There's bird watching, and then there's bird watching. And certain farmers in Arkansas aren't eyeing pretty bluejays and flittering finches at their window feeders these cold winter days.
Local wildlife affect many a farm's operations, and always have. Whether it's a herd of deer eating down an acre of peas or feral hogs wiping out a hay meadow in one night.
Then there are the out-of-town varmints, who are rude and gluttonous, too. And aren't even from around here.
Fish farmers in this maybe too Natural State are having a time with cormorants. (Although how you'd tell the difference between a cormorant and a water turkey is beyond some of us.)
Take a drive through the Delta and you'll understand why aquaculture is such a big deal in Arkansas, to the tune of $170 million a year. Some of these catfish ponds are as big as football fields. It's said that Arkansas exports more than 6 billion baitfish every year--80 percent of the American market. And these days, on every hill it seems, are greedy cormorants, eyeing their lunch specials. They've come down from the Great Lakes, because it's easier pickin' when the ponds aren't frozen over.
These birds can eat up to a pound of fish a day. They're smart and evade tricks such as propane cannons. They've even been known to work in groups, to herd fish to one side of a pond or the other.
This year, for the first time in a while, the feds are giving out permits for farmers to shoot the cormorants. Not many of them, but enough to thin them out a little.
Our advice: Take it on down the road, birds. We hear Louisiana is a good place to spend the winter.
Editorial on 01/09/2018