Disappearing
Wildlife
By Mary Anderson
US
The
birds in our yard totally disappeared when the
intense, widespread spraying of pesticides began
in 1999 after the first case of the West Nile
Virus was discovered in New York. About three
years after this particularly intense period of
pesticide spraying, I started to see an occasional
bird in our yard. This summer, after eight long
years, I am now finally seeing a more normal number
of birds around our home.
Prior to 1999, we had so many blue jays that I
was beginning to consider them a nuisance. We
had black-capped chickadees in our evergreens,
nests of robins and cardinals, as well as bees
and butterflies, but they all disappeared and
our yard felt absolutely sterile.
The June 15, 2007 edition of the St. Paul
Pioneer Press reports: “Audubon Society
calls for quick action after finding stunning
declines in 16 once-common species over the past
40 years.” Our birds have been disappearing
for a long time. Yes, loss of habitat is a problem,
but I believe our use of pesticides is an even
bigger problem. According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticides,
pesticide use has increased 50-fold since 1950.
The slow decline in our bird population parallels
our increased use of pesticides.
National news recently reported honeybees are
disappearing, which is a direct threat to our
food supply. I believe our prolific use of pesticides,
and other chemicals we pour on our lawns and golf
courses is the major cause of our disappearing
wildlife. The more we use poisons in our environment,
the more wildlife disappears. The black-capped
chickadee has not returned to our yard yet, but
I have hope that it will return again some day.
For further research see: www.mercola.com/2002/aug/31/west_nile.htm.
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Please use natural, non-toxic means to control
pesky bugs and weeds.
