THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604230192
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
One day not long before the news came out about Virginia Beach's second eagle's nest in 30 years, young Travis Unser, 12, looked out of his nearby Salem Lakes home and saw an eagle soaring overhead.
The family ran outside and looked up to see not one but two eagles flying together, making loops in the sky, said Brenda Unser. Unser had always thought she'd have to go to Alaska or some other faraway place to see eagles in the wild.
The family most surely had seen the eagle pair as they were preparing to mate at Stumpy Lake Golf Course. Now the birds have two young in their nest there.
The Unsers live in a typical Virginia Beach suburban neighborhood not far from Stumpy Lake. Although seeing eagles was certainly not an ordinary event, seeing other wildlife in their yard is. Great horned owls, raccoons, opossums snakes, birds and squirrels wander in and out of the Unser yard at will.
And that's the way the Unsers like it. Instead of being irritated, for example, at the raccoon that eats their bird seed, they are pleased to have the opportunity to view all kinds of wildlife.
``To see the bald eagles was the most exciting moment I can remember,'' Unser said.
Unfortunately, a lot of people here don't feel the same way the Unsers feel about wildlife. Of the 35,000 animal complaints called into the city's Animal Control Bureau in 1995, almost 5,000 of them were about wild animals, said Bill Clark, superintendent of the bureau.
Clark has a hard time understanding why folks get so bothered by the likes of squirrels, opossums, raccoons and even baby rabbits. But they do. The 150 humane animal traps at Animal Control, which can be borrowed for a $35 deposit, are always out on loan, Clark said. Not a one was available the day we talked. When a resident is able to trap the animal he's after, then it's up to an Animal Control officer to go and pick up the trap, animal and all.
``Then we take the animal and drop it in the nearest woods and there isn't much of that left.'' Clark said. ``There's just no end to it.''
The situation is not so simple when it comes to raccoons because of the rabies epidemic. Health Department regulations require that every raccoon that's picked up now must be euthanized as a preventive measure, Clark said. It's possible that a raccoon could have the rabies virus and you wouldn't recognize it.
``If you transport a raccoon from a rabid area to a non-rabid area, you'd be spreading the disease,'' he explained.
This time of year, when Animal Control officers are called to pick up a trapped animal, they always have the fear that a nest of young is left behind somewhere to die. In the case of raccoons, if the young are found, even they must be euthanized.
``That's not a very pleasant job to put all those babies to sleep,'' Clark said.
Clark is not underestimating the rabies fear. Some callers are really afraid, but many call, for example, about a raccoon that's sleeping in a tree or a raccoon that's getting into a bird feeder - the same kind of calls Animal Control gets about squirrels and other wild animals.
``I can't understand it,'' Clark said. ``A squirrel's not going to hurt anybody. Me and my wife, we buy nuts to feed the squirrels. We feed the ducks, the pigeons, everything in the yard.''
I do too, Mr. Clark. Folks can't have their cake and eat it, too. There's just no way to feed the birds and leave the squirrels and raccoons out. Everybody gets a little something in my yard.
The answer to unwanted wildlife is fairly simple. If you don't want the animals in your yard, just don't feed them, Clark said. That means not leaving dog and cat food bowls out, too. They particularly entice raccoons and opossums.
``Just quit feeding the animals,'' he said, ``and they will leave.''
So give Animal Control a break and instead of calling them, stop putting food out in your yard. Or, else, why not just grin and bear it? You may even grow to enjoy it, like the Unsers, Clark and me.
P.S. I saw a hummingbird Sunday in my yard for the first time this year. I've also had calls from the North End and from Princess Anne Plaza about their return. It appears they are everywhere now.
THE MASTER GARDENER PLANT SALE is from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at Pembroke Mall.
NATURAL DYEING is the topic of a hands-on workshop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at historic Francis Land House. Participants will learn to forage for natural materials, prepare a dye bath and dye yarn samples over an open fire. The cost is $40. Call 431-4000.
MIGRATING DUNES AND FRESHWATER BAY is the program from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Call 721-2412. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Brenda Unser and her children, Travis, 12, and Ariel, 10, see all
sorts of wildlife in their Salem Lakes yard.
by CNB