Our Lowe’s Satellite Martin Colony Wiped Out Again

[John A Green Jr]

Sorry, left one out.

I'm not sure if lowes broke any laws but here's something on the migratory bird treaty act of 1918. If you click on the list of migratory birds in the text you will see purple martins on the list. I did once here if it's protected you have to let it alone even if you own the land. I'm no lawyer so if this is out of bounds my apologies.

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/Regul ... .html#mbta

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/Regul ... ndx.html#m

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/703

[Boisy Pitre]

I took it upon myself to email their Investigative Report, Alison Bath, as well as their Health Reporter, Melody Brumble (listed in the contacts section from the link posted above). Here's the content of the email I sent:


Hi there,

Here's an interesting story for you. The Lowe's on Alkay drive took it upon themselves to dismantle a 20+ year established Purple Martin colony and "give away" the bird houses that were funded by local good Samaritans who have an interest in preserving this very kind and benefecial bird.

The deed was done by the store manager without even notifying the owner of the houses, Mr. Steve Kroenke, not to mention that Purple Martins are a Federally protected species and destroying their nests or habitats is illegal.

You can read about his plight with the local Lowe's here: http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... 8898f0bfa7

Meanwhile, Lowe's tolerates the invasive English "House Sparrow" (a.k.a. Weaver Finch) in its garden center where they can shower customers with fecal matter (yes it happened to me this past weekend at my local Lowe's store).

I really encourage you to make a good story out of this.

Best Regards,
Boisy G. Pitre

[Gary-La]

Wow! What a shocker. I wished Lowes would of contacted you/Bob first about corporates decision before taking action.

I find that Lowes is a bit higher in pricing than Home Depot anyway. They'll get my business from now on.

[James Strickland FL]

I went Lowes on line to contact them and found that Lowes is with The Nature Conservancy. I contracted The Nature Conservancy and informed them of what the Lowes store had done and they will be calling me back. I told them the story and they can believe it.

[KathyF]

I went Lowes on line to contact them and found that Lowes is with The Nature Conservancy. I contracted The Nature Conservancy and informed them of what the Lowes store had done and they will be calling me back. I told them the story and they can believe it.

COOL - way to go James!!! Good find!

[James Strickland FL]

I contacted Lowes and told them of what happen and someone from Lowes management is going to give me a Call. I spend over 10,000 a year at lowes and they have lost me as a customer and I told them that.

[John A Green Jr]

I actually went to street view on google and seen the housing set-up by the out buildings. What a shame.



http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&gbv=2 ... CBAQ8gEwAA

[John A Green Jr]

Steve,
There seems to be open field on the left going into lowes. Is it still open and have you asked if they would let you re-locate there? Maybe an option.

[Wetterdale]

Well folks this is now going international. We have Lowes in Canada too that will surely lose customers. Me for one!

I called the store in Shreveport to express my disapproval this morning. I was told the manager is Joe Reynolds. I am waiting for a call back.

[DAVE]

Steve!
I called the lowes store that you posted and talked to an assistant manager and he told me that they have a real problem with birds in their store, so that is why they removed the housing. I ask him why he didn't call the owner of the housing. He said that he didn't know who owned the housing and he wasn't going to call every one in Shreveport to find out who the owner was. Then he said LOOK I have to go I have a store to run and he didn't have time for this, so I said ok and wished him a good day.

I figure that he was just another Grabber to climb the corpate ladder not caring who he steps on. Good luck in your pursuit. I'll be doing my part.
Dave

[Matt F.]

Apparently Lowe's management and corporate, needs to be informed they just committed a federal offense.......
http://www.fws.gov/le/ContactUs.cfm
They seem to think controlling non-protected pest birds, and destroying the ACTIVE nesting sites of a protected species, are the same thing.

[Boisy Pitre]

Steve!
I called the lowes store that you posted and talked to an assistant manager and he told me that they have a real problem with birds in their store, so that is why they removed the housing. I ask him why he didn't call the owner of the housing. He said that he didn't know who owned the housing and he wasn't going to call every one in Shreveport to find out who the owner was. Then he said LOOK I have to go I have a store to run and he didn't have time for this, so I said ok and wished him a good day.

I figure that he was just another Grabber to climb the corpate ladder not caring who he steps on. Good luck in your pursuit. I'll be doing my part.
Dave

If sparrows were invading the PM houses, then he might have a point. However, from the description, it sounds like the PM houses were filled with Purple Martins.

Education is the key. The manager obviously doesn't know the difference between HOSPs and Purple Martins. I doubt the PMs were crapping on customers in the garden center...

Anyway, push the issue. Get more people, agencies and the media involved.

[ltwalsh]

Our Lowe’s Satellite Martin Colony Wiped Out Again

Well, it has happened again and this time Lowe’s is fully responsible for the destruction of our most successful satellite purple martin colony. Bob visited Lowe’s in downtown Shreveport today and was stunned to find all our martin housing gone! We had a pole with four Trios and four Super Gourds and another system with two Trio Wade houses stacked on top of each other.

Just a little history…several years ago an employee “gave” all our housing to a friend when the houses were full of nesting martins! The man dug up a Trio Castle and a multi-purpose pole with two Trios and four Super Gourds. We originally thought the housing was stolen and I filed police report. We replaced all the housing quickly and the martins re-nested.

But this time, apparently Lowe’s decided that the martin colony did not belong on their property, took down the houses and gave them away! Lowe’s didn’t even bother contacting us first. Bob talked with a store manager and he just said corporate came down, saw the houses and decided to get rid of them. He said the housing was taken down about two weeks ago. He stressed it is Lowe’s private property. Bob stressed that martins are federally protected birds. The manager just repeated that it is Lowe’s private property. But he did say he would let Bob know who at corporate headquarters made the decision. I wonder if Bob will ever get a phone call!

Bob started the Lowe’s martin colony well over 20 years ago and I have helped him with it since 2005. It has been an outstanding colony and is usually 100% occupied each season. We had invested considerable financial resources and time in this colony. Until the last incidents, we have not had any problems with Lowe’s management regarding the martin colony.

I guess we should have considered the first “wipeout” a bad omen. Perhaps we should have dismantled the martin colony after the first incident.

When you establish satellite martin colonies at private businesses you never know what can happen if new management comes in or if the current managers have a change in attitude about the martins. You are at their mercy and all your martin housing can be taken down. Probably most businesses would allow the martins to finish a breeding season before removing the housing. Plus once the martins are nesting with eggs/young you can’t harm their housing.

We have three other satellite colonies at private businesses and now I wonder if something like this could happen again. One business did change ownership but the new owner says he “likes” the martins and has no problem with our housing so far.

Satellite martin colonies can be valuable sites to help the martins and educate the public. But there is always a risk of vandalism, theft and removal by the property owners. We will still have satellite colonies but we will be more careful in selecting locations for future ones.

I think I will do my home improvement shopping at Home Depot and no longer patronize Lowe’s!

Edit: There are two Lowe's in Shreveport. Our martin colony was located at:

2710 Alkay Drive
Shreveport
(318) 683-3000


Steve

Steve:

I just sent an e-mail to Lowes customer support telling them I have cut up my Lowes credit card and will never shop there again as a result of this decision. I am sure it won't break them, but I feel better. Maybe if we all did this, they would understand that "Someone from Corporate" made a mistake.

[Boisy Pitre]

Well folks this is now going international. We have Lowes in Canada too that will surely lose customers. Me for one!

I called the store in Shreveport to express my disapproval this morning. I was told the manager is Joe Reynolds. I am waiting for a call back.

It may be more productive to call Lowe's central customer service line at 1-800-445-6937. Press 5, then 2 and wait for someone to come on the line.

I did call and express my disappointment, and when I mentioned the store, the lady asked if I was calling about the "Purple Marlins." Oh boy. I indicated that I was going to take my business to Home Depot. They are supposed to call me back in 24 hours with an explanation.

[billb]

I am thinking along the lines of what KathyF says. Lowes could save face with a good reason if they had only contacted Bob and Steve and given the housing back to be relocated.

I will be waiting to find out the reason. My guess is some cars got pooped on by some nasty Grackles and the martins paid the price!

[Matt@atx]

The manager who had the system taken down which is probably the same rude guy that Dave spoke to needs to be firedasap and Lowes needs to reemburse these guys completely for the cost of the system they had up with an apology. A fat federal fine to the store would be nice too if the feds would ever really do anything about it other than lip service.

[Veronica G]

It may be more productive to call Lowe's central customer service line at 1-800-445-6937. Press 5, then 2 and wait for someone to come on the line.

I just called to voice my anger and was promised that it would be logged and sent to the manager of the store. I left them my name and number.

I can only suggest that those of you with satellite colonies try to call or visit with the manager or owner of the property in which you have your satellite colony before each nesting season in the hopes of keeping something like this from happening again. I hope no one takes this the wrong way. I'm not trying to scold, especially not Steve or Bob. They both do wonderful things for purple martins and am sure are as heartbroken as we all are. I hope you guys at least get reimbursed for all the money you put into the housing.

Veronica

[Louise Chambers]

Ditto what Veronica said - we are discussing this on PMCA's facebook page too. Courtney from NC suggested have sticker or tag on pole with name and number to reach in emergency - which could be bird on ground OR we're going to remove these houses.

I agree Bob and Steve have done so much to help martins and I sure hope at the very least Lowe's compensates them for the housing, or RETURNS IT!

I think the many voices telling Lowe's they made a big mistake is a good thing, thanks to everyone who is taking the time to email or call.

[Connie]

I just emailed a copy of Steve's post to the Shreveport Times investigative reporter. Here is the contact information for anyone else that would like to do the same. I told her I thought it would make an interesting report. Maybe if several people ask she will look into it.

Newsroom
Bath, Alison
Investigative reporter
(318) 459-3530
abath@shreveporttimes.com

The boycott is on.

[TammyBears]

I have called Lowe's and emailed the reporter as well.
I'm even going to tell my Lowe's in Norman, Oklahoma that I will be shopping Home Depot from now....although I usually do anyway, they don't know that!