The Shotgun Conservationist by Brant MacDuff

Author:Brant MacDuff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: 2023-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

* An introduced species is one that’s been brought to a non-native habitat accidentally or on purpose. Many began spreading around the world with long-ago colonizers bringing domesticated or wild animals to be farmed or hunted. Today the pet trade is a main originator of introduced species. Others hitched a ride in a boat bilge, transom well, or maybe a stack of bananas. An invasive species is an introduced species that has posed a serious threat to local native wildlife and habitat since its introduction. All invasive species are introduced, but not all introduced species are invasive.

In New Zealand, the introduced Himalayan tahr thrives in the mountains where it has no competition or predators, and it doesn’t negatively impact the ecosystem there. Conversely, the common brushtail possum, which was brought to New Zealand from Australia, wreaks havoc on native small animal populations and forest canopy ecology—it is invasive. Iguanas and pythons are dangerously destructive invasives in southern Florida—they’ve cleared the Everglades of 90 percent of its native mammal population (pythons alone are responsible for the disappearance of 99 percent of raccoons, 98 percent of opossums, and 87 percent of bobcats; marsh rabbits, cottontails, and foxes have completely disappeared). Equally non-native chameleons introduced in Florida pose no known threat to the area’s local native species or habitats, hence no campaign to remove them (Florida has to deal with about 180 other introduced species of reptiles and amphibians first).

* Tanks of dried corn and mixed grains with a timed release are just one form of baiting—depending on where you hunt and what you’re hunting for, bait could be as simple as a salt lick left in the woods for deer or a pile of doughnuts and fish guts (and all kinds of stuff) for black bears. Hunting over bait is legal in some form in almost half the country, but laws vary greatly depending on the state and species. In this case, I found myself with mixed feelings. Because I was hunting wild pigs, I wasn’t particularly concerned about the fairness of the fight—feral pig populations need to be kept in check, and if having a pile of food in a strategic location led to a pig giving me a more clean and open shot, then I figured I should be thankful for that. The pigs could have still seen us going to the blind or smelled us at any time. So how much of a “cheat” was it if the bait was there and the pigs weren’t?

Rick Taylor, a wildlife biologist who wrote the book on feral hogs for the Texas Parks and Wildlife department, says “There is currently an estimated population in excess of 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas.” So, bait or not, I’d have been happy to take a couple off the landscape. In the end, my personal opinions on the matter broke down along invasive versus native species lines. I wasn’t interested in hunting native species over bait. But maybe I’d change my tune the more my

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.