Outside

No matter what you think about individual wind generators, or so-called, “wind farms,” one overwhelming fact cannot be denied: they’re all bad news for wildlife, especially birds and bats.
Yes, the original idea was a good one: cheap electricity from a renewable resource and a way to generate power while weaning us from fossil fuels. But in the final analysis, all that wind coming from government agencies – and the industry – about how much we need the power, and how little the industry is destroying wildlife populations, is a bunch of hot air. The bottom line now is profit for the investors, not cheap power or concern over wildlife.

Winter is a tough time for many forms of wildlife. Every day, mule deer, for example, must dig out their winter fare of bitterbrush and tiny plants buried in snow. They also must have thermal cover every night to ward off those nighttime temperatures that can sometimes plummet to below zero.
Similarly, there is a group of hawks that have it tough: the accipiters, otherwise known as “bird hawks.” True, like most birds in our latitudes, their downy underwear keeps them warm, and their winter food: small birds – flocking together in winter for protection, food and warmth – are dependable prey, but let’s not forget Darwin’s theories about how animals adapt to change.

This fall, while eating supper on the back deck, my wife, Sue said, “Listen,” which to a person like me who’s deaf as a post, means nothing. What she saw when she looked toward the sound were hundreds of white-fronted Geese heading south, which is a reminder that waterfowl hunting season is just around the corner, and I recall all too well the last time I got going on hunting at Hatfield Lake.