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
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