The state of wildlife

[peterk123]

The deer discussion got me thinking. Well that, and I just finished watching Life on our Planet on Netflix. Does it really matter if we wipe out all the deer, elk, wolves and anything else that lives where people do?

Think about it for a minute. I will pick on massachusetts, only because it is the only other state I really know well. Much of it is sterile. Heck, hardly even have insects. I remember driving to the reservoir to fish with my dad as a kid. In ten minutes the windshield was full of dead bugs. Not anymore. Bats are gone. I notice that there are a fraction of the birds. Nobody really cares. And it has no impact on anyone's life. No bugs is a good thing right? All we need really are a bunch of breweries, bars and restaurants. It is the modern day jungle.

We don't need wildlife. We don't use them for food anymore. If anything, they're pests. Deer eat our gardens. Coyotes eat our pets.

During the last 4 billion years we have had plenty of mass extinctions. Maybe we are part of the process of the next one.

I love the outdoors. I love animals. But much of that is due to the fact that I love to hunt. I certainly don't need to hunt. I can get what I need from the grocery store. Maybe these pesky animals everywhere and open lands need to make way for the next stage of the planet's life where there is nothing left but humans.

Maybe I'm actually the problem. I'm holding onto this nostalgic idea that for some reason is still lingering in my dna. The modern man doesn't hunt. He doesn't live in nature. He does not cherish his tools to harvest animals.

Deer have no place in Worcester or Boston. Why should we have them anywhere in between?

 

[Dennis in MA]

No bugs??? Care to come to my place in the summer?? Windshield bugs galore. Skeeters will suck you dry in 15 min. (Although I would say a reduction in shield-bugs MAY be due to better aerodynamics on cars.)

Plenty of bats in my AO as well. Plenty of deer and coyotes and the occasional fisher and other wildlife.


We've got a massive Lyme issue in this area of the country - due to a high tick population and a high. . . . deer population. We've got 3E and other diseases because we have a high insect population and a high migratory bird population. Things are 100x better than they were 30 years ago. No question.

Look at raptor #'s in the Northeast in the last 30 years. Did you hear of bald eagles in this area back then? I didn't. Hell, you rarely saw an Osprey. I can see 8 Osprey a day if I wanted. All summer long. They are all over the place. There is a pair of Peregrine's under the Braga Bridge in Fall River. There wouldn't be raptors if there wasn't prey for them to eat.

I think your observation is incorrect. You might be feeling more maudlin and believing something that isn't true. I can sympathize. But it's actually a ton better than it used to be.