Like I said, I just wanted to ask the question and take the time to present (thoughtfully, and thoroughly) my point of view. It is how I see it. It seems backwards to me, to endanger people to protect species of animals that are in a state of overburden, not extinction. It is a special interest group, the wildlife conservationist who takes things to extremes. Man has done many bad things in the name of a good cause. One of those things would be the flying fish in the missouri river. That is a gross and disgusting problem(let alone dangerous). Feral pig population explosions were again, man made and dangerous.
So, to protect the truly endangered animals or habitats, we bend over backwards and halt industry. A prime example would be the Indiana fruit bat. Because of this bat, no timbering is to be done after March 31st. This has halted logging, forestry industries, land development and clearing companies, energy drilling companies, and utility companies. If they aren't allowed to work at a certain time of the year, then their jobs dry up. People go without, and the bats flourish. Unreasonable? To me, not really. People won't go extinct. Do we have to pay out more in welfare relief to compensate? Sure. So we all pay more taxes to help these bats.
Farmers don't get subsidies for wildlife damage. Deer and raccoons alone can take acres and acres of 160-180 bu/a corn and turn it into 40-50 bu/a corn. It makes for some really huge raccoon pelts and lots of deer meat, but, in teh end, most farmers would rather be able to pay less in crop insurance and pay their bills on time. No one wants to live in poverty.
Do I respect what you do? Absolutely! I love it! You took a field that would have grown up into autumn olive and eventually invasive species of trees; and you turned it into a paradise for all manner of wildlife. It's a very balanced environment you have provided. Like I said, I don't have a problem with what you do, or you or anything like that. I have a problem with the abusive use of a food plot. I never meant to insinuate that you were doing that. In your neck of the woods, there might be nothing but wheat fields from property line to property line. That is not a balanced ecosystem for anything. If you have the last remaining "natural" plat in the township then you are doing a great thing. That is, not to mention getting to be a hobby farmer. I love that notion as well. You don't have teh stress of caring for the livestock, it just comes and goes as it pleases. You don't have grain storage, you let your livestock eat a la carte, al fresco.
And of course, you are doing it with ageless iron in the old fashioned style.
Molto bene!
The problem is that a food plot only works in areas where needed. Otherwise it is an egregious trap set by "sportsmen" who want to benefit unfairly. It's like juicing(steriods.) Sure, without it, Barry Bonds would still be in Pittsburgh, playing for the pirates(hahahaha) and he wouldn't have those records. Mark Mcguiar would probably not have all those records either. But we would still have fun watching, and they would have still had fun playing. Food plots are the steroids of the hunting world. With food plots, we are seeing wild 18-21 point antlers on white tail bucks. We are seeing 250 lb average weight doe. Hunters are battling to have a big trophy. Everyone wants their picture in the paper holding a monster. It's a disgusting manipulation of "wildlife." Co-existing in habitat with wildlife and manipulating the habitat has made our wildlife a bunch of free roaming public livestock. It's not wild at all. prey/predator balance is disturbed. WE are predators, they are prey, and instead of just having a fun time chasing wild game and getting to eat them, we are stalking them, changing their food sources, changing their diets, selectively breeding them to be bigger and fatter and more docile. They aren't wild anymore. Oh, and then, we kill them and eat them. It's not hunting anymore. It's gluttonous. Why? because the animals here don't need any food plots. They have plenty of diverse habitat, free roaming land, wild edibles galore, and not enough natural predators to attack and eat them. Where are teh natural predators? It's us. But instead of attacking tehm and eating them, we toy with them, fatten them up like livestock and then selectively harvest only the finest examples of the species. If we were left to our devices, they might be extinct, but, at teh same time, it is going too far.
Again, that is in my area, you are in mexico and you got to give those critters some coke so they don't get the runs from drinking the water. In my area, the water is clean and abundant. They don't need any coke. It's just laced with sugar anyhow which makes them less healthy. (weird analogy, I know)
So, I am being long winded about this, but, it is one of those things that really grinds my gears. I farm full time in the metro Pittsburgh area. I'm 25 minutes from downtown, and the rural is becoming more suburban every day. I am loosing a battle. Never again will I see commercials for Ertl toys on TV. Never again will I see commercials for forage harvesters and square balers. We are now consumed in a demographic of those who would call the police on you if you harmed a poor defenseless rat in the storm sewer (ask me how I know... long true story)
I am now outnumbered by "sportsmen" by a margin of 1000 to 1. At the same time, my paychecks are literally being eaten by wild animals.
I posed this question once, and got called a crazy lunatic. I was told that I was being overly dramatic and untruthful. I will pose the exact same question and see what you think.
IF there was a theoretical animal or insect that went into banks and homes and ate money, gold, and other currency. If this theoretical animal could also eat electronically transferred money, and had the ability to multiply, so as to deplete our pay by 50% or more, wouldn't we all be enraged and fit to be tied? Would it be the number 1 topic on tv and news? Wouldn't we call it a pandemic and a national crisis? I bet the answer is yes from all. But, when it is just the farmers who have animals literally eat the money right out of their wallets, we still make rules that protect these animals. So, who is more important to the public? Me, or some deer and turkeys? The public majority chooses the deer and turkeys. Then they say, I can have a welfare check if I want it. Do you think I want a welfare check? Do you think I want your money? No, I want to solve a problem and be a productive member of society. The solution is not that hard. (not making reference to the "final solution." ) But, for some reason, it can't be that way. I'm not important to the world and I can just hang myself quietly in a tree. Say that outloud and they will lock you up and make you pay medical bills for being sick. But, it is ok for the general public to treat me as such where it becomes a viable option and one that seems to be what they want. They just don't have the guts to actually say it outloud.
Like I said. I have a problem with this. I don't know who else to tell about this problem. Those in charge don't care. They want me to make my private farmland public access, just to grant me permission to be monitored monthly for taking out excess numbers of wild animals who are in no way endangered or scarce. Google search "Cephas Yoder Amish out of order." See what happens? The general public chose the deer over his life, too.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
2022 John Deere 5045E, 4wd, front end loader and 3rd function with grapple. 120 hrs, 55k new, must sell
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
