Photos and notes from on the road. A biologist at heart. A 'retired' network administrator and lifelong photographer. Living in Ashland Wisconsin on Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay.
We used to see them down here a lot but not any more. I don't know what happened to them. Maybe just too much development. I know they like to dig into ant’s nests and eat some stage of development of the ants. People here put out so much crap to kill fire-ants that I often wonder if the flickers got too much of that poison.
That might be the answer. They feed on ants up here to. But without the fire ant problem no one is poisoning here.
In one of my past lifes I work for the USDA in honeybee research. The fire ant problem brought back memories of deciding how were we going to control africanized honeybee.
You know it's not good to fool with mother nature. You never really know what the consequences are going to be.
I know, the more you think you're fixing nature in one spot, the more you are messing it up in another. Have you ever read, "The Control of Nature", by John McPhee? If you haven't I think you would enjoy it very much. I know I sure did.
The African bees have shown up in my area this year for the first time. I am going to leave those little devils alone.
4 comments:
We used to see them down here a lot but not any more. I don't know what happened to them. Maybe just too much development. I know they like to dig into ant’s nests and eat some stage of development of the ants. People here put out so much crap to kill fire-ants that I often wonder if the flickers got too much of that poison.
That might be the answer. They feed on ants up here to. But without the fire ant problem no one is poisoning here.
In one of my past lifes I work for the USDA in honeybee research. The fire ant problem brought back memories of deciding how were we going to control africanized honeybee.
You know it's not good to fool with mother nature. You never really know what the consequences are going to be.
I know, the more you think you're fixing nature in one spot, the more you are messing it up in another. Have you ever read, "The Control of Nature", by John McPhee?
If you haven't I think you would enjoy it very much. I know I sure did.
The African bees have shown up in my area this year for the first time. I am going to leave those little devils alone.
No I have not read that book but I'll put it on my list.
DO give those African bees a wide berth. They have short tempers and stay angry for a long time.
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