Joe and all, Please do not feed owls. Feeding owls is a human thing, not an owl thing. This human thing is probably harmless to Snowy Owl populations, today, but, ask yourself, what if our collective empathy, sympathy, compassion and energy manifest in widespread intensive efforts to "save" owls by feeding owls, as Joe has suggested? Imagine the flurry of new pages, websites, and organizations encouraging this practice? Lots of owls will be fed, this year and forward. Lots of well-meaning people will feel good. Will owls benefit? Please grasp the moment, redirect the emotion you feel toward that young owl perched in that vast corn field to owls' habitats everywhere. There, there you can make a difference! The arctic will periodically regurgitate large surpluses of owls no matter what we do. Arctic ecosystems are boom and bust systems characterized by periodic, fairly cyclic, populations swings. The beautiful simplicity of arctic systems should not be complicated by feeding predators filling a niche near the top of the arctic food-chain. Painfully, let nature take its course. Lastly, carefully read the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. You may reconsider approaching owls to feed them, and you may reconsider that Blue Jay feather dangling from your rear view mirror. Please support habitat conservation. Tom Bain Bird Conservation Chair Ohio Ornithological Society -----Original Message----- From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joe Monahan Sent: Friday, December 20, 2013 2:37 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [Ohio-birds] Feeding Snowy Owls Update Out of curiosity I tallied up the number of positive / supportive comments and emails I received about the "feeding snowies" issue. I'm happy to say that while the number of negative comments numbered six, the positive comments numbered 17! This is a combined total from both the Ohio and PA listservs. I hope together we have chipped away at least a little at the dominant, and I think unsupported assertion that the careful feeding of snowy owls is somehow detrimental to the species. There are caveats and guidelines to keep in mind, as with all things. But overall, there is much more good than harm that can come from this. So grab a pocketful of mice and head out to feed your local snowy owl this weekend! I would be happy to post some pics of your outing / effort if you care to share! Thanks everyone! Feeding Snowy Owls Post: http://feedingowls.blogspot.com Joe Monahan Boone County, IA ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]