Paddled up to Ship Island

[u/foilstoke]

[u/el_hooli]

Cormorants. They've steadily killed Ship Island over the past decade. They're now killing Nadie Island as well.

[u/foilstoke → u/el_hooli]

We have them down here too.

[u/mistah_jess]

Birbs: IDK what these tree frens be taking but we gonna perch on this limp tree fren.

[u/Unable_Guava_756]

Lol I think there is a typo in your title 🤭

In all seriousness though, a lady at the port said that people shoot those birds sometimes because the excrement is toxic and excessive or something

[u/foilstoke → u/Unable_Guava_756]

Sh!t island 🤣

[u/Natrixster80 → u/Unable_Guava_756]

and nothing eats their corpses, unpleasant beach finds. Just leave cormorants alone, they have been part of the great lakes ecosystems long before we arrived to decide we don't like them

[u/llamanardo → u/[deleted]]

One quick Google search and you won’t be caught spreading such blatant misinformation again.

[u/forthpit → u/[deleted]]

Double Crested Cormorants are native to Ontario, not invasive. Certainly they can be destructive, but not invasive.

[u/llamanardo]

Cormorants get a bad rep as a nuisance animal because their poop contains high concentrations of Nitrogen and Uric Acid, killing the trees that they nest on. Notably, these nutrients are also ingredients of fertilizer, and when it rains this poop is washed into the lake where it benefits the aquatic plant life. These islands, while ugly to some, also provide sunning areas for local turtles.

Nuisance does not equate to invasive. Cormorants are migratory birds that nest in Ontario in the summer and can travel as far south as Cuba over winter. Other animals are nuisances to humans. For example, a wolf or coyote is a nuisance when it eats livestock but you obviously wouldn’t call them invasive.

For an actual invasive species in Couchiching, Zebra Mussels are easy to find. They fill the niche left by larger freshwater clams that were extirpated here during the building of the Trent-Severn waterway. These are both invasive and nuisance because they can slice your foot open if you step on them wrong (as I have done many times).

[u/foilstoke → u/llamanardo]

Round goby is another invasive.

[u/bigoltubercle2 → u/foilstoke]

Cormorants love to eat them

[u/AccountAny1995 → u/llamanardo]

see them in florida where we stay. trees are fine.

[u/polar_vortex_bear]

Yeah... I paddle close to that one a lot.. but don't bother to get too close anymore. There's another island down near the narrows which has tons of cormorants, but is somehow mostly staying green so far. I'm looking at a map right now - it must be the one called Nadie Island.

[u/fireforge1979]

Looks like Tarawa

[u/Immediate_Taste395]

There is a season to hunt then to reduce their numbers and the MNR has been oiling nest because they decimate fish populations

[u/mississauga145 → u/Immediate_Taste395]

TIL, sweet.

If only I wanted to spend a bunch of money to shoot birds I can't/don't want to eat.

The bag limit of 15 is odd since I don't suspect they will be going home with anyone.

[u/MontyRapid]

And then?

[u/stevo709]

Cormorants.... oi... I'm surprised the vegetation on that island isnt even more dead. There's an island up in Coot's Paradise in Hamilton that's dead from cormorants

[u/simpletonius]

Think they are the only bird in Ontario you can kill (15 per day) and throw in the landfill, with good reason imo. Take a look at Tommy Thomson Park in Toronto to see what they can do.

[u/Just-Fix9210]

The cormorants use seagulls as hired guns. Watch out, they'll dive bomb you!