STR re net ANIMAL ADVOCATES of Western New York Birds Waterfowl Wounded by hunters Gre routinely left to suffer and die. MUL SA oli(= elif ale [om \ Ducks are loved by so many people. People want to feed them, photograph them and ‘watch them, Police officers and truckers have been seen stopping on the highway to protect ducks as they waddle parade-style when attempting to cross aroad. Why then do so many folks love the TV show “Duck Dynasty”? ‘The main characters in that show are duck hunters. They also profit from duck hunting. How ironic then that this show’s characters are so popular. Duck hunting is the cause of a great deal of “wounding loss.” This term refers to ducks that are wounded by hunters, but never retrieved, and so left to suffer and die. This wounding loss has been documented for decades. There have been many studies done on the subject. For example, a brochure titled “Migratory Game Bird Wounding Loss,” published by Texas Parks and Wildlife, reveals some interesting facts. A “conservative” estimate of 25% wounding loss for hunted ducks and geese is given. That means approximately 3.5 million waterfowl in Canada and the U.S. are lost! One out of every four waterfowl that is hit is not retrieved by hunters. Waterfowl aren’t the only winged hunters’ targets that suffer great losses. Over 6 million doves are wounded and lost yearly in the U.S. That means about 30% of doves hit by hunters are left to suffer and die. There is no dove hunting season in ‘New York State at this time. Hopefully there will never be one although hunters are pushing for one. (continued on next page) 10SPRING 2014 Other thoughts on the mistreatment of waterfo Critics of cats love to denigrate them because they kill birds, Where is those critics’ disdain for human hunters who know there is a large crippling and wounding rate of the birds they shoot but they still can’t wait to get out and participate in the hunt? Hunters often claim to eat the ducks they shoot. Yet the waterfowl hunting brochure published by the New York State Department of Conservation reveals that hunters are allowed to kill merganser ducks but they are wamed not to eat them because those diving ducks are so contaminated. Despite this, mergansers are still shot by hunters. Why? We have yet to see a report that they are overpopulated. We have never seen complaints of merganser/car collisions either. So one can only surmise they ill mergansers just for sport. There are so many birds that hunters are allowed to kill besides waterfowl and doves. There are grouse, snipe, coot, rails, gallinules, woodcock, turkey and crows. But that’s not enough. Money is spent on raising and releasing non-native birds: pheasants. This is called a “put and kill” program. Hunters are even informed as to the where and when these poor birds are released. Another irony: There are wildlife refuges supposedly set aside for waterfowl, yet human hunters are allowed to kill the birds that seek sanctuary on them. Other vietims of bird hunting are natural predators. It has been said that they have to trap and shoot coyotes, foxes and other furbearers to protect the waterfowl on refuges ~ the same refuges that then let human hunters kill the “protected” waterfowl! Hunters also use live and dead birds to train their hunting dogs. According to an article in a sportsmen’s. publication they use pigeons, quail, chukars, pheasants or ducks. Readers were informed that ducks are more long-lasting. All this gives a different meaning to “it's for the birds.” Animal Advocates of WNY will continue to advocate for our feathered friends. Please make it a habit to check our Facebook page so you don't miss alerts that you can respond to on issues related to this subject.