Just love how the beautify nature and contribute to the fresh smell of the outdoors.
Is that a pun on words , because the picture was taken at a distance ..
We call them shitaquarts, nasty birds.
BAD COMMORANT
(https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2018/08/13/16/cormorant.jpg?quality=75&width=990&auto=webp&crop=982:726,smart)
GOOD CORMORANT
(https://c.stocksy.com/a/Fw0800/z9/1910235.jpg)
a few of them can WIPE out a fishing Hole real quick .
They are a Federally Protected Nuisance like MOST Politicians.
Man, you hit the nail on the head there, Henry! :d I can't believe those POSs (both) >:D are still federally protected! >:(
ranger pulls up to a boat full of shot shitaquarts [new fav ;D thanks]
says, "you know, Cormorants are protected"... guy gives a sob-story:
not a duck in sight all day... I hunt to feed family -- not, for sport... blahblahblah
ranger let's him go, but just before he pulls away, asks
"What do Cormorants taste like, anyway?"
"Kinda' like Loon w/ a hint of Bald Eagle" :o :o :o
(https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.5680468741c16c12b0e7c86141bc3dba?rik=eofF94xBo4PcPw&riu=http%3a%2f%2fi.dailymail.co.uk%2fi%2fpix%2f2008%2f02_01%2fcormant2BNPS_468x357.jpg&ehk=CumucvWEOX6rrZcx2F9hJ5SDxaTFGslLixfEqUmed0Q%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512830/Snapped-The-moment-fearsome-pike-swallowed-ravenous-cormorant.html (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512830/Snapped-The-moment-fearsome-pike-swallowed-ravenous-cormorant.html)
When I hunted waterfowl they were rarely seen and are not native to the Upper Klamath Basin, USFS guestamates we have 20,000 now. I rate them one small step above flying rats, starlings. We have thousands of merganzers in the basin but they have always been here.
I found myself under a couple hundred once. They were coming to roost in some tall cypress trees. I was working perch beds and kept wondering what was hitting the water...and what was that fine white mist all around me on such a clear day. (Here's your sign! moment)
Some around here call 'em water turkeys. Now, if they would swim down and eat zebra mussels, I'd like 'em a little.
A friend of mine lost most of his hybrid bluegill to those birds. He called the Game Warden and told him he was going to open season on 'em. The Game Warden told him he couldn't hear him, must be a bad connection.
They not only wipe out wild life roosting areas but the water around these roosting areas, Mot only that each bird eats on average one pound of fish a day. Here in southern Ontario there's millions of them. Think of what they do to fish stocks, young of the year etc. And yes, they are protected. Those with the strongest voice seems to be people who live in cities and only connection with nature is a flower box on their condo deck.
Good and bad with most everything in the world. Cormorants... ah, they keep the water fertilized, which leads to more productivity...?
Zoom in on the pictures and you'll see the damage their guano does. This damage is from this summer.Nothing lives in the Water around there roosts
Quote from: Gfish on September 05, 2022, 01:04:53 AMGood and bad with most everything in the world. Cormorants... ah, they keep the water fertilized, which leads to more productivity...?
The bottom of Upper Klamth Lake is 200' of bird sh*# with 6' of water on top and it does not need more. It does not take long for a few hundred shitaquarts to destroy their roosting area. We have a large number of egrets in our area that do the same around their roosts but not 10% of the number of cormorants. They are also displacing the native merganzers and have chased bald eagles from some of their roosting areas on the lake. If it was 5000 not 20,000 on the lake the balance would be tolerable. The large # is also harming our pelican and western greeb population and the endangered fish in the upper basin, far more than taking irrigation water out of the lake.
Quote from: Gfish on September 05, 2022, 01:04:53 AMGood and bad with most everything in the world. Cormorants... ah, they keep the water fertilized, which leads to more productivity...?
I've yet to come across anything good regarding Cormorants. They destroy fish populations, pollute waters and are just plain nuisances! >:D Why the Feds protect them is beyond common sense! ::)
I looked around on the net and found that the national and many state governmental agencies have been "trying" to control the cormorant. It's federally protected, but permits can be issued to control them.
The problem starts with the fact that they were once endangered, sooooo, there are folks that believe it will happen again if the government unleashes citizens and state agencies to effectively control them.
Until the cormorant kills the last unicorn steelhead, or its poop kills the last magic water fern it will continue to be handled delicately. Canadian fishermen....you don't stand a chance at even approaching this bird with bad intentions. Scaring them off their roost can get you locked up.
Amazing.
They are one of the main contributing factors it keeping the Klamath and Lost River suckers from recovering. Poor water quality below Irongate Dam is a larger factor for the Klamath River salmon but having too many shitaquarts does not help. What will help is allowing more cool Shasta and Trinity river water to flow into the Klamath (90% of the Trinity is diverted to LA) and not opening the river mouth with backhoes until the fall rains cool the river and allowing salmon in to be harvested when certain people need alcohol money. Upper basin irrigation is also a part of the problem but not the main problem.
FYI, the temperature of the water coming out of Klamath Lake run in the low to mid 70s this time of year and is not good for salmon, it should be going to the wildlife refuges and farms.
Unfortunately several fires on the Klamath below Irongate Dam have killed off far too many fish this year.
Hey Lunker Larry,
In Ontario we are allowed to shoot cormorants since 2020,15 bird daily limit from September 15 to December 31st.
They put a real hurt on the Brown we release into Lake Huron, and rainbows in the Saugeen.
You wanna talk about nuisance birds? We have Muscovy ducks in the neighborhood, crapping HUGE turds all over driveways and yards. And idiot neighbors are feeding them, encouraging them to stay and multiply. I guess they enjoy tracking sh?t into their homes. >:(
Muscovys are non indigenous turd birds but they are tasty.
Wild turkeys and gease leave large landmines too.
I live in a small community, if I were seen walking around with a gun, I'd be arrested. Not to mention the "animal cruelty" laws... would result in the same... arrested.
The shitaquarts can actually destroy concrete structures, such as the old lighthouse on pilot island in door county WI, (Lake Michigan)
Their roosting areas are very good catfish fishing spots.
Quote from: nelz on December 24, 2022, 05:53:33 PMI live in a small community, if I were seen walking around with a gun, I'd be arrested. Not to mention the "animal cruelty" laws... would result in the same... arrested.
would you get arrested for feeding 'em? make turducken bombs:
couple AlkaSeltzer tabs in cling-wrap go into a fish; fish goes into a shitaquart; WALK AWAY!!!
What the heck does AlkaSeltzer do?
Quote from: nelz on December 24, 2022, 07:47:19 PMWhat the heck does AlkaSeltzer do?
acid & base salts, DRY... upon contact w/ moisture they react & make gas (CO2?)
EXPANDS RAPIDLY!!! 1/2 tab in a shrimp will blow up a gull -- pink mist from cloaca... cling-wrap is delay fuse
I'm a bad person for suggesting, or even knowing, this... but that's just me, AND I HAVE TO LIVE w/ ME ::)
Quote from: 0119 on December 24, 2022, 06:36:24 PMTheir roosting areas are very good catfish fishing spots.
Ah ha! I knew there hada be "some" redeeming value to "shitaquarts". Maybe carp, too.