SFist: I Want 2 B Your Plover - Dogs vs. Birds in S.F.

matt

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:08:16 -0800

Nice photo's of the birds. The first bird, OG:YO is a female that was banded in Monterey County in 2003 (birds are banded right after they hatch). The second banded bird, PG:BY, a male, was banded in San Louis Obispo County in 2004. These two birds, along with others, have spent the last three winters (August-April) at Crissy Field. They spend the summer months on the breeding grounds, PG:BY was seen this past summer on the Morro Bay sand spit. I've been monitoring these birds for several years now and have seen them disturbed many times by off-leash dogs. I've even witnessed some owners encouraging their dogs to chase the birds.

Bigfoot

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 21:02:19 -0800

One more thing...like I said, I've spent a lot of time, probably at hundred hours or more, in the Wildlife Protection Area. I was fishing (which is allowed). I basically became a birder there. I knew very well that dogs aren't allowed in that part of Crissy Field, and tell every dog owner that I see in the WPA that they aren't allowed there. If they look friendly, I try to be friendly about it. People deserve the benefit of the doubt. But if the dog owner doesn't look very friendly or the dog chases birds, jumps into the water where my fishing line is, growls at me, or tries to urinate on my belongings (all of these things have happened) I won't be so friendly about it. I found that most owners who were not friendly knew very well that they were not supposed to be there. Most encounters I have had with dog owners in the WPA have been negative, even leaving me feeling dissed or lied to. In time, I learned to put the National Park Service GGNRA dispatch line on speed dial on my cell phone. I've called it many times. The park rangers come, every time. So have other fishermen, none of whom would think about turning our backs on fishing rules to further our own enjoyment of the places we share.

Bigfoot

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 20:43:38 -0800

Even in your casual investigative report here, you didn’t see a single dog harassing the birds. I've spent a lot of time in the Wildlife Protection Area. I've seen a lot of dogs chasing birds there. These include sanderlings, sandpipers, gulls, herons, and yes, plovers. If you think dogs don't harass birds there, you're either in deep denial or have never actually been there. You dog people really need to learn how to get a grip and share the world around you. Your dogs are not the only animals that count in this world. Hey, I heard you spend $100,000 to backstab the GGNRA rulemaking you agreed to join only to get spanked by the Animal Control Commission. Enough of a wakeup call for ya?

editor

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 01:11:38 -0800

sorry about the triple posting. kept getting internal server errors.

chris

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:27:51 -0800

my guy and i were walking our two (leashed) dogs at crissy field about 2 weekends ago and saw a really cool giant grey heron on the grass close to the walkway. he was calm and didn't move when he saw us, even when we stopped a distance away to admire him. on our way back what did we see but a mostly white jack russell terrier, unleashed, running at the heron's skinny stilt legs, fast. the heron just barely got away in time, and we saw the dog's female owner watching and looking fascinated rather than alarmed at what her dog was doing. she came over to him and cuddled and petted him (like she was praising his bad behavior), and did not leash him even afterward. i was so upset. of course there was no ranger nearby or i would have stayed and reported her. because of the stupid owner, and her uncontrolled dog, a lot more people were deprived of the awesome experience of seeing such a bird up close. and a bite to his legs could have ended up being fatal. i don't care what the other dog owners say, unleashed dogs are trouble in the parks. plenty of them charge up to our dogs and try to start fights, lots of them have jumped on us and muddied our clothes or clocked us on the chin while jumping us, lots of them have dug holes and gone after ground squirrels in our presence, etc., etc. i love seeing people's dogs running into the ocean to chase balls, but i do not love seeing dogs pester or intimidate other beings. and of course it's the irresponsible owners who least deserve the right to have their dogs unleashed but leash their animals only when the rangers are nearby. or say don't worry -- my dog is just playing -- just as their dog is baring his teeth at mine preparatory to biting him. the plovers are extremely endangered. they're so sweet to see. i say it's worth it for all of us to have our dogs leashed and at a safe distance from any wildlife, rather than have even a single one of them distressed. we didn't spend all that time and expense clearing out the crissy field area and encouraging wildlife to return just so irresponsible dog owners could have one more place to let their dogs run wild. we need more fenced-in dog parks where they can run. perhaps we can even block off one area of beach and ocean so they can run free there, so everyone can benefit and less of us have to worry.

chris

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:26:09 -0800

my guy and i were walking our two (leashed) dogs at crissy field about 2 weekends ago and we saw a really cool giant grey heron on the grass close to the walkway. he was calm and didn't move when he saw us, even when we stopped a safe distance away to admire it. on our way back what did we see but a mostly white jack russell terrier (dark head), unleashed, running at the heron's skinny stilt legs, fast. the heron just barely got away in time, and we saw the dog's female owner watching and looking fascinated rather than alarmed at what her dog was doing. she came over to him and cuddled and petted him (like she was praising his bad behavior), and did not leash him even afterward. i was so upset. of course there was no ranger nearby or i would have stayed and reported her. because of the stupid owner, and her uncontrolled dog, a lot more people were deprived of the awesome experience of seeing such a bird up close. and a bite to his legs could have ended up being fatal. i don't care what the other dog owners say, unleashed dogs are trouble in the parks. plenty of them charge up to our dogs and try to start fights, lots of them have jumped on us and muddied our clothes or clocked us on the chin while jumping us, lots of them have dug holes and gone after ground squirrels in our presence, etc., etc. i love seeing people's dogs running into the ocean to chase balls, but i do not love seeing dogs pester or intimidate other beings. and of course it's the irresponsible owners who least deserve the right to have their dogs unleashed but leash their animals only when the rangers are nearby. or say: don't worry -- my dog is just playing -- just as their dog is baring his teeth at mine preparatory to biting him. the plovers are extremely endangered. they're so sweet to see. i say it's worth it for all of us to have our dogs leashed and at a safe distance from any wildlife, rather than have even a single one of them distressed. we didn't spend all that time and expense clearing out the crissy field area and encouraging wildlife to return just so irresponsible dog owners could have one more place to let their dogs run wild. we need more fenced-in dog parks where they can run. perhaps we can even block off one area of beach and ocean so they can run free there, so everyone can benefit and less of us have to worry.

chris

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:15:57 -0800

my guy and i were walking our two (leashed) dogs at crissy field about 2 weekends ago and we saw a really cool giant grey heron on the grass close to the walkway. he was calm and didn't move when he saw us. on our way back what did we see but a mostly white jack russell terrier, unleashed, running at the heron's skinny stilt legs, fast. the heron just barely got away in time, and we saw the dog's female owner watching and looking fascinated rather than alarmed at what her dog was doing. she came over to him and cuddled and petted him (like she was praising his bad behavior), and did not leash him even afterward. i was so upset. of course there was no ranger nearby or i would have stayed and reported her. because of the stupid owner, and her uncontrolled dog, a lot more people were deprived of the awesome experience of seeing such a bird up close. and a bite to his legs could have ended up being fatal. i don't care what the other dog owners say, unleashed dogs are trouble in the parks. plenty of them charge up to our dogs and try to start fights, lots of them have jumped on us and muddied our clothes or clocked us on the chin while jumping us, lots of them have dug holes and gone after ground squirrels in our presence, etc., etc. i love seeing people's dogs running into the ocean to chase balls, but i do not love seeing dogs pester or intimidate other beings. and of course it's the irresponsible owners who least deserve the right to have their dogs unleashed but leash their animals only when the rangers are nearby. or say don't worry -- my dog is just playing -- just as their dog is baring his teeth at mine preparatory to biting him. the plovers are extremely endangered. they're so sweet to see. i say it's worth it for all of us to have our dogs leashed and at a safe distance from any wildlife, rather than have even a single one of them distressed. we didn't spend all that time and expense clearing out the crissy field area and encouraging wildlife to return just so irresponsible dog owners could have one more place to let their dogs run wild. we need more fenced-in dog parks where they can run. perhaps we can even block off one area of beach and ocean so they can run free there, so everyone can benefit and less of us have to worry.

Jim

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:28:57 -0800

The thing is that we have multiple credible reports of off-leash dogs chasing the plovers on this very stretch of beach at Crissy Field. No science necessary for that. Are these reports anectodal? Of course, but what's wrong with that? Indeed, what's wrong with some reasonable restrictions on some parts of federally-run land during some parts of the year? Many dog owners support these restrictions. It's possible to support all those envirnmental groups and federal scientists without hating on dogs. Those looking for dogs harassing plovers should probably head out to Ocean Beach near Noriega, Ortega, or Pacheco on a busy weekend day. That would be the place to look and see.

real_environmentalist

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:03:06 -0800

The problem is: there is no science which proves that dogs are at all at odds with the plovers - even off-leash. In fact, the Hatch report study proved that plover numbers actually INCREASED during the period when dogs were allowed off-leash at Ocean Beach, then (amazingly!) DECREASED precisely during the period when off-leash ticketing and closures went into effect. I'm not going to go as far as stating that there is some sort of symbiotic relationship going on here, but there could be - foxes and ravens are a direct threat to the plovers. Dog scents on the beach discourage the foxes from entering the area, and dogs will chase the ravens - on occassion. Whatever...the truth of the matter is that there is ZERO environmental issue here - plovers are not threatened by the dogs. This is just another case of the NPS hating dogs and using the environmental/plovers issue as a ruse to kick dogs off the beaches. Even in your casual investigative report here, you didn’t see a single dog harassing the birds. And that was what was found in a formal study as well (Hatch Report) - truth is, the dogs simply do not pose a threat to the plovers. Other things sure do, but they are not as easy to target - the dogs offer what looks like a simple solution to their crisis - when in fact, bigger threats such as global warming/extreme weather, toxic waters/food sources, natural predators, humans doing things like driving over the plover nesting areas with recreational vehicles (of which there are none in SF - not motorized recreational vehicles nor nesting sites for plovers) pose the biggest threats of all.

KWillets

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:56:40 -0800

I've always been in favor of cooking and eating off-leash dogs. Perhaps some additional barbecue pits in the area would facilitate this form of recreation.

fuzzball

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:54:45 -0800

This is a cute bird - love the name. It's so pluffy...

Jim

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 13:06:00 -0800

Well the point of some of the dog extremists is that the signs themselves are illegal, so the people who get cited there are a kind of modern day Rosa Parkses. Obviously, most of the thousands of dog owners in S.F. didn't violate the rules when we were there. It could be a question of signage. Most people will obey the signs, particularly after being cited. The Crissy Field area is pretty small and it's not that hard to patrol on quiet days. I agree that the dogs aren't the problem. They are just being dogs. It's funny how some people think that these critters get confused with sanderlings by the volunteers trained to count them. Any animal with four bands must be something special! Upon further review, perhaps more signs would be nice, but that would give some bad apples more chances for vandalism.

citi-zen

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:41:47 -0800

I'm confused by the dog owners who let their dogs off leash in the protected area... keep them on the other end of the beach so everyone doesn't loose the privledge of off leash at the beach!

Joe

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:10:10 -0800

this reminds me of www.buysomehappiness.com

dln

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 02:56:56 -0800

Those are some cute plovers right there. I especially dig the reggae styling on the one in the first photo. Big up, natty plover.

Dave

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 00:44:19 -0800

Dog owners aren't the problem. Its the dog "guardians" that are.

Buck Turgidson

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 23:30:05 -0800

Ok, I'm confused. You say "We saw a few dogs (all unleashed) in the protected zone..." which is a clear violation of the beach guidelines, yet "Most dog owners are responsible citizens of course." Maybe it's just me but a responsible citizen should obey the law, right? Why is it so hard to keep the dog on a leash? There are parks and dog runs all over The City, why must dogs have free rein on all our beaches? I am a dog owner and I keep my dog on a leash. It is not that difficult.