MYOB!

Jim- We had the "pigeon lady" here in town. lady would scatter bread crumbs to feed the birds. Pigeons you know just be flying rats. The city has been taking all kinds of actions to reduce the pigeon population - even brought in peregine falcons. Anyways , the pigeon lady has been arrested and fined numerous times.

We do little in the way of a favor to wild life when we take the wild away. In lots of places, trapping and relocating critters is illegal - the new animals disturb the existing balance.

Sometimes favors are not favors.

It seems to me that there are two good lessons in your blog: wildlife is meant to be wild, and there is no cure for Foot In Mouth disease.

One of my favorite things to do at summer camp, a million years ago, was to go down to the meadow and wait inconspicuously....to watch as the deer came to the salt lick that the camp cook put out for them...Not food, a block of salt. And the deer were beautiful, too.

I hope you are right and she donates money to the local food bank. No one should go hungry....ever.

Cali

Don't you just hate those moments when the words escape your lips and you try to grab them and stuff them back in?

I agree- acclimating wildlife to constant food sources is not healthy- for them or for us. We are bound and determined to keep encroaching on what little natural habitats they have left in some places.

Hopefully the woman has done something for her fellow humans as well as the wildlife in her area.

Hunger- either in wildlife or humans- is unacceptable.

Sherri

Hey Jim...I hate to admit it, but around here certain people buy corn for deer for less than noble purposes....that is, to get them used to feeding in a certain area and becoming tame so they are easier to shoot during the opening days of hunting season. I don't hold this as being very sportsmanlike...... and I for one think such a practice should be illegal. But those that practice this type of conduct would argue with me just as the rooster owning cock-fighters of a couple of years ago would. Oklahoma was one of the last States to banish cockfighting, and you still see rooster farms way out in the country....so it's hard to die....just as feeding the deer would be if it were banished. So, you see, the lady really had good intensions, at least she didn't want to lure them in to kill them. I confess to feeding wild birds in the winter here as natural food for birds becomes mighty scarce in the winter in Oklahoma, especially during our nasty ice storms..... it's costly, but both I and the birds appreciate it. I'm sure the birds could go elsewhere and find food, but I would really miss them. I'm also sure that if I quit feeding them this winter, they would most assuredly go elsewhere, they're not stupid. I agree however that we certainly should do something equally as good for hungry people .....so, I donate my time at Thanksgiving and Christmas to local Missions and/or Churches to help feed the homeless during these special days. It may not be much, but at least it's something. Not very many people who would see me buying birdseed in the store would have any idea however, so you see, sometimes what you don't know about a person could lead to an unfair judgement. I think we're all guilty of this one way or another, certainly I've had my share. At least you had a stroke of consience and apologized....good for you!