyone around me has woodchucks.... I have never had one here (I know, I'm totally going to end up with 50 of them now). They're so cute! On someone else's land...

Thank your dogs; and no there is NO WAY they are cute....

 

[Bruce]

The baby chucks are cute ... until you remember that they will grow up to be not so cute. Yep they love to move stones in a fieldstone foundation. Block off one entrance and they just shove another stone out. NOT GOOD!

They are ground squirrels, BIG squirrels. Supposedly they can even climb trees though I've only seen them running their fat selves to their holes.

 

[NH homesteader]

They are cute! Big fat things. Lol. I'm not saying I forbid shooting them or that I want them around. I just think they're kind of cute in a kind of homely way!