Definitely not a new problem,I had a friend I worked with in a nursing home,after my son was born,he's now 45. She lived on a main road in Wallington, I saw her feeding foxes by hand,who were helping themselves from the bins in the back yard. I couldn't believe how unafraid they were.
Do we really think treating a wild population with chemicals in
order that the sentimental and misguided can continue to treat wild
animals... is really the way to go? Haven’t we done enough damage already?
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Just stop feeding them. Simples... That’s the principle of re-wilding.
I don't think these questions are necessarily simple. In 'wilding' there is always a line. In the UK we live so close, cheek by jowl, that the question is usually how much to intervene, not if. We (sometimes) feed wild birds; we cull squirrels, rats, mice, crows and deer; give contraceptives; vaccinate badgers (because it benefits humans).
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There are central questions on wilded managed land - when, if and how to treat the animals there - ponies, hogs, animals in labour, end of life etc. Different owners find different answers, and different countries approach these questions differently. "Not feeding animals" is not really the principle of rewilding projects in the UK. It's more complicated than that. There is some responsibility for animals on your property to not suffer. There is an interesting episode of the Knepp podcast that discusses some of these questions. They are not obvious.
I don't say that foxes should be treated for mange but I don't think it's so cut and dried.
Um … you’ve cut and edited my post where I went on to say …
”…Feeding large wild animals (that aren’t endangered) and encouraging them into areas where there’s not enough natural food for them is counter productive…”
What you’ve done totally alters the meaning of my post.
It’s pretty obvious to anyone who reads my whole post that I wasn’t advocating re-wilding urban areas. I was talking about the wrong-headedness of encouraging wild animals into urban areas.
😞
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Until we stop all the intensive building on land where the creatures have always been this will continue.If we build on the only home they have ever known ,where are they supposed to go ……….into gardens and town parks of course ,they don’t just dissolve in the rain .
I love all animals ,birds and even ugly critters .My motto has always been live and let live ,unless it’s a child killer or animal cruelty case in which case bring back hanging say I .
Malthusian nonsense was rejected over a hundred years ago and should be rejected again and again until people just stop trying to solve complex matters with whatever simple thing they can grasp, altogether.
Accept that the reason you want your solution to be true has nothing to do with whether it is a good solution, and everything to do with your own prejudices.
And I’m out.
Thanks for the fox tips, I haven’t seen the blighters in a few days so maybe the acid, I mean, water guns are working.
Posts
”…Feeding large wild animals (that aren’t endangered) and encouraging them into areas where there’s not enough natural food for them is counter productive…”
What you’ve done totally alters the meaning of my post.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
https://populationmatters.org/
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Malthusian nonsense was rejected over a hundred years ago and should be rejected again and again until people just stop trying to solve complex matters with whatever simple thing they can grasp, altogether.
Accept that the reason you want your solution to be true has nothing to do with whether it is a good solution, and everything to do with your own prejudices.
And I’m out.
Thanks for the fox tips, I haven’t seen the blighters in a few days so maybe the acid, I mean, water guns are working.
End thread!