Our Lowe’s Satellite Martin Colony Wiped Out Again

[NancyinEnidOK]

Louise, thanks for the information! This is just my opinion -- but I think the best thing the rest of us can do, is to keep spreading the word about this atrocity and continue voice our displeasure with Lowe's (through words and actions, i.e., purchases). It seems to me that if things are allowed to quiet down, Lowe's might get the mistaken impression that PM people are going to just forget about this and let it slide. Again, just my opinion, with suggestions for those who are so inclined.

[Louise Chambers]

I agree, Nancy - voices that remain silent will not reach anyone.

[Don Strickland]

My feelings exactly.

[John A Green Jr]

Is there any question that these people at a minimum stole Steve and Bob's property? Lowe's gave them permission to put it up and should have at least asked permission to take it down. I think a stolen property report to the local sheriffs office against lowes would at least make them come to the table with some kind of explanation. Just my opinion.

[John Miller]

The ironic thing I keep thinking about, if stupid house sparrows inside were the concern -- and they are all over the garden area of the Lowes I shop at in Brentwood, Mo., -- Steve and Bob would have been the best experts to advise on a repeating bait sparrow trap.

oh well...hopefully some good will come from this.

John Miller

[James Strickland FL]

I wish now that all the sparrows and starlings would flock to that store and crap all over the place and drive all the customers way.

[flyin-lowe]

[quote="John A Green Jr"]Is there any question that these people at a minimum stole Steve and Bob's property? Lowe's gave them permission to put it up and should have at least asked permission to take it down. I think a stolen property report to the local sheriffs office against lowes would at least make them come to the table with some kind of explanation. Just my opinion.[/quote
Legally you have to show they illegally took possession of someone else's property with the intent to deprive them of that property. Civaly they might be responsible for the housing but it would be hard to try to say the stole from them, especially if the current management may or may not have known who owned the houses.

[Ed Pace]

I am curious if anyone that lives in the area has seen the birds circling around the grounds, or have they left?

Ed

[NancyinEnidOK]

I wish now that all the sparrows and starlings would flock to that store and crap all over the place and drive all the costumers way.

Hey, James, you just gave me a great idea for how Lowe's could use all that poisoned Scott's bird seed . . .

[Louise Chambers]

Ed, the houses came down 2-3 weeks ago, I believe, so the martins have moved on.

[James Rieman]

Dorn,
I saw nothing offensive with your reply the John. He took a good approach and you commended him for it. Maybe some thought you were being sarcastic? Don't know..

I too, am an environmentalist but I work with a few "whako" environmentalists, and know how loony they are. But they provide for good laughs and I suppose we all need some humor now and then..

David,

You indicated in your post that you could not understand why some of us were offended by the term "Wacko Environmentalist," and that maybe we thought he was being sarcastic. No , those of us that took offense did not take that statement as being sarcastic. I don't know why you would think that. It seems as though you are belittling those of us that took offense. Like the members of any group of thought, we simply resented environmentalists being mis-characterized based on the actions of a small minority. There are extremists in ANY group of people, why pick on environmentalists? Furthermore, in general groups with opposing views tend to label the other side "Whacko" simply because they don't agree with each other. That's just inflammatory speech, and it doesn't belong here. I noticed you took a couple of digs in your post in spite of claiming to be one. Why continue with the labels when some here have already taken offense?

Dorn County graciously apologized. Everybody understands and are ready to move on. The only thing many of us may have in common with each other is martins. It is safest if we stick to them and avoid inflammatory terms about non martin topics. That way people looking here to get interested won't be turned off if they are offended.

[DebA]

I was in Wichita today for a work meeting. Afterwards I pulled into my Lowe's. Asked for management...encouraged nice register clerk, Robin, to not allow them to use her to "screen" me. Two men approached. One was Ryan the assistant manager and the other was their sales manager. I asked if they were aware of the Shreveport situation. No. I asked if they were familiar with the Purple Martin. Yes. Good, since you profit off of selling housing and accessories for them. I explained what happened, why it is so devastating to the birds (illegal) and how poorly the management handled things. I said that you are my store and I just cannot come in and spend here again until corporate Lowe's does something to make this right. I asked them to notify their regional and national management and ask that something be done to rectify the situation. Until then I couldn't continue to patronize them.

Afterwards I called my husband and he said, "Did they think you were a nutcase?" I said, if they did Ryan covered it really well. He came across as concerned and apologetic and was going to get on their internal blogs to see if there were any postings about this. I just hope it is one more effective angle to come at them with.

Deb

[DebA]

me too double post.

[Steve Kroenke]

I wanted to provide an update on the Lowe’s incident. We still don’t have all the facts and don’t know what will eventually happen.

Bob and I greatly appreciate all the support that our friends on the Forum have provided regarding the terrible incident at Lowe’s with our satellite martin colony. The purple martin community is one big family and will come together when necessary to help the martins. You have proven that a united group of martin fans can make a HUGE difference.

Your many calls and emails to the Lowe’s store in Shreveport and the corporate headquarters have been heard and read. Perhaps Lowe’s now understands the significance of what happened in Shreveport and that many people dearly love martins and will do everything they can to protect them.

We were appalled at the callous and cold way the Lowe’s management staff responded to Bob’s first contact with them. An assistant manager told Bob that we did NOT own any of the martin housing because the housing had been on Lowe’s property for more than 90 days. Lowe’s is now the owner and could do what they wanted. Plus it was Lowe’s private property. He also said something about Lowe’s having problems “with birds” nesting around their facility and I guess he thought the martins in our housing were responsible in some way. However, he DIDN’T know the difference between a martin and a house sparrow!

It is ironic that we used a lot material from that Lowe’s store to assemble our martin housing systems and cement the poles in place. We would spend many hours working out in front of Lowe’s on our martin colony.

Since then, Bob has been in contact with the Shreveport store manager and he is now apologetic about what happened. Of course, he did mention to Bob that MANY phone calls and emails had been received at the corporate headquarters and that no doubt has made a big impact. I am skeptical that anyone in that Lowe’s store in Shreveport is truly apologetic about what happened as the store management is obviously hostile to purple martins.

Bob advised the store manager that to replace all our martin housing would cost about $1400.00. The manager said that we would be paid for our lost housing. I am not sure if he meant the Shreveport store would do it or corporate headquarters.

We really just wanted our old housing back. The store manager advised that when they tore it down they gave all the housing away to some regular customers who asked for it. He did not know their names or where they live.

Bob and I have decided to donate to the PMCA any money we receive from Lowe’s. The PMCA is the leader in purple martin education, conservation and research and we believe that money could be used to fund these endeavors. Education is critical in promoting the protection of the purple martin and encouraging folks to establish martin colonies. We have advised Louise Chambers of our decision.

Bob also called Lowe’s corporate headquarters and talked with a nice lady about the incident. She said she would research the matter with management and get back with Bob. He hasn’t heard back yet.

It is important to understand that Bob had prior approval from all the previous store managers at Lowe’s to establish and maintain our satellite martin colony. The current store manager has been on the job for a few months I believe. We had given our names and phone numbers to the last store manager and I don’t know if this information was lost, thrown away or just forgotten. We just didn’t start digging holes and putting up martin houses in front of Lowe’s parking lot without first getting approval!

Bob and I have also talked with a law enforcement agent from the Federal Fish and Wildlife service. He advised that for a violation of applicable Federal wildlife laws to occur an active viable martin nest would have to be harmed. This means a nest with eggs or young. Since we didn’t know if any martin eggs/young were present at the time the housing was removed, then there is really no evidence at this point. Removal of the martin housing on Lowe’s private property without any martin eggs/young is apparently not a violation of the wildlife laws. However, he did say he would contact Lowe’s store manager and provide information about these laws.

We have also talked with a reporter from the “Shreveport Times” newspaper and I believe he may be publishing a story on the incident soon.

And we have decided that we will not try to re-establish any satellite martin colony at this Lowe’s in Shreveport. This Lowe’s is hostile to martins and any martins nesting there may always be subject to having their homes destroyed. Just think of what would have happened if Lowe’s had destroyed the housing in mid-May when all the houses were full of baby martins and eggs. It would have been a catastrophe. Martins are not welcomed at this Shreveport Lowe’s.

Again, Bob and I greatly appreciate what all of you have done to bring this tragedy to the attention of Lowe’s management. It can be intimidating when trying to deal with a huge corporation, particularly when it is just you against “the machine”! But when many martin fans join together and present a united front, then positive results can often happen.

I am hoping that this martin tragedy can be turned into something positive and Lowe’s will have a better understanding of how important the purple martin is to thousands of folks all over North America. Perhaps Lowe’s will admit that a terrible mistake was made and try to rectify this situation.

Thanks again.

Steve

[dsonyay]

I'm glad they are working with you to reimburse your monetary investment - at the least.

Sounds like it was a case of them not knowing one bird from another; They get all sorts of complaints about birds (HS and Starlings) and then see all these martins flying around the houses and assume they are part of the problem too.

I would think with a big dose of diplomacy and education, they might replace all the housing AND try to restart the colony. But if the trust is gone, it's not worth repeating.

Our local Lowe's played a huge part in recovery efforts after after hurricane Katrina. People around here look at them as a key part of the community.

I think it's important for you educate them about what happened (might be a good place to show the martin powerpoint show)- maybe they will end up being an ally rather than a hostile threat. Communication goes a long way.

Corporations are really just people. I've found it's easier to deal with them when you appoach at that angle.

Thanks for all the hard work you do too !

[M.Stephens]

Steve this just makes me madder than I was before!

I use Lowe's in Texarkana and if the manager over here doesn't understand I will definitely have to take my business elsewhere. I have already boycotted Home Depot over religious matters.

Hopefully those poor birds found a place to nest. I understand it was about 30 pair?

[Boisy Pitre]

Steve,

I'm glad to hear that our collective action has spawned a favorable response from Lowe's corporate, at least. Please do keep us apprised of the situation as it moves along, and let us know when they eventually do respond. I would also like to know if the Shreveport Times produces an article on the fiasco.

Based on your description of the management there, it sounds like they are merely giving lip service because the corporate boot has been planted a bit in their posterior. I don't blame you for not wanting to re-establish the colony. Take some solace in the fact that the $1400 cost, albeit a drop of a drop in the bucket to Lowe's, should be a permanent stain on the manager for handling the situation so poorly.

No matter how this is resolved, something irresponsible was done here, and every time I walk into a Lowe's, I'll think about your PM colony. It's a permanent stain, in my mind, to Lowe's. I just hope you get an opportunity to educate corporate, and in turn, they educate their stores on this incident.

[KathyF]

Steve, this might be just the trigger as boisy mentioned, that will encourage Lowes to educate their staff on the nuisance birds in their stores and try to do something about it.

I've thought a few times when I was in our local Lowes store about approaching the managers there and offering to trap the HOSP in their store that were crapping all over everything. It reached the point of really disgusting last year.

Maybe Lowes would come to realize the expertise of the Purple Martin landlords in getting rid of these pests and we could form a coalition with them!

[Boisy Pitre]

Just a thought: do you have any older, more established hardware stores in your town? We have one that has been around for over 100 years, and both Lowe's and Home Depot haven't shut them down yet. They have the most odd stuff you can imagine... hard to find hardware, tools, etc. Walking through that store is like taking a trip back in time to the 50's and 60's.

I patronize them before I go to the big boxers, mainly because I want to keep my $$$ local. Given the discussion on Lowe's bad boy behavior, I think it's timely to consider seeking out locally owned hardware stores, even if we pay just a little more.

I'll be hitting mine up today to look for a pole predator guard.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Boisy, I too like the local stores, and you can purchase different quantities. In the box stores, most small things are prepackaged