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Re: forum etiquette



Well, I thought the postings about the coyotes were some of the most
interesting I've read, and read them all to my (non-birding) wife who
agreed.

***********************************
Russ Palmeri
Asheville, North Carolina
***********************************
Fog and rain, the sky
touching the new green treetops,
a lone warbler sings


----- Original Message -----
From: "Harrold, Eric S" <esharrol@email.uncc.edu>
To: <LisaBirder@aol.com>
Cc: <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2001 10:12 PM
Subject: forum etiquette( in response to Lisabirder's last post)


> Lisa,
>
> Birders and falconers (I am all too familiar with both eccentric groups)
are
> inherently anti-social or at least often have socialization challenges (we
> REALLY seem to get these in the northwest corner of the state). I would
take
> what anyone on this forum, myself included, with a grain of salt. As a
> biologist, I have to laugh at some of the ridiculous assumptions that some
> carolinabirds folks have about nature.
>
> I don't know exactly what exchange of words occurred, but nonetheless the
> following applies. People should try to be respectful of others when
> communicating either opinions or factual information on this forum. For
> example, when someone such as a falconer extends an invitation to the
> members of this forum to attend a field meet, it is not appropriate to
> openly humiliate him in a replying post, even if they harbor anti-falconry
> sentiments which they are entitled to do. Alienation achieves nothing, and
I
> have learned this the hard way a few times. I would encourage whoever it
was
> that dampened your spirits to reconsider their approach in the future as
> well as give thought to an apology. I would also encourage you to
reconsider
> resigning from the forum, remembering that thoughtless people are in great
> abundance in todays world.
>
> Eric Harrold
> Charlotte, NC
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LisaBirder@aol.com
> To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
> Sent: 6/26/01 6:17 PM
> Subject: Mockingbirds & farewell
>
> Hi there,
>
> We have a nest with three baby Mockers in it in a holly just outside our
> office door. The babies are just about ready to fledge. I have been
> setting out a small bowl with mealworms purchased from Wild Birds
> Unlimited, and they seem to be much appreciated.
>
> When the bowl is empty, both parents stand and peer through the glass
> door at me, and growl until I come out and fill the bowl up.
>
> You'd think that my offering of meal worms would mean they wouldn't mind
> if I took a look at the nest to see how the babies were faring. Wrongo.
> I hadn't even touched the holly bush, and I got beaned on the back of
> the head by either the mom or dad.
>
> Which reminds me, Mockingbirds do this thing I call Mocker Aerobics. The
> bird stands on the ground, takes a few steps forward, and raises
> it&#8217;s wings with a kind of one-two-three-four move.  Then takes a
> few more steps, and repeats.  I am inclined to think that this is a
> display of some sort, so can I assume that it&#8217;s the male doing it?
>
> So anyway, now anyone coming in or out of the front door gets
> dive-bombed. I am pretty sure that this will stop once the babies
> fledge. At least I hope so. We are joking about not activating the
> security system at night. We don't need it; we have watchbirds.
>
> Unfortunately, I've had an emotionally wrenching and awful last few
> days, so I know that I'm taking this too hard; you don't have to tell
> me. But, getting jumped on by various people for my Coyote post has kind
> of been the proverbial straw.
>
> I had thought we were having a good conversation about the advance of
> nature. I guess I should have listed pet parakeets with the cats and
> dogs among the Cape Cod Coyote's victims, to keep the message on-topic.
> :-)
>
> I'm going to be leaving the list after this post. I can't believe it's
> been over three years since I joined. I've had a lot of fun, and I hope
> most of my posts haven't been offensive.
>
> I apologize to everyone for the six seconds of their lives I wasted by
> making them read my evil, non-birding post. :)
>
> Lisa G.
> LisaBirder@aol.com
> Raleigh, NC
>