Friday, June 13, 2008

Design #49- God’s Design Includes Location

If mankind had left plants and animals in their native locations, a lot of trouble would have been avoided.

God not only designed everything in creation, but He also designed where it should live. When people decide to change that, it can cause huge problems. For example, consider the European Starling.
The Starling is often mistaken for a blackbird because of its size and black feathers. It was native to Europe where it had natural enemies that kept its population under control. But in 1890, sixty of the birds were brought to Central Park in New York City, and forty more the next year. Someone thought America should have all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. By 1948 Starlings lived in every state, Alaska, Mexico, and Canada! Since then they have caused major problems!
Starlings are the main cause of damage to grapes each year, one year claiming nearly 20% of the crop. They roost by thousands and damage trees. The noise of that many is also a nuisance. The uric acid from the droppings damages the finish on cars. Starlings contaminate stored grains, fruits, and vegetables and cause significant economic losses due to consumption and contamination of livestock feed. This can have a significant impact on the cost of dairy, egg, and poultry production. Starlings will also pull up newly planted seeds causing reduced yields. Starlings feed on poke berries, elderberries, and wild cherries producing droppings that can cause unsightly stains. In addition they kill swallows and bluebirds and break their eggs.
Starlings are known to spread a host of serious illnesses to both people and livestock such as salmonella, rickets, and tapeworm.
The costs of aircraft-bird collisions in the United States are estimated to be at least $20 million per year to commercial aircraft and $10 million per year to Air Force aircraft. Much of this damage is caused by Starlings. At Fort Campbell, Kentucky, huge swarms of Starlings roosting with fly up into the planes that are taking off choking their engines. This has been a serious safety issue.
The problem is compounded by the bird’s ability to adapt. They can roost anywhere, build their own nest or borrow a used one. A clutch normally consists of four to six blue-green eggs. The incubation period is eleven to thirteen days and the fledglings leave the nest at about 21 days of age. A pair of starlings sometimes produces a second or even a third clutch in a year. They are also true omnivores; they eat anything.
To kill the birds, people have put out traps, sprayed them, shot them, but they continue to multiply. Extermination or at least methods of revulsion keep many in business each year. Yet sometimes the cost of getting rid of them is greater than the cost of their damage.
How good it would have been if man had left the European Starling where the Creator designed it to be!

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Posted by Jim at 05:06 PM

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