“So many pesticides, so little time!” exclaimed Sue Phelan, a Green Cape organizer, when I sent her a link to an online news report last week. What now? The Cape Cod National Seashore intends to launch a program to poison crows. Apparently the clever black birds interfere with the nests of piping plovers, an endangered species.
The poison? DRC-1339. The avicide will be injected into hard-boiled chicken eggs, placed in fake nests at Duck Harbor, above, and Bound Brook. There has been an outcry from residents who fear the poison will enter the environment. Read all about it here. While I am against spreading poison as a general rule, what I do not understand is why these same local citizens, who are mounting a campaign against the Seashore’s plan, have not become active against NStar, which will spray, in a much larger area, much closer to human habitation, similar poisons, ie. herbicides, which will enter our drinking water supply. Perhaps they read the editorial in Thursday's Banner, urging people to the crows' defense? Public meetings on the shorebird management pilot program will take place in Eastham, on Thursday at 5:30, Salt Pond Visitor Center, and in Provincetown, March 3 at 5 Holway Avenue.
