comments from the archives

I still get plenty of comments on older posts. The post that wins the prize for the most far-out, emotional, and irrational comments was one I did about Mute Swans in 2007. Any Mute Swan post gets over-wrought comments. I had to delete extremely long (1000+ words) comments, but that just meant I got extremely long emails instead.

I still get them! Here is a classic example I got just last month. These people wonder why nobody takes them seriously.  This is verbatim. The only thing I deleted was reference to an article including widely-circulated and debunked Mute Swan propaganda, same stuff I referred to in my comment on the original post. Enjoy. And if you are in this guy's camp, don't leave a comment or send an email.

The subject line was: "Cynus Olor, the awful war in the mid-east, and Billy Jo Bob" (!).

Dear Anonymous Blogger (nuthatch.ba)

It must be nice to be so full of yourself, that you can blow off the ignorant general public that clamors for the protection of one male Mute Swan in Michigan. Of course, you also write off the public that gives an apparently inept president some leeway on conducting foreign policy, but has less problems understanding the indiscretion by the Chief Executive with an underling intern, in the closet of the Oval Office. Any other Federal Employee would have been terminated for sexual harassment.

Obviously you are a practical person, because you understand it is easier to control Mute Swans, than chicken farm, or fertilizer runoff, into the Chesapeake Bay. This understanding allows decimation of Mute Swans by DNR (Dept of Natural Resources) in Maryland, Connecticut, Vermont and Wisconsin. Obviously too, you are indeed a "cat" person. Aloof, detached and happy with your smug self centered world of correctness of opinion. It is probably those lesser "dog" people whose anthropomorphism creates hardship for environmentalists who understand native species, and how the educated elite must manage wildlife.

What can a retired peon who has considered himself pro-environment since college in 1969 do to thwart the mindset of people like you, or at least the organizations that subscribe to Mute Swan control? Withhold financial support, and knock out a letter of protest. That is it.

Sometime, ask yourself, what is it that makes life worth living? Dissect your answer. What does it come down to? We all reach the same destination Nuthatch, and I believe it is better to enjoy and accept the natural world for what it is, a continually evolving and magnificent creation of which we are just a small part.

Truly,
Charles Norton

For a little touche, here's a recent post from the Wildlife Society Blog, "Non-native Mute Swans must go." And a letter in support of reducing Mute Swan populations signed by representatives of 25 conservation and wildlife organizations.

Comments

[jess]

Ummm...what was that email about again? I think I missed something.

Awesome.

[John]

That's awesome. A real gem.

[Seabrooke]

Was it my misinterpretation, or did he just call Mute Swans native?

What can you say to these emails? I don't know what people think they're going to accomplish by writing them - obviously you don't agree with them, so how is a strongly worded email going to change anything? I guess they just feel they need to vent. I've got a couple in response to articles I've written in the OFO News, too. Pretty much it comes down to a "Thanks for your comments, have a good life."

[Ellen]

WhatEVER! I am just so glad you are back!

[Mike McDowell]

Nuthatch,

That you think you're a know-it-all appears to be his chief complaint. However, you don't know it all, but Charles Norton apparently does. I wonder how he can live with himself.

Mike M.

[Jochen]

I don't get it.

Luckily, this doesn't mean I have to read his email again. I can simply blame it on English not being my "first" language and look on.

[Wren]

LOL - Jochen, you have an unfair advantage.