On Jul 9, 5:36�pm, Karl Kleinpaste wrote:
Billy writes:
When are YOU going to get alarmed, when, except for the zoos, the only
animals left are pets and food animals? Our biosphere is dying, and we
can only save it, one raccoon at a time.

Geez...you haven't looked out my back door lately.

I live on 15 acres of nowhereness, northwest of Pittsburgh near the Ohio
line. �On any given day, 20 or 30 deer wander by, mostly at the treeline
that abuts the open field of the next parcel, ~150ft behind the house.
Local turkey flocks are positively routine, and I don't mean 5, I mean
30 or 40 at a time. �Raccoons aren't too common, but I see them now and
again. �This year, there is a family of foxes living in the woods
somewhere just southwest of the house who step now and again into the
yard, generally at dawn or dusk.

The deer congregate most days in what we've long called "town hall",
which is a low hollow inside the treeline on the far side of the power
tower right-of-way, ~200yds due east of the house...except during
hunting season, when they disappear for parts unknown. �They figured out
long ago when they need to make themselves scarce.

Then there's the possums that often befriend our cats for playful romps
after dark. �Add in the moles and voles that the cats hunt during the
day. �I can't say I'm sorry to see our feline Mighty Hunters having
success in that department, as long as they don't bring gifts (or
[worse] half-gifts) into the house. �Coyotes avoid the house, but they
are known to live in the woods down near the creek, still on my property
but well toward the northeast corner of it.

No bears these days, at least none that we know of. �But small stuff
like toads and whatnot are everywhere.

I could feed my household using nothing but a crossbow, without ever
having to step outside the yard immediately surrounding the house. �All
I have to do is wait for the game to show up.

It's a funny view of "the dying biosphere" that some folks have.

I think sometimes people who want to preserve life "one raccoon at a
time" are following the same reasoning as the old joke about the guy
who lost his wallet in the pariking lot, but was looking inside the
restaurant "because that's where the light is". They don't think
about whether it actually makes sense, and often can't see beyond
their own perceived sphere of influence. It makes them feel good to
be accomplishing something, so whether they are helping with a real
problem is not relevant. It only becomes relevant when someone, by
word or deed, belittles what they feel they are accomplishing - then
they must go on the attack. This is, of course, much easier than
applying critical thought to the situation, and perhaps re-evaluating
their actions.