Dean, et. al: Not trying to troll you but asking a serious question: why would you want to harm the snake? It's natural that the bird is its prey. It's the circle of life. This is something I don't understand about birders and birding. The death of a bird is marked as a tragedy, but of other animals little is said, especially such animals that humans find abhorrent or fear? Does a bird, because of its color, or feather, or light bones have some intrinsic value that makes it more worthy than the snake? Aren't all the animals essential portions of an ecosystem? If we are all there to enjoy the fullness of nature, then which one is the worse death: the bird preying on the poor innocent worm or caterpillar just chilling around munching on leaves, or the snake eating the bird? Or the Red-tailed Hawk eating the snake? I'm genuinely curious about this. Or perhaps your concerns for the snakes were for the health of the human observers? Lastly, if I have interpreted your email incorrectly, my apologies, but yet I have seen other birders react in similar ways and am genuinely curious as to why? Regards, Sean Paul Kelley Central San Antonio > As the mosquitos have abated, the only drawback was the several large > Cottonmouth Water Moccasins. On Saturday morning two large snakes, > intertwined with each other and raised up off the ground. We assume they > were mating. On Sunday, the snakes were in and around the drips. It was a > tense experience watching beautiful warblers coming to the drips when the > snakes were there. Until late Sunday afternoon, no warblers were taken, but > around 6:30 we saw a snake, with a warbler in its mouth, at the second > drip. Obviously, we are not allowed off the trails to intervene. So, I am > hoping this e-mail helps bring attention to the matter. > > Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner