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Methodology and Ethics - Baiting for Avian Predators


snakeroot

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Don't claim to have all the answers Mark, sorry the one's I have aren't agreeable to you or others.

 

Google Hawk Baiting, interesting results. It seems I'm not the only one who has thought of this method, seems to be acceptable to a lot of people.

 

Enjoy!

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Lot's of road kill here in Maine, too, excellent idea. I'll keep gloves in my pickup look for fresh road kill. To set up with my bazooka.

 

Ice fishermen in Maine will throw trash fish on the ice, and friends have told me about seeing eagles visit very close to their shacks to get these fish. That's another option for bald eagles, at least in winter.

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<I>Well mabe not everyone , but I dont know anyone who hasent driven by a road kill with

an Eagle on it that didnt wish they had a camera with them.</i><P>

 

Not just a Montana phenomenon; I did the same thing with wedge-tailed eagles eating the

numerous road-killed kangaroos that litter country highways in Australia. <P>

<CENTER>

 

<img src="http://biology.ucr.edu/personal/MACphotos/birds3/wedgetail.jpg">

</center><P>

 

This isn't as good a deal for the birds as it might appear. Occasionally one could find a

wedge-tail feeding on a fellow eagle that had been hit by a passing car while indulging on

flattened kangaroo.

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I got myself into a pickle last year trying to photograph a sea eagle in Australia that was eating some kind of road kill. I pulled onto what I thought was a dirt road, and it turned out to be some guys long driveway. As luck would have it the owner pulled in about 2 mins later and was the meanest most PO'd person I've ever encountered anywhere. And built like a brick house. So, no sea eagle photos. :)
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Greg you should have offered him a print of the bird . I find that gets me on all sorts of places here. And belive me we have our share of thick heads (I'm being polite).You will be surprised the people who will let you on their ground to take pictures as oposed to those who wont let you hunt or fish. And some times the photos will get me on later to hunt and fish
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Bob, I'm quite sure this person was not interested in any prints of any birds. You would have had to have been there to understand. When I related the story to an Aussie friend he knew I was pressing my luck by having gotten out of my vehicle to explain the situation in an amiable manner. He also understood that if I had just driven away that I might have had a road chase on my hands. Just bad luck with no good options. It did radically change my behavior with respect to unknown dirt roads though. I used to work on a cattle ranch in Montana years ago and the protocol with strangers was much more easy going... hopefully it still is. Cheers, -Greg-
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i live in upstate New York and have a small farm, with many forms off wild life in the area, we take care to live in harmony with the wild life. as a farmer and photographer i feel i give to the wild life and they give to me. they eat my corn, and swim and drink from my man made pond, and eat my apples. so i feel comfortable take a few photos of them,as they feed on some seed. athough my photos are not your usal natural setting, hey give to me a great deal of joy,and i am proud to display them, with no regrets. no harm has ever come to any animal i have photoed, here is an example<div>00FSnI-28509884.thumb.JPG.e15f2490630c7796e2d46ee9dadeaec5.JPG</div>
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<I>Sounds like you guys are talking about the eagle lady at Homer AK to me.</i><P>

 

That's right, but the eagle feeding has.... expanded? metastasized? swollen? (pick your

term) well beyond Jean Keene, so that LOTS of people are feeding them all over the

waterfront. Ms. Keene has been given several years to phase out her operations, but

apparently other eagle feeding -- notably, that done by out-of-town photography tours --

must stop by next winter. One report is <A HREF="http://www.wolfsongnews.org/news/

Alaska_current_events_1576.htm">here</a>.

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An excerpt from an article on eagle feeding in Alaska:

 

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7312170p-7223904c.html

 

"Biologists generally frown on feeding healthy populations of wild animals. But there is little documented proof of harm from the practice, other than the occasional eagle that gets drowned or electrocuted, they say."

 

It's just like the retina burn issue with telephoto lenses Mark. Look at the science. Evidence base your opinions and they will hold stronger meaning. I see nothing stated in the negative responses on this thread regarding my proposal other than opinions. No facts. Zippo.

 

And even though I don't have the infinite wisdom that you chide, my opinion happens to be just as good as yours or anybody else in this world. And I think it's ok on a small individual scale to feed raptors if it helps me in my photography and does no harm.

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