To the editor:
Lately, we’ve been on the watch for the marauding bears that destroyed our bird feeders in the past, but none have shown up so far. Last year a large male was startled and driven off before any damage was done. Unseen in the dark, it unfortunately climbed a tall tree from which it somehow fell to its death. The wardens who removed it estimated its weight at 400 pounds. It may have been one of the cubs that visited us with its mother and learned about the bird feeders a few years earlier.
It is a seasonal pleasure to see all the newly arriving avian migrants again. In recent days it has not been unusual to see as many as 30 different species at the feeders. They not only present a surprising variety of songs and calls, but allow us dazzling views of colors ranging over the entire visible spectrum from deep violet to blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Nature devises those into an infinite array of patterns for us to enjoy.
It is also gratifying to note the seemingly diminished presence of wandering house cats that prey on them. If that is due to increased responsibility of cat owners who are keeping their pets indoors, they should be congratulated. Their cooperation is very much appreciated by birders and flower and vegetable gardeners and can’t help but have a favorable impact on enjoyable small wildlife like chipmunks, rabbits and squirrels.
Regrettably, local pet rescue operators still advocate trapping, neutering and releasing feral cats. That misguided policy does absolutely nothing to reduce predation on endangered wildlife and needs to be stopped. The constant appeals for donations and the amount of money wasted to “rehabilitate” domestic cats would be far better utilized if directed toward feeding, clothing and caring for some of this world’s homeless, hungry, neglected and suffering children.
Carroll B. Knox
Caribou
