snell@utzoo.uucp (snell) (12/22/87)
So I hear, on the CBC news (that's Canadian Broadcasting Corp., _not_
the Common Bird Census) that an errant Bald Eagle, which wandered
over to the UK last week, is now being carted up and shipped to the USA.
1st Class airflight, no less (it will be put in a 6 month quarantine,
I hope).
Now, why do they imagine the creature comes from `Sugarland'?
Seems much more likely that this bird began its peregrination in
Newfoundland, or some other point in eastern Canada, where Bald Eagles
are a dime-a-dozen. If that bird is to be sent anywhere (unfortunately,
it's all said and done), it should be dropped off in St. John's.
Of course, you can be certain that British twitchers are furious.
The best and probably only chance they might have had to get `Bald Eagle'
on their British Isles tick-list has been destroyed. And just
for political expediency...
Maybe this is good for the old Thatcher-Reagan buddy-buddy system,
but lets not pretend that it is good for Bald Eagles.
It would be better to leave it there, and have it sit on centre stage
for a few months. Bald Eagle fan clubs would have arisen. And then,
if any bird were to be shipped somewhere, send it a pal (from Canada)
for company!
--
Name: Richard Snell
Mail: Dept. Zoology, Univ. Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1
UUCP: {allegra,decvax,ihnp4,linus,pyramid,yetti,utai}!utzoo!snell