Nesting Wildlife Endangerment Alert

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*!Wildlife Endangerment Alert!

Please Beware of Yard Workers with Loud Blowers/Mowers working around lake areas where shore birds are nesting!

If shore birds are nesting in your yard please advise yard workers to not disturb these nesting birds. 

You may want to delay your yard work until  after bird eggs are hatched. 

This would be the humane thing to do. .

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Comparing Rules of Conduct at State VS Local/City Lake Parks

Lake Areas Compared	Private or Public	No Trespassing After Sunset	Fishing	Fish Permit Required	Fishing String Disposal	Visitor Path	Pets	Rules Of Conduct	Shore Bird Protection	Conclusion	Comments
State Parks	Public	Enforced	Restricted Areas	License	Yes	Restricted Areas Only	Six Foot Leash and Keep Pets Away From Shore Birds	Published on Web + Signs	Best	Shore Birds Protected
Apex Lake Pine	Public	Enforced	Controlled by Permit	Permit for All and yearly renewal	Yes/ Specific for Fish Line	Yes/ Wide Path	Yes/ Long Leashes But Path is Away From Shore Bird Habitat	Published on Web + Signs	Good	Shore Birds Protected By Fishing Control and Fish Line Disposal
Raleigh Pullen Park	Public	Enforced	Not Controlled	No	Nothing Specific	Yes	Six Foot Leash and Must Keep Pets Away From Shore Birds	Signs Only - No Web Rules Published	Average	Shore Birds Protected by Dog Control
Cary Lake Parks	Public	Enforced	Not Controlled	No	Nothing Specific	Yes	Yes/ Long Leashes	Signs Only - No Web Rules Published	None - Enables Animal Cruelty	Shore Birds Not Protected	Worst Shore Bird Protection By Lack of Controls Enabling Animal Cruelty
Lochmere "Small Lake Path" Loch Lomond	Private But Not Enforced	Yes But Not Enforced	Not Controlled	No	Nothing Specific	Path is Extremely Narrow and Very Close to Shore Bird Habitat	Yes/ Long Leashes Allowing Dogs to Attack Risking Injury to Nearby Shore Birds	Signs Only - No Web Rules Published	None - Enables Animal Cruelty	Shore Birds Not Protected	Worst Shore Bird Protection By Lack of Controls Enabling Animal Cruelty

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 It is nesting season at the Lake areas. This is when birds are most vulnerable to abuse. Shore birds will need your protection and help. If you see Dogs/UnsupervisedKids attacking shore birds, Say/Do something.

 Please report/email/call witnessed cruelty to LochmereHOA/Police/AnimalControl and also to us FOWLNC@bellsouth.net  . Tell them you don't want your HOA/Tax dollars blindly supporting/enabling Animal Cruelty. And that you want "State Park Rules of Conduct" imposed/enforced at these LocalLakes and ShoreBird habitats. Reference this Website to support these claims.

 Last nesting season at Lochmere Small Lake it was reported that Bird nests were destroyed, Injured birds with broken wings, and Dead birds floating in the Lake. Thanks to "lack of simple low cost controls" that could have prevented these senseless acts of Animal Cruelty. 

Here are some simple property and life saving controls for starters:

1 Enforce No Trespassing AfterSunset
2 Setup Receptacles and Signage for Fishing String/Waste
3 Enforce No Illegal  Fishing/Boaters by Trespassers
 ie. eliminates harmful trash from illegal fishing
... anyone off the street with a fishing pole/boat can enter lake areas. This needs to cease.
4 Six foot leashes at Lake Areas
5 Keep dogs away from shore birds
6 Display "The Loch Lomond Sign Rules" at all Lake Areas including Boat Ramp and Lochside Pond Area that are exposed to unruly activities before and after sunset.

When building manmade wetlands careful consideration should be given to wildlife protections such as: Fishing control, Dog Control, and sufficient buffer between shore birds and public activity. 

Lake caretakers at a minimum should implement 1) fishing string disposals/signage, 2) Six foot limit for dog leashes/signage, 4) Keep Pets Away From Shore Birds/signage 3) Closed after sunset/signage

If these simple humane actions are implemented, it would deter most of the harm/abuse that shore birds are subjected to.

Caretakers that care are expected to implement these safeguards.

Caretakers that don't care should call the SPCA and turn themselves in.

Nothing gets done/fixed unless responsible people take responsible actions.  

 If Lochmere Small Lake "Loch Lomond" was a State controlled park it would be restricted to WALKERS ONLY : NO PETS ALLOWED. The path is extremely narrow and too close to the shore bird habitat which doesn't allow for safe pet activities. Two people can barely pass. Add to this trespassers, fishing, baby strollers, joggers/wDogs, unruly people on bikes, skateboards, skooters, and Dogs with long leashes: a recipe for disaster.

Sign At Small Lake : These are good rules for ruly people. However, sadly these rules are not enforced/controlled. So unruly people show their disrespect by easily hijacking the area with impunity because there is no active monitoring. When no one is watching the store, the store gets robbed. The sign clearly shows "Closed after sunset". Yet it is rampant with with unruly activity after sunset: Trespassers, Fishing, Joggers/wDogs, Dog Walkers, Walkers etc.. At a time when shore birds are roosting/nesting and a time when area homes want privacy. This creates an unsafe atmosphere not only for shore birds but for area homes. Residents don't want strangers hanging around their property, especially after sunset. This is when nesting shore birds are extremely vulnerable to harm by unruly after sunset lake users.
Nesting birds will be easily spooked and nests destroyed by these illegal activities occurring after sunset when the "Lake Path is Closed". Thereby contributing to inhumane treatment of wildlife. Responsible residents should report witnessed after sunset lake users to the Lochmere HOA and the Cary Police. The sign says "Enforced by Cary Police"? The police will only act if you do. 

Don't let your HOA/Tax dollars blindly contribute to enabling the mistreatment of Lochmere property and inhumane treatment of the WildLife. If unruly people are allowed to hijack the area then inhumane treatment of wildlife will prevail. Don't let that happen; otherwise we are blindly endorsing unruly behavior and inhumane treatment of wildlife. 



Words to live by : IF YOU DON'T LIKE WATERBIRDS DON'T LIVE OR GO NEAR THE WATER. YOU WON'T BE MISSED.

Dog Attacking Bird Family

WaterFowl Cruelty

Tip : Pause the music bar before viewing the video below

Goose Family in Distress at Small Lake

This is what happens when dogs are allowed to roam free  at water bird habitats. A practice that is prohibitive at State Parks. There are several shore birds at the Lochmere/Cary Lake areas that are/were severely/fatally injured by these kinds of unconscious/insensitive actions. These birds will defend their family against all threats and often end up with broken wings.
Which incapacitates their flying ability and exposes them to further harm. Lochmere and the Town of Cary need to comply with State Park Visitor Rules of Conduct.  Shore birds should be protected from harm at Local Cary/HOA lakes and parks as they are at State Parks. 

When viewing the video, notice that there is not much buffer from shore line to walking path. Which means even dogs with short leashes will have easy access to nesting shore birds.

Cat Killed by Leashed Dogs