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/)
