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Dec. 6th, 2004 08:57 am
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Topic on the walk from the train to the saltmines this morning: Catch and release as it pertains to deer, mice, and spiders. Some conclusions:
[*] Turns out even this is might be extremely optimistic. ( Here's the final word on the translocated North Shore deer. )
- BBD (Bear By Default) is in need of spiders to combat his mysterious (he can't figure out how they got in or what they're feeding on) fruit fly problem. If you have extra at home, I'll give out his address and you can mail them to him, postage paid.
- The soi-disant environmentalist quoted on the radio last week opposing deer culling in the north burbs isn't quite as much of a total pinhead as I'd concluded. His contention that "the problem isn't that the deer are overpopulating, it's sprawl" has a teensy bit of merit, insofar as we all know that the real problem is lack of predation and, as BBD points out, predators need a lot of habitat to survive. Still, since we also know that this guy isn't seriously advocating reintroducing timber wolves into Highland Park, he remains a pinhead.
- BBD pointed out another problem with catch-and-release programmes in addition to the lousy survival rate (50% according to my father, the biologist[*]): Many experts think that they weaken the genetic stock in the areas where they are released, since suburban deer tend to be smaller and less hardy than their cousins deeper in the wilderness.
[*] Turns out even this is might be extremely optimistic. ( Here's the final word on the translocated North Shore deer. )