World Bird Sanctuary Volunteer Jennifer Jones has written an article about how some of the things we take for granted in our everyday lives can negatively impact wildlife, and gives us some alternatives that we can easily implement. Following is the first in a series of Jennifer’s suggestions.
In today’s modern world we find many new ways to try to improve on our daily lives and activities. However, these improvements can sometimes have a negative impact on not only our health, but our environment as well. I would like to give you a few examples of these in this and subsequent articles, and then some suggestions on how we can improve ourselves to save not only our lives but those in the wild as well.
In my experience as a volunteer with the World Bird Sanctuary, I have come to know of at least 3 things that affect our birds of prey alone. I will talk about 2 of those in this series.
The first is how we kill rodents. How many of you use poisons to kill mice? These poisons are not good. They are not only inhumane but they also cause accidental secondary poisoning. Mice or rats that have been poisoned can take up to 72 hours to die. So these mice or rats are the ones that are easily caught by owls or hawks, since they are the ones that are moving the slowest. It takes only one poisoned mouse to kill a barn owl. One wrong choice and that bird is gone!
Estimates vary as to how many rodents a Barn Owl consumes in a year’s time. Several University of California studies indicated that an adult Barn Owl can consume 1 to 2 rodents per night. Using this number, that would put rodent consumption at close to 6000 mice per year for a Barn Owl family consisting of 2 adults and 5 or 6 young. This study was conducted in the Berkely, California area. Studies by other organizations in other parts of the country indicate that the number of rodents consumed in any given area was determined by the abundance and type of available prey.
Many of you do not live in areas where barn owls are found though. So, what is the best trap to use instead of poisons? The good old-fashioned snap trap, which is a much more humane method. A snap trap usually kills the mice instantly, or within a few seconds, instead of hours or days. Or—if you can’t bear the thought of killing even a rodent, perhaps a live trap would be a better solution for you. Take them far away from the house and set them free. The birds will love you for it.
The Barn Owl was just taken off the endangered list in the state of MO. Let’s keep it off that list. The Barn Owl is still endangered in many other states.
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