We still have lots of owls, hawks and red foxes here. There are stretches of woods that people can't get to easily because they're surrounded by salt marsh, so the critters have a refuge Last summer I stopped for a fox lying in the road enjoying the heat. He wouldn't move from me honking my horn. I had to open the car door before he very casually got up and walked off the road. It was funny. Sad to say, Marie, it's probably mostly kids shooting the wildlife. Lots of teenage potential sociopaths out there with mainly TV for a parent.
I think its ignorence'did Ispell that word correctly,lol' on the most part. We have not seen a panther or bear here in years either.
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! I think the Eastern Shore of Maryland had been tamed by the Algonquin Indians long before the first white settler arrived. No bears or (shudder) panthers here. There are supposed to be some bears along the Appalachian Trail but I never saw any in my sojourns there. At 19 I saw my first panther/mountain lion out west when I was hitchhiking across the country. There's a long and maybe boring story there which would take too long for this forum. If I saw a bear in the woods here I couldn't bare it (git it? git it?). I don't think the saying 'ignorance is bliss' holds true. Maybe you get away with it at first but in the end it's just a way for the ones who aren't so ignorant to control you.
We have black bears down here they are mostly shy. Last pather aka Florida Panther killed neighbors goats,chickens,didn't eat them just killed them.Ate the milk sac part of the goat but thats about it. That was about 10 or 15 years ago. They are on the endangerd species list, https://www.floridapanther.org/
Do you think that it's the interaction with people and farms and all that might have made that panther a little psychotic? They might have no natural prey left to them. I'm just guessing.
Maybe it revenge? We have pretty much destroyed his habitat and killed him proptectingour love for meat aka cattle and poultry. I think we consume far more meat than before but then I really don't know. I remember years ao I read an article of MCDonalds restaurant chain buying up millions of acres in Africa ro feed their cattle. It caused massive starvation and poverty of the million or so people living on that land. Do I know what the happy medium is,nope. Do I think that all are to blame including the leaders of both nations Africa and us yes.
What I heard if you have room. Is cut grass short next to tree line , leaving patches of taller grass , like trails , they will hunt what crosses the trails
I eat too much meat myself so I'll take that part of the blame. You have to add to that admixture that Billy Boy Gates is now the largest owner of farmland in the US. The plot thickens.
My experience with copperheads is that they won't bother you if you don't bother them. I've had to do work in the crawl space of houses with a copperhead coiled up sleeping in a corner. They're cool if you're cool. We had a good Boy Scout leader who taught us to respect wildlife.
So do we but I can blame hubby for that.I could actually live without it if we could grow or get enough vevtables from store. I did just order 24 cans of sustainable wild caught slamon though.it was very expensive! $148.00.So that will be all of that for a long time like forever.
In Srone Mountain Georgia we had a 10 acre lake and all of us swam with them copperheads most of of childood life. One day one was swimming too close and mam said don't move.She tried to let it be but it chased us to the dam so she shot it.Had a couple experiances like that,but she only shot 3 snakes that I remember. One bit her in our car when she stepped on brakes and she almost lost her leg from infection though. None of us kids ever got bit.We ran thru the woods jumping over snakes for 13 yr.s of my life. Then moved to city where the real snakes resided.
I looked into vegetarianism and veganism a long while ago. It appeared to me that the combinations of food that you had to put together to get a high quality protein was limiting and daunting. Anyone with knowledge or advice on this subject?
I did not know that copperheads took to water. We were leary of cotton-mouthed water mocassins around here but not copperheads. It's a little humbling cause I pretty much know everything otherwise.
I stand corrected but confusion is now part of my new state,It was cottonmouth we just called moccassins. but copperheads and rattlers do swim too,some rattlers have been found in salt water miles off shore which relly surprised me.