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Discussion: baiting birds for photos 討論:餌誘拍鳥

Would some one be kind enough to translate the original Chinese text?
Many thanks,
eric

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Call me old fashioned, but ‘Baiting’ used to mean feeding an animal with a malicious intention to capture (physically – not just on film) or  kill it. The demise of the English language has given it a broader meaning now, which I think just muddies the water.

My interpretation of this thread , is that it is about luring . A deliberate attempt to draw an animal into the open for the purpose of observing /photographing it; without any intention of harming the beast.

Within this category is pishing, tape luring, imitating bird calls, feeding – bird tables, chumming, sticking ‘magic Bluethroat paste from a small box’  etc..

Once these lines are drawn it is straightforward to see where most of us stand.
We condone harming the bird, but most of us really, really want to get a look at the bird.

It can easily be argued that providing food is certainly a lot better for the birds welfare than pishing or tape luring.

I know if I was a bird , which one I would prefer. Give me the food any day.

The really interesting thing about the original article is that this chap who produced this magic paste from a small box, clearly is ahead of the game in field craft. I’ve been birding for over 35 years and it never even crossed my mind that a bird like a Bluethroat could be made to land on a particular perch with anything short of magic or good luck.  

If you think about it, this field craft has to have come out of hunting for necessity.
I am very grateful that the photographer provided food in exchange for a photo. Many people through out the world provide food with the sole intention of eating or capturing the animal. This is progress , no harm was done. In fact, photographs are a fantastic medium to engage people to go out and enjoy nature firsthand (the first step to environmental enlightenment!)  Nothing but patience and encouragement to continue appreciating natural beauty is required; this is work in evolution.

eRic

P.S. Many thanks to Beetle for translating the original article.

[ Last edited by RUWright at 1/01/2011 18:54 ]

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