Killing Off The Successful – A Story To Make You Owl

Well two different owls. Actually two different species of owl. The government is planning on killing one to save the other. And which will the government be killing off? The most successful. Like uh. What else is new?

A 1-pound bird attributed to the demise of the logging industry some 20 years ago in the northwest part of the country is back in the news.

The bird is the northern spotted owl, an endangered species, which is still struggling to survive, despite huge federal government interventions.

The latest plan by President Obama is to shoot barred owls, a rival bird that has dominated its smaller counterpart.

Ah. But that is not the best news.

The spotted owl was once thought to only be able to survive in old forests, overgrown and unmaintained. When it became an endangered special in 1990, and even before, great cutbacks were made in the logging industry throughout California, Oregon and Washington states. Yet, despite massive growths in forest land, the owl’s population continues to decline.

Bob Mion, communications director at California Forestry Association, said that many sawmills in Washington State were forced to shut down because of the spotted owl. Come to find out, he says, the owl thrives on managed lands, not the untouched, mismanaged federal lands. The owl’s favorite food is a wood rat, Mion claims. “If the forest is overgrown, it can’t see the rat.”

By destroying the forestry industry in the Pacific Northwest the government also destroyed the habitat for the bird it was trying to protect. The reality of government in action.

And what if there are not enough rats? It seems we have plenty in government. I wonder if the spotted owl could be enticed to eat them? Assuming they were properly diced.