I don't know about grouses and turkeys. However, I wonder if ginseng has a very stringent requirement for a trace nutrient whose solubility/mobility in soil is adversely affected by acid rain? I recall an extremely exacting study performed on rats back in the 80s (maybe the late 70s), in which the animals were raised in a completely controlled environment that admitted only pure water and a fully characterized, laboratory-synthesized diet. Some of the rats were in cages exposed to unfiltered air while others breathed 99.999999% filtered air. The filtered-air rats failed to thrive due to vanadium deficiency while the rats breathing unfiltered air did just fine, receiving their vanishingly minuscule but necessary dose of vanadium from the dust in the air. Liz Singley Kingston TN -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [TN-Bird] Re: Turkeys and Ginseng Berries Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 16:35:11 -0600 From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> TN-Birders: The Ruffed Grouse vs. Wild Turkey and ginseng comments are worth consideration. I must have had my head stuck in the mud somewhere because I had never heard anything about this. I realize that, to our limited knowledge, this is a North Carolina issue along our border with Tennessee. But that doesn't mean there hasn't been a more widespread issue in the mountains of Tennessee that we have not heard about. Perhaps we should remind ourselves that grouse and ginseng are emotional issues deep in the culture of mountain and rural folks for generations. Hunting ginseng is almost a religion, a ritual, and a right of passage to human roots in these mountains. I can remember when I first started hunting and birding that there were few Wild Turkey anywhere. Grouse seemed to be easier for me to find when I was actually hunting them and more focused and not watching warblers and woodpeckers in the same hollow. I also remember in the early 1970's being with a Virginia game warden (Beecher Perry) in Smyth County in the Jefferson National Forest one winter when we counted a flock of 100+ Ruffed Grouse casually strolling across the road in front of his patrol car. We stood in the doorway with binoculars and counted together. Lots of fun. Grouse and ginseng usually require skill and knowledge to hunt and take. Many of our birders have little to no skill or success at seeing a grouse! Ginseng provides income to rural folks (however little that may be). With the Wild Turkey populations flourishing in almost every county everywhere, there is little wonder that local folks frown upon the big birds as a problem for the more scarce species of interest. Just ask the Ruffed Grouse Society people if there is a grouse problem and what causes it. They will probably point at forest management and forest harvest issues. In other words, "habitat" -- the standard response when TWRA or anyone else is losing the battle. When they are winning it is seldom improved habitat but "successful management" by the wildlife folks and their partners (proably one and the same but worded differently for different audiances). But we are not stupid. Habitat, while an easy explanation for politics, is a major problem. That can't be denied. It is usually a major problem for much of wildlife. It is declining for many species for which we have an interest. Ruffed Grouse and ginseng can be seen as the underdogs by the local folks. They see turkey populations as the result of an effort made for the rich boys with expensive guns and expensive vehicles and expensive clothes, supported by a state government agency in North Carolina or anywhere else. We always need an explanation when we are losing -- even if you are the Tennessee Vols football team this past season. Someone must be held accountable. Let's hold the state guys accountable for a grouse and ginseng problem. And if there is no problem, hold them accountable anyway. They are spending our dollars and we don't see many grouse and we aren't selling much ginseng. That's not my recommendation. That is the way they have done it since widlife management began in this or any other state and since UT began playing football at Shields-Watkins field on the banks of the Tennessee River (God bless General Neyland). Dig that root! Times hard! Blame the big bird (he is having a winning season). Blame accipter hawks, starlings, coyotes, blackbirds, foxes, white-tailed deer, black bears (in Shady Valley, Johnson County) and all of the others that are having winning seasons. There ain't enough success to go around. It's easy to pull for underdogs. We are all vicitims of whatever. Victims aren't winners. They are underdogs. Who ate my 'seng berries? Let's go birding.... Wallace Coffey Bristol, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 ========================================================= =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================