Originally posted by littledrawe I speed up when I see them on the ground in grocery store parking lots scavenging. The pigeons have resorted to faking injuries, broken feet, pulled wing muscles and such to get sympathy handouts from people since the grackles beat them to all the trash. Any good "birding" session here should be started with 30 minutes of pellet gun practice on the grackles so you can make room for any other species to make an appearance. The damn things eat food out of your golf cart while you are standing on the tee box trying to hit your shot.
A couple of Merlins or Kestrals turned up yesterday and have been flying around screaming this morning. My 150-200 grackles are all gone. There are maybe 4 or 5 stragglers and one lonely red wing black bird. If you live in an un-degrade eco-system, these things take care of themselves. We hardly ever get doves or pigeons. They are much too easy targets for hawks. Nature left on it's own just doesn't have these kinds of problems.
RIght now people are talking about how aggressive the wolves are getting over at the dump and asking the MNR to bring back the wolf bounty. Before the spring bear hunt was re-introduced bears used to eat at the dump. people complained. Now wolves clean up the dump and act possessive of the territory. People complain about the wolves. I get really tired of people as a race complaining about problems they themselves create. All this happening because people don't look after their garbage.
I've lived with this pack for 8 years, they aren't aggressive at all, except around the dump, because it became a food source for them. Behind my house they are the same as always. Oh, and if you get rid of the wolves, then you'll be complaining about too many racoons. Humans seem totally content to start with a beuatiful balanced eco-system, and slowly eliminate everything but mice and rats, who they live with because they are too filthy to live with anything else. Nature has it's own justice.
People have to live with whatever species they use to clean up their garbage. The thought of looking after their own garbage never seems to be on the table.
And ya, hitting living things with their vehicles is the way many repay the animals who clean up the mess humanity makes.