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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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I first learned this word on a TV nature program, describing the way raptors hold their wings
partially outstretched, to hide foot at their feet, presumably to keep other raptors from
seeing it. On another TV program, I saw anhinga, a water bird that catches small fish, holding
wings in same way, quite possibly to lure prey into the shadow where they could be caught.
I have seen live mockingbirds doing it where grass had been recently cut, possibly again to
lure insects into the shadow, so that their movement could be seen, and the mockingbird could
catch them.
Can you think of other birds that do this?
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
I have often seen cormorant, also fish catchers, adopt a similar but perhaps wider stance. I have always assumed they were drying their wings after diving, but perhaps not.
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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The anhinga is one of the few fish eating birds whose feathers are not
waterproof, so they have to spread their wings to dry after fishing.
I don't know about the cormorants. All I have heard of them lately is
that they have become a serious problem, being able to take as much
as three thousand dollars worth of catfish in a night from catfish farms
along the lower Mississippi. And the owners may not even harass them.
God bless the bleeding heart birders.
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
to take as much
as three thousand dollars worth of catfish in a night from catfish farms
along the lower Mississippi
wwh, I hope you see the humor in this!  The catfish farmers might not see the humor in it, though. Reminds me of the fastidious Southern gardeners all azalea-proud--and along come the lovely deer to chomp those azaleas down to stubs!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Ww: the farmers losing the three thousand bucks are not amused. The article I saw said they were planning to try using radio controlled model boats with bright lights to gently persuage the cormorants to go elsewhere. I predict the cormorants will light on the boats and use them for mobile perches, and fill them with guano intil they sink. I gotta go search to see if any more news about that. I must say the article I just found makes more sense than the one quoted above. It says catfish farms represent value of 714 million bucks, and birds sere taking 20 million bucks a year from the farms. So the feds OK's culling the cormorants. And the article was dated 1998. Catf;sh farming makes very good sense to me. So far I haven't seen any reports of environmental damage. And I enjoy the fish. http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9803/13/cormorant.
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I like catfish a little. Would much rather have flounder. But, all that aside, I certainly--in a serious mood--could sympathize with the farmers. Still: The thought of farmers building this luscious fish bowl of supper for the cormorants catches my fancy and strikes me as humorous--outside the bounds of reality, you see. It's not good to be serious all the time. Sometimes you gotta see it through the cormorants' eyes.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Here we go, Dr. Bill....there was a big article in the February Smithsonian about the cormorant problem and some folks who decided to take it into their own hands (recreational fishing guides in Upstate New York [hi ASp and Faldage!). Surprised you missed it! Oh, and the coromorants don't have water-proofing either. This is just the abstract, but they provide a full-text link, now, at the bottom of the page. Just click on that for the complete story, it's worth the read. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues03/feb03/cormorants.html
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Whit: The Smithsonian article was about cormorants hurting sport fishing.
As Tom Lehrer sang so long ago: Fish gotta swim, Birds gotta fly.....
But they won't last long if they try!
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Joined: Mar 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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from the Article: No one disputes that for 15 years now fishermen in the small New York town of Henderson have watched ever-growing numbers of cormorants gobble up lake fish amid declining incomes. But, as the author asks, are the cormorants to blame, or are the birds scapegoats for large-scale environmental changes affecting the Great Lakes?
Any of our Midwesterners have a first-hand account or experience with this?
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hey, Dr. Bill, that was Gershwin. Or did Lehrer do a parody?
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