From: Oz <Oz@upthorpe.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: sci.agriculture
Subject: Re: Vandals "Bite the Hand That Feeds Them"
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 1997 07:02:49 +0000

In article <19970321201000.PAA25073@ladder01.news.aol.com>, Pollinator
<pollinator@aol.com> writes

 ....  a very sad tale indeed ......

>   "Bees have become so scarce that people no longer accept them as
>normal. Two generations ago, there were many farmer-beekeepers in the
>area, and no one thought much of them, except to leave them alone.  Today,
>many people are fearful.  And the Hollywood 'killer bee' hype has made
>some folks panicky and hostile.
>
>    Green has had frequent losses when he places hives in the fields, from
>vandals who burn hives, shoot at them, or run over them. 

This sort of behaviour is rather typical of homo sapiens var "urban". It
actually extends to anything not locked, sealed and guarded. Bullet and
crossbow bolts in sheep and cattle are also not unknown. There is also a
serious problem on the urban fringe in the UK, which is a pretty large
chunk of the country in the UK. It is so common it's no longer reported.
It even extends further into the deeper countryside where the brown hare
is now verging on the extinct due to gangs with lurcher (greyhound
cross) dogs stripping them from the fields. They can visit several times
a week and half a dozen dogs can easily kill 20+ brown hares in 10
minutes over 150 acres.

In predominantly urban countries the wildlife that is currently being
protected, quietly and carefully by farmers all over the UK, may only
have a few decades left to extinction.

Last week I drove several hundred miles (600+) across France and we saw
one partridge, the only wildlife. Trees were in short supply too. This
amazingly low level of wildlife is apparently due to laws that allow
anyone to go on any farm and shoot whatever they like. Doubtless this
will be another effect of the 'right to roam' legislation proposed for
the UK. Still, at least rabbits seem to be extinct there too.

-- 
'Oz     "Is it better to seem ignorant and learn,
         - or seem wise and stay ignorant?"