Mike Simpson wrote:
>
> I hate to be a doom-sayer, but I really think there is no answer to
> this
> problem.
>
> Placing electric and vermin proof fences around the nesting sites will
> of
> course stop the normal problem people, those with loose dogs, or
> Mike's
> 'lady wearing thongs' and even foxes.
>
> However there will always be a very small number of youngsters and
> those not
> so young who will see such hurdles as a challenge. Education does not
> help,
> such people either have the IQ of a brick, or have a vicious streak
> which
> pushes them to such cruelty. When I was at a small country primary
> school in
> the North of England almost 50 years ago, our head master used to take
> us on
> 'Nature Walks' and would show us birds nests with chicks in them.
> Frequently
> the next time we went out we would find the nests full of mutilated
> chicks,
> it turned out one boy did not like the attention the birds were
> getting!
>
> The same thing seems to be happening here, the nesting terns were
> given
> publicity on TV, the local thugs then knew where they were and went
> out of
> their way to damage all the good those they think of as
> 'goody-goodies' are
> doing.
>
> I may be a cynic, but probably the only answer is to encircle the
> nesting
> sites with razor-wire and run 250 volts through it.
>
> Best regards - Mike
> Penrith, NSW, Australia
Tern Destruction
It is appalling that there are so many people who feel that the only
thing to do with anything vulnerable is to destroy it.
A few years ago I offered an interesting caterpillar to the local
kindergarten teacher for the nature table, but she said "I can't have a
nature table anymore, because the boys always smash everything - you
can't show them a moth or a beetle without one or two rushing in and
crushing it - and expecting applause for it! Their parents think all
insects are ugly, dirty and unhygienic and that their sons are manly and
admirable for killing them. They killed the pet rabbit too."
Another acquaintance had a remarkable garden - behind the house;
nothing out front. When I asked why, she said many of her neighbours
were battlers who resented anyone having money to spare to spend on a
garden. So they uprooted her plants and stoned her windows.
Birdwatching is seen by some elements of the population as a rich
person's activity and sissy into the bargain. Sometimes attitudes change
and sometimes they don't.
The prospect for the Terns looks very poor.
Anthea Fleming
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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