The Shadow
Dear Editor,
We were having a discussion at the Double C restaurant in Covington the other day, and one of the group said, “What happened to our wildlife?”
Someone else said, “What do you mean?”
The first person said, “Where have the bobwhite quail gone, I haven’t seen one in years. And the grouse population is way down. Some say, we don’t have as many turkeys, either. I wonder why?”
The first guy popped up again and said, “”Do you think it’s because of the coyotes, or bobcats or bears?”
A third member of our group, who seemed knowledgeable, said, “No, it’s not the fault of any of those, although they certainly contribute to the problem.
It’s mainly because of the famers, other landowners and the utility companies who cut their crops and foliage to the ground and farm to the fences leaving very little cover and food for wildlife.”
I spoke up, in perplexity, and asked, “Wait a minute, I thought the farmers were the friends of wildlife, at least they used to be. What happened?!”
“Well,” the wise one said, “that has all changed. Now days, farming is big business. It’s mostly about making a profit. Sure, there are a few farmers and landowners, and an occasional utility company who leave habitat for wildlife, but, for the most part, the fields are left bare and everything is cut to the fences. You see, wildlife have to have cover and food. When there is no food or cover, predators find easy prey and wildlife cannot survive. How would you like to be in a bed in the wintertime with no covers and nothing to eat?”
The first man spoke up again and said, “Wait a minute, I thought our game department was supposed to protect our wildlife — what happened?”
“Wise one” responded saying, “Well, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries does the best it can. They even have a bobwhite quail program and go around the state begging farmers and landowners to create habitat and leave habitat so quail can survive and increase.”
The first man said, “Well, does that work?”
“The wise man” replied, “To some extent it does but progress is slow and only a drop in the bucket to the thousands of acres of bare land. It is a very depressing situation and the future does not look good. These bare fields have been found to hurt the honeybee population because most of the wildflowers are gone and there is little pollination.”
Someone else spoke up and said, “Well, I’m thoroughly depressed about all of this. What can we do to help?”
“Wise one” said, “It’s a massive undertaking and it will take a lot of help from farmers, other landowners and the utility companies. They have to be told repeatedly about the problem and the dire consequences to wildlife of continuing the same damaging practices. It is a tough sell to people who are primarily about making a profit. There is nothing wrong with making a profit but unless there is some balance in farming practices, our wildlife will soon be gone, I’m sad to say.”
One of our group who had remained silent up to this point said, “I have an idea. Why don’t we ask Bill to write one of those Letters to the Editor he likes to write?”
Well, they all agreed, so here’s a summary of what we discussed.
I hope it inspires some farmers and landowners to help our wildlife.
If you want to help contact Marc Puckett (434-392-8328) or Andy Rosenburger (540-381-4221).
Sincerely,
William T. Wilson
Maple Avenue, Covington
