Poison, traps found around Sisters

In 1947, Aldo Leopold, the man credited with being the Father of Wildlife Management, said in his essay, A Sand County Almanac:, "Conservation is a state of harmony between man and the land."

There is a current situation in the Sisters area indicating that a few people are seriously out of tune with that philosophy.

First is the person or persons who set the traps along hiking trails near Indian Ford Creek. That was an irresponsible thing to do. A dog out for the day with the owner was caught and suffered serious injuries. The bait used was illegal, and there were no signs or notification that any traps were in the area - also illegal.

On the other hand there is the business of allowing dogs to run loose. That, too, is illegal, especially when hiking on trails. It is plain good manners to keep your pet on a leash, but not many people do that.

I receive e-mails frequently from well-meaning people who see nothing wrong with loose pets under so-called, "voice command," and describe what fun they have watching their dog pursue ground squirrels and birds. That is not good "conservation." It is also illegal.

Then, there is this business of the recent discovery of poison left lying around, which resulted in pet ailments. That's even more scary as it means someone is out to do serious damage to those who allow their dogs to run loose and bark or to cats eating wild birds. Or in the thinking of the poisoner - pets making a nuisance of themselves.

While no one loathes the use of poison more than I do, I understand a person's attitude about using the stuff when in his or her mind nothing else will work. A few years back, my neighbor's dog came over and killed a few of my chickens, which did not sit very well with me. The dog owner apologized, but, within a day or two, the dogs were back. If I had a short fuse with no conscience and thought poison was the answer, I might have used it.

However, the consequences of using poison are so all-encompassing and harmful to so much in the world of nature and human society that I could never do that. Non-target animals, such as owls, badgers, pets and other harmless wildlife also die. Not too long ago, I discovered golden eagle nestlings and their mom in a nest near Fryrear Canyon dead from secondary poisoning.

It is a terrible thing when a pet is poisoned, as this e-mail states:

"We almost lost one of our dogs yesterday to strychnine poison. You know people use that Decon stuff, which is strychnine, to poison critters under their houses. Unfortunately the critters don't always die under the house (they wander off), and other things eat them and die. Ten years ago we lost a beautiful three-year-old Scottie to the stuff. Yesterday my silver dog began hunching, frothing, and panting, just like Mac did. I rushed him to the hospital, and he will be coming home this afternoon.

"Maybe you could think about writing an article about not using poison on critters because people don't know what else they will kill. Until we lost Mac, I didn't know Oregon allowed the use of a poison that kept killing, but the stuff is still in the grocery stores for people to buy!"

That was followed up by this a few days later: "My pal is home, but we don't know how much long-term liver damage there is. He'll be going in for tests again on Friday. My neighbors just told me this morning that they found a dead raven in their yard a while back. That could be the same poison...."

What this boils down to is that some people use traps recklessly and poison illegally, causing harm to pets and potentially even causing serious injuries to humans. On the other side of the coin, there are those who allow their pets to run loose and cause serious damage to wildlife, occasionally to humans, making life generally unpleasant for their neighbors.

Stewardship, conservation, being a responsible neighbor... It all begins at home, with you and me.