Marin County, California
August 2007

Point Reyes National Seashore Superintendent Don Neubacher welcomed animal exterminators, White Buffalo Inc., to our local seashore at the end of July. West Marin locals are seeing the helicopters, seeing Fallow and Axis does with ear tags and collars, and seeing large storage containers that will hold the bodies of the 1000 mother deer that White Buffalo will rocket-net, shoot, and captive-bolt over the next three summers. Locals are outraged at the intrusion of violence in their once-peaceful park and Trinka Marris of Friends of The White Deer states,

“The number of 1000 is misleading. The public needs to understand that killing the does will result in hundreds or thousands of orphaned fawns dying a horrible death of slow starvation. The NPS is choosing not to count these baby fawns’ death when they give the number ‘1000′.”

This is fawn season. Visitors to Marin may just have the chance, if they are very lucky, to glimpse one of the white or speckled fawns that have just been born this year. The above photograph, taken by photographer Trish Carney, shows the beauty and defenselessness of these baby animals. I am writing this article here to voice my own horror, and the horror of the people of Marin over the fact that these innocent baby animals are about to witness their mothers, sisters and aunts murdered in the following way by White Buffalo Inc.’s brutal gunmen:

“White Buffalo will bait deer, trap them in a net, and then kill them with a captive bolt (the same instrument used in slaughterhouses). A video taken in Illinois shows netted deer wildly struggling to escape. Then a person sits on a deer, another holds her head, and a third fires a 4-inch captive bolt into her brain. While each deer is being wrestled and killed, the others frantically continue to struggle as they watch and hear their companions dying, only to await the same fate.”

In addition the abuse documented here, many of the does will be shot at and will wander the seashore, perhaps gutshot or crippled, bleeding to death. If White Buffalo Inc.’s gunmen manage to capture a shot deer, their policy is to suffocate it by putting a plastic bag over its head.

If this cruelty to animals occurred anywhere outside of government lands, the perpetrator would be sued by the Marin Humane Society with a very good chance of being convicted of a serious crime.

I am a birder, and you, my valued readers, are also birders. If spending all of those hours in nature, watching our feathered fellow creatures has taught us one thing, it is that the animals with whom we share the planet are beings of dignity and wonder. I am sickened to the heart to know the fate that is currently meeting the gentle Fallow and Axis Deer of the Point Reyes National Seashore. I am sickened by the cruelty and stupidity of mankind.

Bambi was a cartoon; these deer are actually living beings

I have been appalled by the coverage most of the local newspapers have given to the plight of the Fallow and Axis Deer of Point Reyes National Seashore. In their strivings to hit on a catchy title for their editorials and articles, journalists working for the Press Democrat, The Marin Independent, The San Francisco Chronicle and the Point Reyes Light have repeatedly likened the local deer to Disney’s cartoon Bambi.

And they aren’t saying, “Didn’t anyone realize how horrible it was that Bambi’s mother was shot?”

Their tone is, “Well, wow, it’s just like Bambi. Aren’t I clever to have noticed that?”

The Bambi cartoon has traumatized countless children, despite it’s unrealistic attempt to make it all seem okay that Bambi’s mother was killed, because, after all, then Bambi makes friends with a rabbit and some other cute and cuddly creatures of the forest.

In real life, it will not happen that way for the orphaned fawns who will starve to death once their mothers are dead. I am completely disgusted to realize that journalists are so out of touch with even the most remote concept of respect for life that they can trivialize the trauma and pain of a living, breathing baby creature by glibly comparing it to a cartoon. Shame on each one of them for this inhumane attitude towards wild animals.

But Hunting’s An Old Time-Honored Tradition, Ain’t It?
White Buffalo Inc’s gunmen are not hunters. Hunters are the Aleutians who kill whales with spears so that their families can eat. Once upon a time, hunters were people like Pa in the Little House on the Prairie series of books about pioneer life. Men like Pa shot only enough animals to feed their wife and children. They shot stags…not does and fawns in fawn season! Hunting was a practice developed by humans in order to survive…to have something to eat. Hunting is not a sport. Hunting is not a business.

For the record, I am a vegetarian. I have not eaten meat in more than 15 years. I am ethically opposed to any type of killing of animals. However, I am also quite aware that in many parts of the world, native peoples still rely on hunting as their primary food source. I may feel sadness over the Aleutian killing of whales up in the far north, but I get it…this is how these people survive and they’ve lived like this for centuries.

This is at the opposite end of the spectrum from camouflage-draped men shooting firearms from helicopters in order to brutally eliminate thousands of deer at a time. These are not hunters. They are violent, twisted people. The president of White Buffalo compares killing deer to brushing his teeth and is eager to tell reporters how much he enjoys his job.

What kind of a person takes satisfaction in the screams of defenseless animals while bolts are being shot into their brains? What kind of a person is that?

White Buffalo Leaving A Guilty Trail of Blood Across the United States

They ride into your town under government protection, in case some hippy might wave a “Please don’t shoot my friends” sign at them. They meet with the press and talk about what great shots they all are and how professional, efficient and humane they are. They talk about the great hunting life they lead. The press prints the standard propaganda for you and your neighbors to read. They tell you they’ll be giving the meat to the homeless, so everyone can feel better about it.

Then the shooting starts.

White Buffalo’s policy is to keep times and places for shootings a secret, but the word always seems to leak out. Suddenly, people are finding baby fawns keeling over in their backyards. Children are screaming over stumbling upon the bloody, half-dead body of a deer. You and your neighbors are threatened with arrest if you so much as try to take a single photo of the carnage.

Maybe the homeless do receive some of the meat, but most of the dead mothers are left to rot in the fields. White Buffalo is securely escorted from the town with many thanks from the NPS, and the people, the animals and the land are left reeling from a trauma that will never heal.

What is happening in Marin, California has happened in Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut and a growing number of states across our country, always at the request of park officials, and always against the consensus of local citizens. It’s a terrible, sickening pattern and Marin is only the newest town on White Buffalo’s woeful list.

The Final Insult, or, What’s In A Name?
My husband and I are both proud to have partly Native American ancestry. We honor the way our ancestors existed within an environment, rather than viewing themselves as somehow outside of it. I want to state, as a woman with Native American heritage, that I am personally offended by the name of this company - White Buffalo, Inc.

From their website at whitebuffaloinc.org:

“Native American legend tells of the White Buffalo Woman who offered a sacred pipe to a Dakota tribe, explaining that the pipe symbolized that all things were connected. Its purpose was to remind people of their tie to nature, what nature gives and what should be done in return.”

What? What is this? Is what we are supposed to give in return the wholesale, inhumane slaughter of some of nature’s most fragile and lovely creatures? I was stunned reading this statement. It is so insulting that this company would dare to use a Native American legend to describe their behaviour.

And, just for the record, the version of the White Buffalo legend I know goes like this:

Once White Buffalo Woman appeared to two men. The first man was disrespectful to her and tried to harm her. She turned him into a pile of bones. The second man was respectful, so she gave him a pipe and taught him special music.

If my Powhatan Indian ancestors were only alive today, I am sure they would find it hard to keep the sarcasm out of their voices as they explained to White Buffalo Inc. the actual fate of the bad man who harmed nature. I can hardly believe the irony of White Buffalo Inc.’s selective twist on this old story and they have wound up looking very foolish in doing this.

The Fate of Nature
Every time I sit down to add a new blog post to this birding blog, I am trying to share my deep love of wild creatures with you. Today, I am sharing my sadness and outrage. If you share my feelings, please, take the time to visit the following website:

Friends of the White Deer

Please visit Trish Carney’s Flickr photo set to view her photographic documentation of the fallow deer of the Point Reyes National Seashore.

Greetings Birders!
If you’re like me, you’ve always been a big fan of the Audubon Society. They’ve been around forever, they publish beautiful bird guides, and they have terrific local chapters across the U.S. The Audubon Society depends on members’ dues and donations in order to publish their magazine, fund their conservation projects and maintain their standing as America’s most famous and popular birding organization.

Unfortunately, the Audubon Society is rapidly losing member support here in the San Francisco Bay Area of California because of a decision made at an official, Marin Chapter Audubon Society level about a local issue which local people feel very strongly about.

Here are the basic facts:

• For generations, the citizens of Marin County have benefited from the presence of the small herd of beautiful Fallow and Axis Deer that were brought by humans to the Point Reyes National Seashore in the 1950’s.
• The National Park Service will begin killing the deer this summer of 2007 via methods that include gunning down from helicopters, hunting with dogs and beating and stabbing the deer to death.
• The National Park Service claims that the deer are harming the environment and threatening the Black-tailed Deer that also live in the park.
• The National Park Service has refused to spend the time to actually study whatever effects the Fallow and Axis deer may be having on the ecology. They do not have any figures for how many Black-tailed Deer live in the park, nor how many lived there 50 years ago. Rather than study the animals and act as the good stewards of the land they are employed to be, they simply want to kill the Fallow and Axis Deer.
• Officials at the Marin Chapter level of the Audubon Society have announced that they support the inhumane, hurried killing of the Fallow and Axis deer. Local members of the regional chapter are in disagreement about the position the board of the Marin chapter has taken and have voiced their lack of support for this policy.
• The Marin Humane Society, In Defense of Animals, WildCare and Dr. Jane Goodall have all pleaded with the NPS to adopt a policy of humane management, not extermination of these deer which are so highly valued by local citizens and the 2.5 million visitors that come to the Point Reyes National Seashore annually.
• The people of West Marin have created a group called Friends of the White Deer. Their efforts have included gathering thousands of signatures, holding meetings with the Park officials and posting signs all over their villages asking for humane management of the deer.
• The NPS and the conservation committee of the Marin Audubon society is refusing to listen to the needs and wishes of local people, and the killing is set to begin this summer.

It is my belief that the National Audubon Society and all of its chapters should take the position of protecting and cherishing life, not destroying it. If the size of the Fallow and Axis deer population needs to be managed, it can be done with humane contraceptive dart technology. The NPS is authorized to do this, and already practices humane management with the Tule Elk that also live in the park.

I am offended that the Marin Audubon Society, a group I have always respected, has so far ignored the position of the highly-educated local members and the people of West Marin who have lived with these deer for half a century. The Marin Audubon Society should listen to the wisdom of its local members who love and know their regional environments, and who do not support the committee’s desire to see the deer inhumanely slaughtered. The Audubon Society only exists because of the support of local people across the land, and our words should be important to them.

*Editorial correction: It was my initial understanding of this case that support of killing the Fallow and Axis Deer of Point Reyes had been given by the Audubon Society at a national level. Thanks to Glenn Olson, Executive Director of Audubon California and Graham Chisholm, Director of Conservation & Deputy State Director, Audubon California (see comment below), I have been able to clarify that neither the national nor state level Audubon Society has taken an official position on the slaying of the deer.

I have also had the opportunity of speaking with Barbara Salzman, President of the Marin Audubon Society. She confirmed for me that the position announced in support of killing the deer was taken at a local chapter level, not a national or state one. According to Ms. Salzman, this position is not the result of a vote amongst the members of the local chapter, but rather the result of discussion amongst the conservation committee. Ms. Salzman indicated to me that if they had to take the view of all the members into account, they would never be able to reach an official decision.

It is little wonder, then, that Marin Audubon Society members are upset by the committee’s stance. In the words of member Jeanne Emmons Cohn of San Rafael,

“Environmental groups are being lobbied to go along with these deer killings. I implore commissioners to look into alternatives that would prevent annihilation of the whole group of deer.”

In light of the fact that the official position of the Marin Audubon Society is based merely on the decision of their committee, rather than on a democratic vote of their members, I believe it is all the more imperative for dissenting members to speak up and withdraw their support from a group that is not ethically aligned with their own beliefs about the humane treatment of animals.

What you can do
Visit Friends of the White deer at www.fotwd.org to read further about this issue.

If you fund your local Audubon Society chapter, begin a discussion with other members about the inappropriateness of this organization becoming a supporter of inhumane species extermination.

Consider withdrawing your membership and funding from your local Audubon Chapter, and send them a letter explaining that you are doing so because the Marin Audubon Society has ignored local citizens’ request for humane management, not extermination.

If you donate to the National Audubon Society, consider writing to them to explain that you will not be continuing your financial sponsorship of their society because the local chapter of the Marin Audubon Society is supporting species extermination and ignoring local members’ needs.

Please consider writing or emailing the following:

National Audubon Society:
MAIN OFFICE:
National Audubon Society
700 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 979-3000
Fax: (212) 979-3188
email: donations@audubon.org

Audubon California
711 University Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95825
916-649-7600
Fax 916-649-7667
Glenn Olson, Executive Director
email: golson@audubon.org

Madrone Audubon Society
PO Box 1911
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
707-546-7492
Sylvan Eidelman, President
email: sylvan_lee@yahoo.com

Napa-Solano Audubon Society
PO Box 5027
Vallejo, CA 94591
Cheryl Harris, President
email: cheryleharris@sbcglobal.net

Marin Audubon Society
48 Ardmore Rd
Larkspur, CA 94939
415-924-6057
Barbara Salzman, President
email: bsalzman@worldnet.att.net

In Conclusion
My husband and I have spent hours amongst these rare and beautiful deer and have come to love them. Our joy in birding, and the reason we run Birding Sonoma County, is founded in a deep love of the natural world and a respect for all life. We are ashamed to see the Marin Audubon Society officially supporting violence and respectfully request that they remember that the society exists because of the interest and activities of citizens at a local level. We believe that the people in the committee which makes policies for the Marin Audubon Society should be guided by a democratic poll of its local members’ positions, not by the decision of a chosen few, and that the tremendous local outcry against the slaying of the deer should be taken into account by any local wildlife-oriented society.

Greetings,
Due to some ill health and indifferent weather, we’ve had scant birding the past couple of weeks, hence the lack of posts here. However, yesterday was a wonderful day and I seem to be getting over whatever bug was ailing me, and we practically ran all the way to Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, California, desperate to soak up some sun, some birds, some life!

White-crowned sparrows, Acorn Woodpeckers, Nuttall’s Woodpeckers and Western Bluebirds are in good shape in the park, though the sheer numbers of birds seem less now that winter is ending. Birding highlight of the day: a very large Pileated Woodpecker in the eucalyptus grove.

However, the afternoon had a different highlight for us, too. Jack London State Park is quite a good spot for Butterfly watchers, due to its varied vegetation, and yesterday, we found and identified the California Tortoiseshell Butterfly. Just beyond the silos, there is a nice sloping hill graced with fine oak trees, and here we saw a lovely display of these orange and brown butterflies, spiraling ’round one another, up toward the blue sky.

The California Tortoiseshell loves Manzanita, and the state park has a good amount of this and it just came into flower a week or two ago. The butterflies are a little less than two inches across, I would say, but please bear in mind that we are not expert butterfly folks. Their flame-like hues and a distinctive pattern of five chocolate spots on the upper wing make identification fairly simple.

Why Sonoma County residents need to be on the lookout for Butterflies in 2007
Did you see the butterfly migration in 2005? Northern Californians were thunderstruck by the passage of what may have been millions of Painted Lady butterflies. It’s a day my husband and I will never forget.

Pope John Paul II’s death was announced the day the butteflies came across our land. We were feeling very sorrowful, and got in our car, and began driving westward in the cloud of thousands of orange and black butterflies. I remember we had the radio on, listening wordlessly to the news coming from Rome, and our progress to the sea was made in the company of this flying host of winged creatures. If it sounds like this memory has the quality of a strange dream, that is because it did. We ended up at a church in Olema, CA. where a visiting priest from Rome was giving Mass. He had once met the pope, and that afternoon, the priest played the piano and sang a song in honor of the departed. It was very beautiful, and the whole long day was surreal in the extreme.

And then came 2006, and a combination of strange climate and loss of habitat resulted in almost no butterflies appearing anywhere in California - a subject of serious concern! To read more about the disappearance of the butterflies, please read this article from the San Francisco Chronicle on the subject. There has been a distressing decline in butterflies in California over the past 8 years, and 2006 was the worst year yet. I am very worried about this! Last year, I didn’t see a single Monarch, very few Western Tiger Swallowtails, Pipevine Swallowtails, Buckeyes, Skippers or any of the other butteflies I count on. And this is why, neighbors, we need to keep our eyes open for butteflies this year, to see who is visiting our parks and gardens.

I highly recommend a visit to Laspilitas.com if you’d like to learn more about identifying butterflies and providing habitat for them. Anything at all that we can do to help these creatures will be good for them and good for all of us.

Why not take a drive over to the state park in Glen Ellen this week to enjoy the simple, beautiful site of the California Tortoiseshell, rejoicing in its poetic life amongst the oak trees?