Steve, Mary , Snowy Owl, Jos, & others,
I agree that the thread started with the inhumane abuse of birds. There is absolutely no justification for this, and some of the posts on the PUMA site exibited this. Draco (BTW, I'm surprised no-one has brought up the fact that the original Draco was a Greek lawmaker who advocated the death penalty for just about every wrongful act) needs to get people who do so off his site, to edit any such posts, and to endeavor to have them removed from the PUMA community. He has, in my opinion, been far too slow and reluctant to do this. However, I joined in when the actual issue of starling and sparrow damage was begun to be questioned, and have pretty faithfully followed that issue ever since, which has been strong on this thread - and is still present, despite the re-raising, quite validly, of the inhumanity issue. I did decry the abuse at the very start, but there seemed to be general agreement about that, including from Draco (though he didn't, it seems as I haven't looked, do much about it on his site) so I didn't address it again. I feel that despite the nastiness, which would be understandable if Draco and others were defending the cruelty, but seems also to have been expressed when non-cruelty issues were discuessed, the thread has raised some good issues about invasive species, and these issues were followed by many. But to say it again - cruelty of any form should not be tolerated, and those encouraging or practising it should not have a voice on websites such as the PUMA one. Draco, I think, should post a warning every time he receives a post that smacks of enjoyment of killing or injuring birds of any kind, introduced or not, that such an outlook is not acceptable in the PUMA community. He has an opportunity to educate PUMA people on his site as to best practices. Until he does so I think there is valid criticism aimed at the site.
