It's such a simple measure to avoid putting out fur from animals treated with flea and tick preventives that I can't see a reason to fuss over it. Plus, if you're so dedicated to providing nest materials, harvest fur from the times of year, (we have them up north,) that it has been a few months since they were given meds. Our dogs stop the meds in about November and aren't re-started until April The hair obtained from brushing them in March or April might not contain a harmful concentration for baby birds(?) Just a thought for any who think pet fur is essential for a nice nest.
I feel for you Laura. That person sounds like a borderline troll, especially since they didn't respond to your very good points about the journal being reputable and the idea that such correlations are important to advertise to get more scientists to study it.
We now live in a world where people are acting out more and more without good reason. Even if she had a solid argument against the notion of pesticides getting into pet fur and thus into bird nests, couldn't she have been a little more polite?
You are a gem of a person Laura. Keep up the great work. Your work is thought provoking and inspiring!
Especially these days, there are far too many keyboard warriors who prefer to stir up trouble based on supposed “facts” that don’t align with the majority of scientific research. It’s a shame to attack you, who has done more for the avian world than just about anyone else in the world. I am in complete agreement with your statement that animal fur might be dangerous to birds or other animals. Your insightful and fact-based post helped well-meaning people understand the dangers of their actions. You are 100% right. There will always be that person who wants to pick a fight. Unfortunately, you have to take the brunt of her attempts to discredit you. That’s not going to happen here. This is your site!
Hi Laura. I found I had another question. I’ve been putting out human hair clippings for nesting material. Jim has such sturdy white hair and it’s fun to see oriole nests made from a lot of his hair. They also like to shred orange baling string that I use in gardening. If we take no medications and use no chemicals on our hair is human hair safe for birdies?
Human hair, like monofilament, can be very entangling if the strands are more than 2 or 3 inches in length. That's why I never ever put out the tangles of hair I pull from my brush. Baling string is probably fine as long as they're no longer than 3 or 4 inches.
It's such a simple measure to avoid putting out fur from animals treated with flea and tick preventives that I can't see a reason to fuss over it. Plus, if you're so dedicated to providing nest materials, harvest fur from the times of year, (we have them up north,) that it has been a few months since they were given meds. Our dogs stop the meds in about November and aren't re-started until April The hair obtained from brushing them in March or April might not contain a harmful concentration for baby birds(?) Just a thought for any who think pet fur is essential for a nice nest.
I feel for you Laura. That person sounds like a borderline troll, especially since they didn't respond to your very good points about the journal being reputable and the idea that such correlations are important to advertise to get more scientists to study it.
We now live in a world where people are acting out more and more without good reason. Even if she had a solid argument against the notion of pesticides getting into pet fur and thus into bird nests, couldn't she have been a little more polite?
You are a gem of a person Laura. Keep up the great work. Your work is thought provoking and inspiring!
She was polite enough--just never responding to my points but moving the goal posts elsewhere.
Especially these days, there are far too many keyboard warriors who prefer to stir up trouble based on supposed “facts” that don’t align with the majority of scientific research. It’s a shame to attack you, who has done more for the avian world than just about anyone else in the world. I am in complete agreement with your statement that animal fur might be dangerous to birds or other animals. Your insightful and fact-based post helped well-meaning people understand the dangers of their actions. You are 100% right. There will always be that person who wants to pick a fight. Unfortunately, you have to take the brunt of her attempts to discredit you. That’s not going to happen here. This is your site!
Hi Laura. I found I had another question. I’ve been putting out human hair clippings for nesting material. Jim has such sturdy white hair and it’s fun to see oriole nests made from a lot of his hair. They also like to shred orange baling string that I use in gardening. If we take no medications and use no chemicals on our hair is human hair safe for birdies?
Human hair, like monofilament, can be very entangling if the strands are more than 2 or 3 inches in length. That's why I never ever put out the tangles of hair I pull from my brush. Baling string is probably fine as long as they're no longer than 3 or 4 inches.