Thanks for sharing this information and adding to our wildlife knowledge. The
more information we have the better able we are to make decisions that do not
negatively and unnecessarily impact our natural world.
Wanda SanJule
-----Original Message-----
From: MARLENECONDON@xxxxxxx [mailto:MARLENECONDON@xxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 9:42 AM
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Va-bird] misinformation about the wood louse (aka roly poly, sowbug,
pillbug)
Hi,
There is some misinformation about wood lice and birds that is being spread
around the Internet, with the point being that people should kill wood lice.
In brief, here's the information and what's wrong with it:
(1) MISINFORMATION: "Pill Bugs" LOVE to eat bird feces and other species
[sic] feces.
TRUE INFO: Wood lice are recyclers of plant debris; they do not "LOVE" to eat
feces.
(2) MISINFORMATION: BUT when they consume bird feces they are also eating
the eggs of the various/some of the species of "Round Worms and Tape Worms"
that infest the intestines of birds. The eggs are then spread BACK to the
birds when the various bird species EAT the Pill Bugs. So Pill Bugs ARE a host
of intestinal parasites.
TRUE INFO: Parasites and diseases can limit populations when other means,
such as predation, have failed to keep numbers of a particular kind of
organism in check. Therefore the world is not overloaded with parasitic and
disease organisms; if it were, these organisms would wipe out the critters
they affect and that's not the point of their existence. Thus most of our
wildlife is healthy--that is to say, most pill bugs are not harboring
organisms that are harmful to birds. (Think of the numerous times you've been
bitten by mosquitoes or ticks without getting a disease.)
(3) MISINFORMATION: [T]hose "Roly Poly" bugs are coming out of the mulches
locally and eating up strawberries and tomato fruit that is close to the
ground.
TRUE INFO: If these animals are eating your fresh fruits, your garden is not
functioning properly. Wood lice prefer DECAYING plant matter. They will eat
strawberries and tomatoes that are ROTTING on the ground already.
This means you aren't keeping your fruits out of contact with wet soil which
means they are in contact with fungal spores and bacteria that start the decay
process so the fruits aren't sitting on the ground forever.
Misinformation causes people to needlessly kill innocent animals that are not
really "pests"; these animals are just trying to do their jobs.
PLEASE do not blithely believe everything you read. If someone claims an
animal is a "pest", question the circumstances surrounding the situation.
When you take action based upon erroneous information, you are much more
likely to harm, rather than help, our environment.
Feel free to contact me with any such information you come across.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Marlene
Marlene A. Condon (Author/Photographer, The Nature-friendly Garden, Stackpole
Books) Naturalist and Writer/Photographer/Speaker Crozet, VA 22932-2204
E-mail: MARLENECONDON@xxxxxxx
_www.MARLENECONDON.com_ (http://www.marlenecondon.com/)
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