[birdky] Re: Old acquaintance is Killed

I have been out of the loop for some time due to the electrical problems
some of us encountered from the ice storm of last week. What a tragic loss
for all of us. I would like to be as optimistic and hopeful about hunters
and farmers as you try to be. But since I have owned my farm out here, I
know I have battled (with a great deal of success, I might add) to regain
control of my own private property. It took me several years, but I now have
a little slice of sanctuary for the deer and all the other creatures that
inhabit my place.
     Conservationists are a breed of our own. We are seen as eccentric at
times, and tolerated as long as we behave. There are many of those who do
not think as we do, roll their eyes, call us tree huggers, and worse, and do
not have any concept that the world is but a momentary gift to us to tread
lightly and to respect. The issue of balance and symbiotic relationships is
never considered or addressed. Few understand the Indian perspective that we
are but a small part of this system. I hope we come to understand this
before it truely is too late. What a sad outcome for this majestic condor.
Diane Brown. Bracken County, KY
----- Original Message -----
From: <OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx>
To: <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <albirds@xxxxxxxxxxx>;
<marvdavs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, February 21, 2003 12:08 AM
Subject: [birdky] Old acquaintance is Killed


> A tragic loss,
>
> In the fall of 1986, I read an article in the news, they had decided to
> capture the last three wild California Condors in an effort to save the
> species. I was stuck that I might never experience these birds and
hurriedly
> got a few friends together and we journeyed out to California. We went to
the
> regular places and stood around for hours and on our last afternoon we
stood
> at an overlook with a group of students talking. Suddenly, directly above
us,
> a rustling in the wind and there in a slow glide and low enough to hear
the
> wind flowing over its wide out stretched wings was a wonderful bird, no a
> magnificent bird.
>
> A silence spread across the group as each discovered the bird and after it
> had sailed out over the valley, you could hear everyone exhale and a
nervous
> chatter spread through the group. Only then did I notice that not only I,
but
> every other soul that had a camera, never once thought to take a photo. It
> was the type of experience that happens a few times in a birders career,
you
> just stand and stare.
>
> We did manage to see all three of the wild birds that afternoon and I do
have
> a shot of three distant dots in the sky. I think of that experience time
and
> again.
>
> Today, the California Fish and Game Commission, in a press release,
disclosed
> that condor # AC8, the last condor born in the wild to wild parents, was
> found dead on Feb. 18. The bird had be re-released back into the wild
after a
> long stay in captivity. My mind raced back to a time some 17 years ago
when
> this bird had graced me with its presence and a great loss was felt. Even
> more remorse and guilt followed when I read the bird had been shot.
>
> We have a lot of work to do, we have to bring more people to the same
> understanding that some Indians had; we do not own the earth, nor its
> animals, nor its plant life, but are stewards only. We have a trust that
is
> slowly, much to slowly coming into focus for more and more each day. Will
the
> realization come too late?
>
> I have no qualms with hunters nor hunting but I would like to know just
what
> went through that persons mind, when that creature fell from the sky. He
> cannot take away the experience I had on that mountain side, years ago,
but
> there is a vacant feeling in my heart which will take time a long time to
> heal due to his callousness. I take this murder personally.
>
> Good Birding!!!
>
> Jeff R. Wilson
> OL' COOT / TLBA
> Bartlett Tenn.
>
>
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>


================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS==============

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with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos.htm
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BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY
E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx

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