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Re: NFC: hunting pen raised pheasants
Sadly the same is true for most rehab animals according to Dr. John
Whitaker. He told me once that less than a third of the animals that
people release into the wild survive. Still a third is better than none
in the case of rehab animals, but in other cases like domesticated
pheasants we risk ruining native populations. An animal can harbor
deadly pathogens and not be visibly ill. It would seem that it is
advisable to only release animals into the wild under extremely
controled circumstances. For instance avoid treating the animals with
antibiotics, insure they return to their original population, and
thoroughly examine each animal prior to release. In this case the only
danger would be that the first generation (the released animals)might
not have the skills to survive. Susequent generations would inherit
genes from their native "pool", and introduced disease would be at a
minimum.
>From: CEFCHURCH at aol_com
>Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 18:26:18 EST
>To: nfc at actwin_com
>Subject: NFC: hunting pen raised pheasants
>Reply-To: nfc at actwin_com
>
>Apologies is advance for non-hunters.
>
>Indiana has release hunts for pen raised pheasants. I went with an old
boss
>of mine to one of these hunts along with his very good hunting dog
Katy. The
>birds would rarely run or fly and Katy would often "retrieve them"
before a
>shot was fired. Being an avid pheasant hunter, Katy's owner described
her
>thoughts as being, "Boy, are these stupid birds."
>
>According to the DNR, those birds not harvested by hunters or dogs only
rarely
>survive more than a few weeks.
>
>Chuck Church
>Indianapolis, Indiana USA
>
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