Attn wildlife photographers: to feed or not to feed?

[MSnowy]

I guess the subject of feeding wildlife directly or indirectly really depends on where you live. Around here they don't want you directly feeding them to cut down on the number of wildlife that are hit by cars. What has happened is the wildlife come out of where they normal are and cross roads because they now know where the easy meals can be had. On the other hand the powers that be
have no issue with you planting $100s of dollars worth of nice new landscaping that can disappear overnight.

 

[Derrel]

This has been a good discussion. Enjoyed hearing the differing points of view.

 

[Designer]

I guess the subject of feeding wildlife directly or indirectly really depends on where you live. Around here they don't want you directly feeding them to cut down on the number of wildlife that are hit by cars. What has happened is the wildlife come out of where they normal are and cross roads because they now know where the easy meals can be had. On the other hand the powers that be
have no issue with you planting $100s of dollars worth of nice new landscaping that can disappear overnight.

There is a big problem with deer feeding in upscale residential areas. The lots are big enough to have a "woods" connecting with the neighbor's "woods", and homeowners invest serious money in landscaping, which can disappear overnight. And the deer cannot permanently be chased out of a neighborhood like that because they'll simply return later.

Would that they could alter the deer's behavior.

 

[DarkShadow]

There is a place I go fresh water fishing regional water authority reservoir that was opened to public fishing way back but the use of live bait is prohibited with the exception of worms but no pond shiners. This is something I never understood because pond shiners are in fresh water, they don't get more the a few inches and have no teeth. It's not a carnivorous snake head fish so its not going to eat the entire lake of fish if it falls of the hook when you live line it.

 

[Derrel]

Look up Diamond Lake + tui chub...and read some of the history of that massive lake. Introducing non-native baitfish as fishing bait can have horrible consequences, and Diamond Lake is a good lesson in how shiners, chubs, and other types of non-native baithfish can ruin a lake or pond, either by overpopulation of the baitfish species, or by the elimination of the forage base, and then a huge die-off of the fish that depended upon the forage species. Diamond Lake has been poisoned off and all fish killed at least twice within my lifetime, due to explosions in the tui chub population.

 

[Derrel]

Good article here on tui chubs ruining Diamond Lake; has picture of the golden shiner species as well.
Oregon Battles The Invasive Tui Chub To Protect Non-Native Trout

 

[Overread]

This has been a good discussion. Enjoyed hearing the differing points of view.

It's very interesting hearing differnt points of view from not only different people but different countries as well. Whilst nature is nature our relationship with it differs a lot country to country - and in big nations (like the USA) even region to region. So its really great to hear a diverse number of replies and opinions.

I think it also serves to highlight who are not only the more experienced in finding wildlife; but also on the abundance and local fauna in their area as well as access to the natural world (many times there ca nbe wildlife but gaining access to the environment they are in can be tricky or restrictive)

 

[Derrel]

Yes, there are very different regional differences of opinion on feeding of deer and wildlife. For example, in Oregon, the far-far west of the USA, salt licks for deer and such would get a person fined for an illegal baiting of deer. In Texas, the feeding of deer that is done there before hunting season would be illegal here. In this state, despite a lot of black bears, bear baiting is illegal; in many states, it is considered "normal" to bait bears for hunting. Here, fishing at night is highly illegal; just across the river in Washington, it's been legal for decades. There are also very different land ownership differences; here in the far west, the states or the federal government own huge tracts of public lands; in the south, many people pursure wildlife on leased, private tracts of land. So, all in all, very different laws, different attitudes of what constitutes fair chase, and so on.

 

[DarkShadow]

Someone did a video posted on Facebook a while back of deers coming up to some guy and he was feeding them something from a bag, this maybe very cute but now the deer becomes use to close human contact and becomes much more vulnerable to danger. I see this could happen with baiting to of a raptor coming to close then normally.

 

[Pixilox]

Well, there was that incident at Disney with people thinking it was neat to feed the gators . They even had to put up signs to not take selfies with the gators where I go birding at. Some people tend to think there's no harm in feeding/baiting but it can have tragic consequences, for both man and beast.

 

[pgriz]

It depends on the wildlife. If you go and pay for a round at the local biker bar, you will be real popular for about ten minutes. Then they will want you to give them more. If you stop feeding them, they can become insistent and even dangerous. I say, don't feed the wildlife.

 

[table1349]

Well, there was that incident at Disney with people thinking it was neat to feed the gators . They even had to put up signs to not take selfies with the gators where I go birding at. Some people tend to think there's no harm in feeding/baiting but it can have tragic consequences, for both man and beast.

These are the same kinds of people that do photo shoots on rail road tracks.

 

[zombiesniper]

I guess if you go by the broad interpretation I'm guilty of baiting with feeders in my yard. I'm okay with this since the birds that are in my yard are naturally within a couple of blocks and surrounded by people anyhow.

I don't agree with baiting at any other time but it is legal in my area so I can't really do anything about it.
We do have a couple of photo tour operators in my area that bait. They know I wouldn't but they are cautious with where and how much they feed so not to endanger the bird. One operator also has a biologist on his team that tags and periodically monitors the owls health. For this reason alone I give this operator a pass.

The other issue I have is that some do not know how to or care to safely bait a bird and on a couple of occasions I have seen an owl get baited across a busy road. This easily could have been the end but luckily there was no traffic at the time.

In short. Guilty in my yard but won't in the wild = hypocrite? Dunno but that's how I do it.

 

[MSnowy]

I guess if you go by the broad interpretation I'm guilty of baiting with feeders in my yard. I'm okay with this since the birds that are in my yard are naturally within a couple of blocks and surrounded by people anyhow.

I don't agree with baiting at any other time but it is legal in my area so I can't really do anything about it.
We do have a couple of photo tour operators in my area that bait. They know I wouldn't but they are cautious with where and how much they feed so not to endanger the bird. One operator also has a biologist on his team that tags and periodically monitors the owls health. For this reason alone I give this operator a pass.

The other issue I have is that some do not know how to or care to safely bait a bird and on a couple of occasions I have seen an owl get baited across a busy road. This easily could have been the end but luckily there was no traffic at the time.

In short. Guilty in my yard but won't in the wild = hypocrite? Dunno but that's how I do it.

Ya l seen baiting around here and when this happens I've pack up my gear and move on asap. I don't what to be associated with "cheaters" as they're known by the true wildlife photographers around here

 

[smoke665]

There is a big problem with deer feeding in upscale residential areas. The lots are big enough to have a "woods" connecting with the neighbor's "woods", and homeowners invest serious money in landscaping, which can disappear overnight. And the deer cannot permanently be chased out of a neighborhood like that because they'll simply return later.

I'm always amazed when people move to a residential community in the middle of the woods and think that having an "upscale" designation means that all the wildlife was removed from the area. The deer and other critters don't check the papers and real estate listings for "upscale" communities they can "move" to, they were there first. Then people compound the problem by spending $$$$ to landscape their property when they should be spending wisely with wildlife friendly plantings.