Having used up California’s noble Fish and Game in securing the right to “shoot” 50 woodpeckers, Rossmoor went after USDA/APHIS for more help in the “Styrofoam Saving Campaign”. Sensitive to the delicate fact that the permit to shoot woodpeckers runs out in two days, the USDA has issued a second “scientific collection” permit to remove 20 more birds next month as well. Perhaps this will allow them to use “enhanced interrogation techniques” on the offending birds, to find out why they chose this particular granary target. Or perhaps the mutual owners have suddenly become researchers and will be sponsoring a large scale avian factor analytic model. We’re told that they agreed to “build” three artificial granaries to the tune of 895/each, spending money on their favorite contractor while Audubon would have done it for free. The important thing is that USDA agreed with F&G and ruled that that endangered styrofoam needs protecting.
Look for the pied pipers of woodpecker removal to ride in sometime after this month. For more information keep an eye on Cheryl’s blog Bay Area Wildlife or the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society.
[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=XcsK-Ck43LU]
