A similar, but not all that similar, since rabbits aren't generally aggressive, is the annoying habit in my area (and probably many others) for people to release domestic rabbits into the wild. I know too many people who love watching them hop around the neighborhood (but also many who grump about devasted gardens), who I usually stop short when I complain that domestics should NOT be let loose simply because the indigenous hare population abounds. Those native hares know how to nest more safely and the ignorant domestics have no clue. The nests are constantly getting demolished by cats and birds of prey, and local dogs chase them, leaving the yards they've been well trained to stay in. Some folks feed the wild domestics, thinking they are helping them, but rabbits breed incessantly when food abounds and it doesn't take long before neighborhoods are overrun by them. Female rabbits go into estrus with just one hump from a male, all year round (there's a reason why the phrase "we f****d like bunnies all night" is popular). It is common for people to feel taken aback when I disagree that seeing them hop around the neighborhood is "adorable", they don't like their bubbles being popped. I farm domestic rabbits, and when the loose ones come around to eat the scattered timothy hay, they inevitably irritate and confuse my otherwise happy and pampered buns who get regular food (including wild greens in the summer and discarded winter greens from the food bank in the winter), and I've been needing to live trap those. Currently my wild trap is being passed around the neighborhood to catch the profuse and annoying wild domestics, which I don't mind entirely since I eat those, too. They aren't as fat, but their hind legs are bigger, so there's that. A similar thing happens in cities when folks think they are doing feral cats a service by becoming a restaurant for them. Inevitably the neighborhood gets overrun with breeding cats who attack and harass family pets with smaller territories. Sorry for the long comment, but it's a particular beef of mine. I've known people who spend considerable time live trapping the wild domestic cats and getting them fixed before releasing them again... a step in the right direction, anyway. Letting domesticated animals free (whether originally wild or not) is highly irresponsible. Some do it with whole litters of puppies, and it is just so wrong
I have always had very mixed feelings about exotic pets. Cats and dogs seem to have chosen to associate with us for the obvious advantages and yet we all know of them that have come out on the worst side of that bargain.
I understand the appeal. I have wanted a pet primate, in particular. But it is very much not the same thing as having a relationship with an individual of a species that has come to befriend us more broadly.
We had a farmer 3 miles north of us who didn't get all his oat swaths combined one year due to wet weather. Some griz showed up to chow down on the oats which they love. Grizzlies will always find oats. The farmer and his wife enjoyed watching them with binoculars from their house. So the next year they left some oat swaths out specifically for the bear. This went on for a few years to the point of 20 odd griz eating on the oat swaths at once. Word got around and people were driving out from town to have a look and a busload of seniors were once brought out and even let out of the bus! Pressure was put on Fish & Wildlife, meetings were held, a fence was put up around the rural school grounds. Finally, the farmer was forced to quit feeding the bear, but of course now the bear are habituated. It took years for the bear to give up on oats being there, but not without problems arising in the community by their presence in yards and on decks. Luckily, no one got whacked.
I quit conservation biology and ecology for molecular biology because stories like this are so heartbreaking. (Also I wish someone could have adopted the mad lemur and tamed her but I know that is such an American thing to think.) The problem with molecular biology is that now I realize because every lab and manufacturing suite and hospital disposes of so much plastic waste that harassing ordinary people to not use straws and recycle isn’t really having an impact.
A similar, but not all that similar, since rabbits aren't generally aggressive, is the annoying habit in my area (and probably many others) for people to release domestic rabbits into the wild. I know too many people who love watching them hop around the neighborhood (but also many who grump about devasted gardens), who I usually stop short when I complain that domestics should NOT be let loose simply because the indigenous hare population abounds. Those native hares know how to nest more safely and the ignorant domestics have no clue. The nests are constantly getting demolished by cats and birds of prey, and local dogs chase them, leaving the yards they've been well trained to stay in. Some folks feed the wild domestics, thinking they are helping them, but rabbits breed incessantly when food abounds and it doesn't take long before neighborhoods are overrun by them. Female rabbits go into estrus with just one hump from a male, all year round (there's a reason why the phrase "we f****d like bunnies all night" is popular). It is common for people to feel taken aback when I disagree that seeing them hop around the neighborhood is "adorable", they don't like their bubbles being popped. I farm domestic rabbits, and when the loose ones come around to eat the scattered timothy hay, they inevitably irritate and confuse my otherwise happy and pampered buns who get regular food (including wild greens in the summer and discarded winter greens from the food bank in the winter), and I've been needing to live trap those. Currently my wild trap is being passed around the neighborhood to catch the profuse and annoying wild domestics, which I don't mind entirely since I eat those, too. They aren't as fat, but their hind legs are bigger, so there's that. A similar thing happens in cities when folks think they are doing feral cats a service by becoming a restaurant for them. Inevitably the neighborhood gets overrun with breeding cats who attack and harass family pets with smaller territories. Sorry for the long comment, but it's a particular beef of mine. I've known people who spend considerable time live trapping the wild domestic cats and getting them fixed before releasing them again... a step in the right direction, anyway. Letting domesticated animals free (whether originally wild or not) is highly irresponsible. Some do it with whole litters of puppies, and it is just so wrong
I agree. The best of intentions don't change the fact that the behavior is irresponsible.
I have always had very mixed feelings about exotic pets. Cats and dogs seem to have chosen to associate with us for the obvious advantages and yet we all know of them that have come out on the worst side of that bargain.
I understand the appeal. I have wanted a pet primate, in particular. But it is very much not the same thing as having a relationship with an individual of a species that has come to befriend us more broadly.
I carried a photographer in my gallery (who was friends with this idiot:
https://greatamericanoutdoors.com/2022/03/warning-very-graphic-the-last-few-horrifying-minutes-of-grizzly-man-timothy-treadwells-life-caught-on-tape/) who proudly took a wolf as a pet, which went fine for years until one day, hanging out on the couch together, the wolf bit half his ear off with no provocation. He thought it was funny and showed off his mangled ear with pride. Some ppl... smh 🤦♀️
We had a farmer 3 miles north of us who didn't get all his oat swaths combined one year due to wet weather. Some griz showed up to chow down on the oats which they love. Grizzlies will always find oats. The farmer and his wife enjoyed watching them with binoculars from their house. So the next year they left some oat swaths out specifically for the bear. This went on for a few years to the point of 20 odd griz eating on the oat swaths at once. Word got around and people were driving out from town to have a look and a busload of seniors were once brought out and even let out of the bus! Pressure was put on Fish & Wildlife, meetings were held, a fence was put up around the rural school grounds. Finally, the farmer was forced to quit feeding the bear, but of course now the bear are habituated. It took years for the bear to give up on oats being there, but not without problems arising in the community by their presence in yards and on decks. Luckily, no one got whacked.
Yeah, even the bear, which is rare after "problems"
I quit conservation biology and ecology for molecular biology because stories like this are so heartbreaking. (Also I wish someone could have adopted the mad lemur and tamed her but I know that is such an American thing to think.) The problem with molecular biology is that now I realize because every lab and manufacturing suite and hospital disposes of so much plastic waste that harassing ordinary people to not use straws and recycle isn’t really having an impact.