Survival of the Fittest

Survival of the strongest and the fittest just won’t cut it any more; especially it seems if you’re an owl. The very timid and government protected Spotted owl has put up with the highly aggressive and larger Barred owl for just about the last time. Looks like “big brother” is going to step in and “take out” the barred owls.  Just how the Feds plan on doing this hasn’t yet been decided; they’re studying on how to proceed. They say they may trap and remove the barred owl bullies or they may just shoot them. If you’re like me that last choice of removal made me cringe. I’ve never been one to tolerate bullies and I have the scars to prove it, but to permanently remove one species of owl in order for another to survive makes me wonder if we aren’t going to end up doing more harm than good. Is the situation between the dominant barred owl and the fearful spotted owl a fully natural progression? So far the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services are proceeding with an environmental study and are asking environmental groups for their opinions on the matter. Hope they’re prepared; there will probably be a lot of feedback on this one.