LETTER: Bird feeder ban had negative impact

I complied with the request of the orovince in late July of last summer and took down all 12 bird feeders to protect finches from frounce disease. Bird feed has been offered on my rural property on a year-round basis for the past 25 years and I believe that removal of the feeders drastically altered the wildlife ecosystem and food cycle in the area.

The regular attendees at the feeders included 10 chipmunks, 12 squirrels, two families of grosbeaks and one of blue jays, assorted sparrows, two crows, a raven, a red fox, a goshawk, a merlin, a stray white cat, and the finches.

They all disappeared after the feeders were removed and I fear that they starved to death. Thankfully, large numbers of finches survived the frounce scare and visited feeders that were reinstalled this past winter, and a stray grey tabby visits each morning at dawn.

In view of the negative outcome of feeder removal, more study on the global effects of feeder bans must be undertaken before such draconian directives are issued by government.

John Tuach

Pynn’s Brook