Field Reports

WILDLIFE

Gulls gone afoul

From islands in Possession Sound, throughout Washington’s coastal cities and toward inland communities, gulls and their excreted gifts from above leave residents scratching their heads, searching for a solution.

No concrete evidence exists to indicate that there are more gulls inland this year, but migration patterns may have changed due to a food shortage, said Julia Parrish, a University of Washington associate professor of biology.

The white splotches on docks smells like money to Jack Wagner, founder and president of BirdBusters, a Virginia-based fowl deterrent specialist.

Wagner sells quick fixes with names like:

• “Daddi Long Legs” — a multi-legged contraption that sweeps areas of four or eight feet to prohibit loitering gulls.

•Two-foot “Scare Eye” balloons that hang from reflective streamers.

•The “Zon Gun” propane cannon “emits automatic thunderclaps.”

Three years ago, Snohomish County officials installed an audio system that broadcast the piercing cries of distressed birds throughout the campus. The noise not only scared away the gulls, but also startled visitors on county business. The county kept the audio system for about two months, county spokesman Steve Smith said. It was dismantled when the birds simply went away.

But Dan Robinson, owner of Dan’s on the Dock at the Everett Marina, wants his guests to enjoy the spaces along the boardwalk where gulls currently swarm. Wire contraptions, scary balloons or cannons will likely deter not only the gulls, but his customers as well. Instead, Marina visitors simply have to watch out.

“You’ve got to be quick out there,” Robinson said. “I had one try to dive-bomb me just the other day.”

Reports of bombardment make some residents wonder whether the pooping is pre-meditated.

Absolutely, 90-year-old Ernest Anderson said. A lifetime of seaside living has him convinced.

He recalls walking along the waterfront in Everett years ago when a gull overhead took aim and fired.

“It missed me by a foot or two,” Anderson said. “Then it circled around and got me on the second try.”

A sure sign of intent?

Yes, Parrish said. Gulls have few methods of recourse when they’re threatened, so they often resort to dropping bombs.

“What would you do if Godzilla came into your apartment? You’d protect your kids,” she said.

Associated Press

Snowmobiling

Tread lightly suggestions

The industry sponsored Tread Lightly! organization is appealing to snowmobiles with tips to help groom a smooth future for their sport.

With U.S. snowmobile registrations climbing past 1.7 million, the sport is grabbing attention as land managers try to balance its growth with maintaining the country’s natural resources.

Here’s a sampling of the group’s recommendations:

• Ride only where permitted and not in off-trail areas where you may harm wildlife or vegetation.

• Obtain a map of the area you wish to explore and determine which areas are open for use.

• Dispose of all sanitary waste properly by burying or packing it out.

•Use a fire pan to minimize impact if you build a fire. Properly dispose of ash and fire debris by packing it out.

•Protect the soundscape by avoiding unnecessary noise created by your vehicle and overstaying your welcome in high traffic areas.

•Ride only where there is adequate snow cover, where young trees and plants are not visible. Snowmobiling on groomed trails causes no lasting harm to the soil beneath the snow.

• Be respectful of wildlife’s wintering habitats. Stick to the trails.

•Travel at reasonable speeds to protect you and the environment.

•Pack out what you pack in. Please don’t litter.

•Leave gates as you find them and respect all signage.

•To minimize harmful emissions, keep your engine in tune and use only recommended and certified fuels, lubricants, and additives.

Rich Landers

WILDLIFE

Hopes melt for butterfly

Experts say the Oregon silverspot butterfly is pickier than Goldilocks. It can’t be too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry.

Perhaps that’s why it’s in danger of becoming extinct.

The butterfly exists at only six sites in Oregon and Northern California. One of those spots, a tucked-away grassland at Cascade Head, along the northern Oregon Coast, is the center of a far-reaching effort to revive the silverspot.

The 270-acre Nature Conservancy preserve is where butterflies, raised in captivity at the Oregon Zoo, are released each summer.

Debbie Pickering, Nature Conservancy stewardship manager, calls the program a temporary solution, one she hopes will help the species hang on until conservationists restore its natural habitat.

But regular counts show the silverspot population at Cascade Head continues to decline.

Much of the butterflies’ problem hinges on the scarcity of the early blue violet, the only food source for silverspot caterpillars. Other plant species spread across the landscape, Pickering said, crowding out the violet.

Associated Press