Photographed near Carleton Place, Ontario Canada.
61086A

A Note To Wildlife Lovers

For all the overwhelmingly positive response I've gotten to this image, I've received a couple
insulting, nasty, and simply offensive criticisms from people upset with me for interfering with
wildlife (upset to the point that one of them actually called me a bastard) and sure in their own
minds (small as they obviously are) that I caused the death of this baby robin, when in fact,
nothing could be further from the truth. These people, of course, didn't have the courage to leave
contact information, so I'll address such comments here.

The mother robin first tried to build her nest on the base of my internet satellite dish.
Not wanting it there because she would have to continuously be flying through my transmitted
signal beam, which has strong enough radiation it can be harmful to life, I removed the nest.

She built it again, I removed it again. She built it yet again, I removed it again and getting
tired of this, I obstructed the dish’s base and thought that was the end of it until I discovered
a few days later that she had then built her nest under one of the slideout sections of the RV
that I live in ( http://www.pbase.com/merriwolf/image/35987063). Since there was no inherent
danger to her or her family there, except from prowling cats or other predators since it was
only a few feet off the ground (actually, a stupid bird), I left it there and kept my eye on it.

She soon laid eggs, they hatched, she fed the babies, they grew, they left the nest, and I then
removed it. I assume the birds all lived happily ever after. End of story.

I could have justifiably removed the nest at any time because birds carry lice, which I learned
once from another robin's nest that I didn't remove and then had to exterminate the lice that got
into the house from it, but I left this one under the RV and took the chance that lice wouldn't be
a problem.

So, because of the location the mother chose, she was used to people being around at all hours
of the day and having people checking on the development of the babies whenever someone walked
by and she was not bothered by it. I found it rather amusing that the babies would spring to life with
their mouths open like this at the first sign of movement, whether it was their mother returning or not,
and it was because of this that I took the photo.

However, I don’t find rude offensive criticisms amusing. I don’t find cowards amusing who assume
the worst in people and jump to conclusions without bothering to first get facts. Self-righteous jerks.

Anyone who thinks my actions in taking this photo might have jeopardized the baby robins should
look at the settings this shot was taken at and note that it was taken at 300mm, equivalent of
480mm on my camera, so I was not right in the baby's face when I took it, but a prudent distance away.

Anyone who thinks I jeopardized these baby robins and is tempted to leave an insulting offensive
criticism should first learn that no one respects wildlife more than I do and will do nothing to interfere
with it, as long as it isn’t interfering with me. I certainly have more respect for wildlife than I do
for people like them. :-)