Environmental studies professor Greg Michalenko stood on the stump at the rally site. After taking a group of students to see the "beautiful" beaver tooth marks on the stump on Friday, Michalenko said he was shocked on Monday to see it had been sawed to the ground.
It's "as if the university administration doesn't want us to remember" the beavers' fate, he alleged.
Where's Heather Mills when you really need her? I guess baby seals are cuter.
Anyway, the students want a more "Pro-Wildlife" policy regarding such matters. Too bad they can't get as excited about plain old Pro-Life issues. Pre-born humans must really be at the bottom of the food chain in student priorities.
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Friday Update: Beaver outrage continues in the Letters section of the Record. One reader seems to have his head screwed on right though. Eric McGrath of Kitchener asks everyone to take step back and look in the mirror:
"...A full page of letters to the editor about beavers. All of this uproar over a couple of beavers that have been trapped by professional trappers and disposed of according to legal trapping laws in our province.
And a memorial service for four beavers?
I can't help but wonder about a couple of things.
First, where are all of you the rest of the year when trappers take beavers across our province? Isn't this the same thing? Doesn't that cause you as much concern?
Second, has this more to do with the university than the beavers? Are these the protests of people dissatisfied with the university and have jumped on this bandwagon?
And third, it begs asking, what about abortion? A few beavers versus thousands of human lives -- and all disposed of according to the laws of our land.
Seems to me we have our priorities messed up."
Thank you, Eric!
20 comments:
Poor Bambi!!! Moose are another highway hazard. Like hitting a brick wall.
BTW..beavers are rodents...
Yes, good point, Vicki. Funny thing is that here we can't even kill squirrels, rabbits or raccoons. Have to trap them and cart them far away. I don't understand how the university got away with it. I'm not a huge animal lover, BTW. Far from it.
Don’t you think it’s funny that the “licensed wildlife rehabilitator” in that story about beavers is named Carole Damms?
*LOL* Red, too funny!! That one got right by me. Nice catch.
Would make great fodder for Leno!
Joanne - I heard a Toronto wildlife person on the radio the other day - and she said you're not allowed to cart them out of their environment(i.e. not further than 1 km). Don't know if that just TO, I thought it was all on Ontariario,
Oh brother! John, that's just crazy. They find their way back if you don't drive them far enough away.
It seems that animals have more rights than people these days.
And don't get me started on cormorants!
I find it interesting that the Beav's made their home that far from any water..I don't recall the campus being close to anything but drainage ditches.
Off topic but did you read about this:
"Harper, McGuinty, Miller stand united over Ottawa plan to toughen bail system....."
http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/NationalNewsArticle.htm?src=n112315A.xml
I have to go chase some pigs off my roof now!
Cheers
I like beaver tails they are tasty. Ottawa is the best place to get them lol.
There's Laurel Creek and Columbia Lake in the north campus (above Columbia Street). It's being built up now, as a research and technology park. RIM has about 5 buildings in the area.
They have tried to integrate the creek and lake and maintain the naturalness of the banks and wildlife. Usually it's the waterfowl that one thinks of when wildlife is mentioned.
Recall in the 2004 election how the first returns (one poll) showed the CPC-ML was in the lead. If there are a few hundred people there who will vote Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) you should not be surprised to see animal rights types. Makes student life more interesting.
PGP - There are a lot of streams and even a lake near the property.
"Harper, McGuinty, Miller stand united over Ottawa plan to toughen bail system....."
http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/NationalNewsArticle.htm?src=n112315A.xml
I have to go chase some pigs off my roof now!
lol! Yes, that's a pretty funny picture! It's like a Sesame Street episode: "One of these things doesn't belong here; one of these things is not the same..." Kudos to all three though, for crossing partisan lines to deal with this very serious issue.
L.S. - Yes, thanks for the geography lesson. ;)
BTW, I received an interesting email from the U. of W. Beaver Memorial Service organizer. I will publish it if given permission.
Sara - Beaver tails... Sweet!
Having hit a 3-point buck myself and writing off my car I know how scary it is when you hit an animal on the road. That is definitely not something I would wish for anyone. Going through that experience I learned some interesting information regarding deer hits. Did you know that the majority of all deer hits occur when the deer is coming from the left. There is a blind spot on most cars from the left window pillar. Deer hits generally occur in late fall and early winter during their mating season. The male deer tend to get stupid and aren't cautious when crossing the road. Whether or not hunting season should be opened up I do not have an opinion on. I'm sure that hunting seasons are there for a reason.
There are certain laws that do prohibit moving one animal species into an area where it does not naturally exist. For example: fish cannot be moved from one river system to a another as it may disrupt the natural ecosystem and food chain of the new environment.
Having said that, I believe that the University should have been responsible enough to trap the beavers and move them to another location far enough away so that they could not find their way back but to a location where beavers are inherent.
Scary stuff about the buck incident, Sydney!
The fish thing is interesting. In some lakes you can't even use bait from another lake.
Moving the beavers would seem logical, but I heard someone say that beavers already in that area would be hostile to the newcomers. Tricky situation.
But deer culls, etc. seem quite acceptable to most people. And just today I read about wild dog culls in extreme northern areas. So what is the difference, I wonder?
I think that there is certainly some favourtism if you want to call it that towards certain animal species simply because they are cute.
It was mentioned earlier that beavers are rodents. I can't help but think that it's acceptable and almost considered proper to exterminate a mouse when it invades your territory.
Who decides what animals are considered acceptable to exterminate and which ones to save? After all, don't all animals play a certain role in the animal food chain?
Who decides what animals are considered acceptable to exterminate and which ones to save?
Excellent question, Sydney. And it seems to me that pre-born humans are the most expendable animals of all in today's society.
You make a very valid point Joanne.
I don't know how anyone could live with the moral decision they have made to take another life.
Vicki - Yes, I did hear about something about it being illegal to kill pre-born eagles, now that you mention it. Incredible. That's in the States, isn't it? Or is it here too?
Funny thing that in Canada, not only can a woman and her doctor decide to terminate a pregnancy at any stage, but it is also o.k. for someone to actively kill the baby against the mother's wishes. They might get charged for causing some kind of harm against the mother, but as far as the murder of the pre-born child goes, it's like it never happened.
He was on his way to go hunting...the irony... Ha! Some kind of natural retribution there, I guess. Was your bro-in-law o.k.?
Sydney, yes it's sad. People have been brainwashed by the Feminazis and judges to believe that human life magically starts the moment the baby exits his or her mother's body. What an interesting fairy tale that is.
BTW, I know a few beavers I'd like to get rid of on Bell Expressvu commercials...
Just kidding, animal rights activists!
Once we allow the state to own something inside our own bodies (by giving legal status as separate individuals to babies in the womb), they will use it to put in state owned and protected microchips.
The entire abortion police apparatus will be very handy for examining the humanstock (just like we examine livestock) to ensure they are gestating according to decree and that the chips stay in good working order.
Bottom Line - If the university did nothing about it and the beavers remained and a tree fell down and killed a student. There would be lawsuits against the university for not dealing with the issue. In addition, either way people will bitch about it. Leave em or kill them - the university is the bad guy.
Wow, liberal supporter, that's quite a leap.
Having gone to UW, I can remember other wildlife issues there. There were years of multiple goose attacks on students. People got to the point where they were scared to go from one building to the other for fear of the geese in between the buildings turning on them. I was lucky to have avoided a goose attack in all five years there.
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