1. Dark circles under eyes 2. Eat junk food 3. Cute 4. A little chubby 5. I will fight you 6. Possibly rabid
I lived near a large cemetery in Chicago, for five years. I commuted past the cemetery by bicycle (in retrospect, biking 20 miles a day through Chicago housing projects wasn't the smartest thing I ever did, but not quite the stupidest thing, either). I often noticed crowds of people throwing something over the tall iron fences surrounding the cemetery. One night, I stopped and watched. They were throwing loaves of bread to what appeared to be dozens of very large raccoons. They were huge! Their pairs of eyes shone in the flashlights, looking like orcs about to invade. Or gremlins. Now, living in the countryside in Washington State, the only raccoons I see are the ones I see on the road, having tried to cross at the most terribly wrong moment. I suspect some as the serial killers of hens and ducks, but cant prove it. Now, the poultry have high protective fencing and are in closed coops at night. The raccoons will have to journey to Chicago to join their relatives, eating Wonderbread, instead.
That was an enjoyably account, Daniel. The only racoons we have over here are pets. They are interesting to watch on film.
Believe me Sjoerd, if two of those "pets" of the opposite sex escape, you'll have racoons over there!
Mate, I know, I know— I worry that that has already happened. The government is now working on laws to limit what folks can keep as pets andfor punishments for people who are tired if keeping their exotic pets and just let them go. Back when we did the bird nest protection, we found a portion of a dead parrot from Australia out in a field. It is worrying.
The government did regulate laws against keeping exotic pets or other animals considered are protected from becoming hunted trapped or as pets. I’m sure you have heard about the the documentary ‘Tiger King’ . Thanks to that documentary on Netflix it is now illegal to travel with tigers and lion cubs , monkey’s, snakes etc. and many other animals that were abused and sold as pets. Sjoerd ..‘Just curious what birds were you protecting and you must have been horrified to see the parrot .
Pac. Protecting migratory birds’ nests that nest in our country in the spring. Many different types, but some are— godwits, oyster-crackers, redshanks, lapwings, curlew. My job was to find nests, count eggs and record how many hatched or were destroyed. No ringing. We used a handheld satnav to record the location of each nest then posted the info onto the organisation's internet map. I found the work interesting, useful and enjoyable. I had an aptitude for finding the nests it turned out. About the parrot— well, I wasn’t so horrified as surprised. When you sre focused on signs of nesting, and you see the leftovers of a domestic bird, well…it takes a minute or two to register what is happening. Here are some of my earlier postings on here about the bird protection: https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/weidevogel-conservation.26325/#post-239290 https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/surprises-in-the-fields.29413/#post-267202 https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/birds-of-a-feather.32500/#post-296003 You may find them interesting.
1....2.....3.....4....5....and 6!!!! (....I think I need a Snickers.....) ( Hubby says #9....come down to the fridge and see what I can steal....( no snickers for him hee hee hee)
My son in law is a Biologist, currently working as an Entimologist. But heavily involved in birds and bird counts. I would happily share this with him
