Evening star., 1948-09-08
This. and That
By Charles E.-Trace1Deu
"rAKOMA PARK MD

1AhOMA EAttk,- MD.
DO you think the garden sprays are harmful
to birds?
I'VE used to have so many but this year we
have very few. Most of the people in this vicin-
ity like and feed the birds.
Naturally we ought to have more, year by
year, it seems to me, but this spring and sum-
mer the number has fallen off, until now we
have very few.
Tine squirrels too, seem to be in decline. Do
you think one man could kill them off? There
are neighborhood rumors to that effect
Most of the residents are gardeners, and it
seems to me are much too free with the terrible
poisons they use.
"Tney use great deal of this DDT. Do you
think it harmful to birds?
Every truly. l.. McC. D."
Birds at this season tend to repair to the
woods, TO get their feathers in trim for winter,
If they stay here: for the Southern trip, If they
migrate
It is only natural that neighborhood should
have fewer birds now.
Soon most of them or at least many Of them,
will return for few days or a few weeks. They
will strut their stuff" on the old lawns, and
bring delight to all bird watchers.
Robins, with rusty breasts. will come again,
and few catbirds.
There may be wood thrushes, too. These,
untlt late OCTOBER.
Chickadees and titmice, and nuthatches, will
come back, to stay for the winter.
Hot weather not only makes diversity of
persons itch in a variety of places, bringing on
rashes and prickly heat so-called, but tends to
upset the functioning of bird life too.
The feathers are the first things to show the
strain of q strenuous season of bringing up
labies.
In feeding those many hungry mouths the
parents often fail to eat enough themselves
That is one reason why 1t is helpful to put
out plate of ground meat.
Save bit from your own supper.
Place 1t up high, where cats and dogs cannot
get to It.
There are many persons who wonder over the
ultimate effect of poisonous sprays on birdlife.
Birds do not eat the poison, but they eat the
insects that eat the poison.
Sometimes the insect is still moving.
1t takes reasonable time for DDT, for in
stance, to take effect.
The basic ingredient in this material is a
fern of chloral hydrate once widely used as a
soporlfic.
Anything using it will have the same effect
That effect, on insect life, is deadly. On birds,
IL is not so much so, but DOT has not been
used long enough to know exactly what the
effect is.
1t may be, some feel, that not many birds
are killed by it at one time, but few steadily,
so that in the long run the result is going to
be disastrous.
When one is dealing with millions of units,
such as birdlife, totally unrecorded there is no
way to know quickly what is happening.
If poisonous garden sprays and DDT are kill
ing of our birds, it will be years before we know
it-and then, unfortunately, everybody will
know 1t with a bang.
But then it probably will be too late.
AS for the squirrel killer he is a type
Sensitive persons will feel that such a killer
will get his just retribution.
The atom bomb seems to make mockery of
moral values. There are still millions of per-
sons however, who still believe in them, and
are willing to live and die for them.
The little squirrel and the lowly sparrow are
integral units in the unseen. Whatever hap
pens to them, in turn will happen to others.
because something has been taken out, and
when something Is taken away, something is
wrong. And when something Is wrong, some
thing must happen again, TO make things right.