All Creatures Great and Small...

We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!! We attracted several
generations of bunnies, more bird types than we can count, bees and
caterpillars, moths and butterflies, squirrels, and chipmunks coming
out of our ears (so many I've nearly stepped on some several times).
I couldn't imagine myself taking such an interest in the lifestyles of
dragonflies and "tiny" creatures - boy, am I learning!! It's been a
fun spring and summer, keeping them all supplied with plants they like
and plenty of water during our horrendous drought. Our lone pecan
tree was attacked by galls that destroyed every nut so I have to keep
a squirrel feeder filled with peanuts - this introduced me to a
squirrel who comes to our front-yard window every day looking for
breakfast and, later, dinner. She gets her own exclusive "service."
She's quite friendly. She has a cleft at the top of one of her ears,
about a quarter inch down, and we named her "Notch". Ah, yes, we do
love all creatures, great and small - especially the small!!

Jeanne

On 2006-07-14, JBHajos penned:
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!!

Sounds lovely!

Where I live, it is a bad idea to encourage small wildlife to visit
your backyard. Invite prey, and predators will crash the party.

I haven't heard of any large predators causing trouble in my
neighborhood, but within 15-20 miles are residential areas that have
problems with bears and mountain lions. I have a friend who lives in
Boulder, near the flatirons, and he said that his neighbors have had
mountain lions on their roofs. Not frequently, but it can happen. Bear
have supposedly been seen all the way into town, near Boulder Creek, due
to the parks next to the creek and therefore the garbage to be found.

It occurs to me that Tweed actually has a far more realistic view of
the danger in my area than I do. Familiarity breeds contempt, I
guess; I haven't seen any of these creatures close up, and no one I
know has been attacked, so it's hard for me to see them as an imminent
threat. I am sure, though, that they are watching me when I hike or
ride my bike in the mountains.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!! We attracted several
generations of bunnies, more bird types than we can count, bees and
caterpillars, moths and butterflies, squirrels, and chipmunks coming
out of our ears (so many I've nearly stepped on some several times).
I couldn't imagine myself taking such an interest in the lifestyles of
dragonflies and "tiny" creatures - boy, am I learning!! It's been a
fun spring and summer, keeping them all supplied with plants they like
and plenty of water during our horrendous drought. Our lone pecan
tree was attacked by galls that destroyed every nut so I have to keep
a squirrel feeder filled with peanuts - this introduced me to a
squirrel who comes to our front-yard window every day looking for
breakfast and, later, dinner. She gets her own exclusive "service."
She's quite friendly. She has a cleft at the top of one of her ears,
about a quarter inch down, and we named her "Notch". Ah, yes, we do
love all creatures, great and small - especially the small!!

Jeanne

My parents spent the early years of their retirement trying to keep the
squirrels out of their bird feeders. Chasing squirrels off the deck. And
buying every squirrel proof bird feeder known to man. Until they finally
found a couple of feeders that were in fact squirrel proof.

Then they promptly started feeding the squirrels too.

Jo

Jo Firey wrote:
"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!! We attracted several
generations of bunnies, more bird types than we can count, bees and
caterpillars, moths and butterflies, squirrels, and chipmunks coming
out of our ears (so many I've nearly stepped on some several times).
I couldn't imagine myself taking such an interest in the lifestyles of
dragonflies and "tiny" creatures - boy, am I learning!! It's been a
fun spring and summer, keeping them all supplied with plants they like
and plenty of water during our horrendous drought. Our lone pecan
tree was attacked by galls that destroyed every nut so I have to keep
a squirrel feeder filled with peanuts - this introduced me to a
squirrel who comes to our front-yard window every day looking for
breakfast and, later, dinner. She gets her own exclusive "service."
She's quite friendly. She has a cleft at the top of one of her ears,
about a quarter inch down, and we named her "Notch". Ah, yes, we do
love all creatures, great and small - especially the small!!

Jeanne

My parents spent the early years of their retirement trying to keep the
squirrels out of their bird feeders. Chasing squirrels off the deck. And
buying every squirrel proof bird feeder known to man. Until they finally
found a couple of feeders that were in fact squirrel proof.

Then they promptly started feeding the squirrels too.

Jo

Heh, too funny! When the cottontail rabbits kept eating our garden, we
planted the fencerow with cabbage and broccoli...then cantaloupe for
late summer. . We figured the rabbits would be stuffed to the gills by
the time they actually made it into the garden, and leave our stuff
alone.

Sherry

"Jo Firey" wrote in message
.com...

"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!! We attracted several
generations of bunnies, more bird types than we can count, bees and
caterpillars, moths and butterflies, squirrels, and chipmunks coming
out of our ears (so many I've nearly stepped on some several times).
I couldn't imagine myself taking such an interest in the lifestyles of
dragonflies and "tiny" creatures - boy, am I learning!! It's been a
fun spring and summer, keeping them all supplied with plants they like
and plenty of water during our horrendous drought. Our lone pecan
tree was attacked by galls that destroyed every nut so I have to keep
a squirrel feeder filled with peanuts - this introduced me to a
squirrel who comes to our front-yard window every day looking for
breakfast and, later, dinner. She gets her own exclusive "service."
She's quite friendly. She has a cleft at the top of one of her ears,
about a quarter inch down, and we named her "Notch". Ah, yes, we do
love all creatures, great and small - especially the small!!

Jeanne

My parents spent the early years of their retirement trying to keep the
squirrels out of their bird feeders. Chasing squirrels off the deck. And
buying every squirrel proof bird feeder known to man. Until they finally
found a couple of feeders that were in fact squirrel proof.

Then they promptly started feeding the squirrels too.

Jo

My daughter and son-in-law have a bird feeder hanging over their balcony.
They like to keep the bird seed out there, too. A squirrel kept getting
into it, so they put the bird seed in a heavy plastic bucket with a lid.
After the squirrel chewed a hole in the lid, they gave up. I've watched Mr.
Squirrel jump on top of the bucket and go through the hole to the inside.
When he's had his fill, he comes out and goes on his way. I think they
enjoy watching that as much as I do.

Incidentally, I have a friend on another newsgroup who claims to hate
squirrels, except in stew. However, he lives in a drought area, and
recently rescued a squirrel that had fallen into his horse's water trough
and was in danger of drowning.

Joy

Joy wrote:
"Jo Firey" wrote in message
.com...

"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!!
Jeanne

My parents spent the early years of their retirement trying to keep
the squirrels out of their bird feeders. Chasing squirrels off the
deck. And buying every squirrel proof bird feeder known to man.
Until they finally found a couple of feeders that were in fact
squirrel proof.

Then they promptly started feeding the squirrels too.

Jo

My daughter and son-in-law have a bird feeder hanging over their
balcony. They like to keep the bird seed out there, too. A squirrel
kept getting into it, so they put the bird seed in a heavy plastic
bucket with a lid. After the squirrel chewed a hole in the lid, they
gave up. I've watched Mr. Squirrel jump on top of the bucket and go
through the hole to the inside. When he's had his fill, he comes out
and goes on his way. I think they enjoy watching that as much as I
do.

Joy

I had the same problem with food in the covered plastic bucket *inside* my
locked storage room door off the patio. I thought maybe I had mice or a rat
getting into my storage room. Then one day I saw an exceptionally large
squirrel flatten itself and crawl under the door! By that time there wasn't
much left of the food. When I have some extra cash I plan to buy a
galvanized steel trash can with the tightest fitting lid I can find and use
that for bird seed storage.

Jill

On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 21:13:23 -0500, "jmcquown"
wrote:

Joy wrote:
"Jo Firey" wrote in message
.com...

"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!!
Jeanne

My parents spent the early years of their retirement trying to keep
the squirrels out of their bird feeders. Chasing squirrels off the
deck. And buying every squirrel proof bird feeder known to man.
Until they finally found a couple of feeders that were in fact
squirrel proof.

Then they promptly started feeding the squirrels too.

Jo

My daughter and son-in-law have a bird feeder hanging over their
balcony. They like to keep the bird seed out there, too. A squirrel
kept getting into it, so they put the bird seed in a heavy plastic
bucket with a lid. After the squirrel chewed a hole in the lid, they
gave up. I've watched Mr. Squirrel jump on top of the bucket and go
through the hole to the inside. When he's had his fill, he comes out
and goes on his way. I think they enjoy watching that as much as I
do.

Joy

I had the same problem with food in the covered plastic bucket *inside* my
locked storage room door off the patio. I thought maybe I had mice or a rat
getting into my storage room. Then one day I saw an exceptionally large
squirrel flatten itself and crawl under the door! By that time there wasn't
much left of the food. When I have some extra cash I plan to buy a
galvanized steel trash can with the tightest fitting lid I can find and use
that for bird seed storage.


If you think having a squirrel get after the bird seed is a problem,
taka a look at the message "Breakfast the Hard Way", with message-id
f8Qrg.1762$Wh7.216@trnddc07, currently in
alt.binaries.pictures.animals. It shows a black bear climbing out
onto the horizontal rope holding up a bird feeder so that it can grab
the feeder and eat the bird seed.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

"jmcquown" wrote:
Joy wrote:
"Jo Firey" wrote in message
.com...

"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!!
Jeanne

My parents spent the early years of their retirement trying to keep
the squirrels out of their bird feeders. Chasing squirrels off the
deck. And buying every squirrel proof bird feeder known to man.
Until they finally found a couple of feeders that were in fact
squirrel proof.

Then they promptly started feeding the squirrels too.

Jo

My daughter and son-in-law have a bird feeder hanging over their
balcony. They like to keep the bird seed out there, too. A squirrel
kept getting into it, so they put the bird seed in a heavy plastic
bucket with a lid. After the squirrel chewed a hole in the lid, they
gave up. I've watched Mr. Squirrel jump on top of the bucket and go
through the hole to the inside. When he's had his fill, he comes out
and goes on his way. I think they enjoy watching that as much as I
do.

Joy

I had the same problem with food in the covered plastic bucket *inside* my
locked storage room door off the patio. I thought maybe I had mice or a rat
getting into my storage room. Then one day I saw an exceptionally large
squirrel flatten itself and crawl under the door! By that time there wasn't
much left of the food. When I have some extra cash I plan to buy a
galvanized steel trash can with the tightest fitting lid I can find and use
that for bird seed storage.

Jill

We use a metal container that popcorn came in. You can find them pretty cheaply
in the discount stores.

Randy

http://www.crmartin.zoomshare.com

What a cute story, Jeanne -- so cool to read about your critter visitors.
We have a very mature overgrown backyard and I'm a sucker for feeding
anything so we have a family of house mice I feed peanuts to in our rockpile
and loads of spoiled birds and hummers and recently I managed to coax a
ground squirrel into our yard with peanuts; I love it!
Christine
"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!! We attracted several
generations of bunnies, more bird types than we can count, bees and
caterpillars, moths and butterflies, squirrels, and chipmunks coming
out of our ears (so many I've nearly stepped on some several times).
I couldn't imagine myself taking such an interest in the lifestyles of
dragonflies and "tiny" creatures - boy, am I learning!! It's been a
fun spring and summer, keeping them all supplied with plants they like
and plenty of water during our horrendous drought. Our lone pecan
tree was attacked by galls that destroyed every nut so I have to keep
a squirrel feeder filled with peanuts - this introduced me to a
squirrel who comes to our front-yard window every day looking for
breakfast and, later, dinner. She gets her own exclusive "service."
She's quite friendly. She has a cleft at the top of one of her ears,
about a quarter inch down, and we named her "Notch". Ah, yes, we do
love all creatures, great and small - especially the small!!

Jeanne

In article , "jmcquown" wrote:
Joy wrote:
"Jo Firey" wrote in message
.com...

"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
We had been watching the Animal Planet channel's daily Backyard
Wildlife Habitat show and said "heck, why not?" So we applied, were
accepted, and developed one. I had no idea how much wildlife is out
there in our suburban residential area!!
Jeanne

My parents spent the early years of their retirement trying to keep
the squirrels out of their bird feeders. Chasing squirrels off the
deck. And buying every squirrel proof bird feeder known to man.
Until they finally found a couple of feeders that were in fact
squirrel proof.

Then they promptly started feeding the squirrels too.

Jo

My daughter and son-in-law have a bird feeder hanging over their
balcony. They like to keep the bird seed out there, too. A squirrel
kept getting into it, so they put the bird seed in a heavy plastic
bucket with a lid. After the squirrel chewed a hole in the lid, they
gave up. I've watched Mr. Squirrel jump on top of the bucket and go
through the hole to the inside. When he's had his fill, he comes out
and goes on his way. I think they enjoy watching that as much as I
do.

Joy

I had the same problem with food in the covered plastic bucket *inside* my
locked storage room door off the patio. I thought maybe I had mice or a rat
getting into my storage room. Then one day I saw an exceptionally large
squirrel flatten itself and crawl under the door! By that time there wasn't
much left of the food. When I have some extra cash I plan to buy a
galvanized steel trash can with the tightest fitting lid I can find and use
that for bird seed storage.

Jill



Just a word here on the subject, Saflower seeds. Cardinals love them, more
so then black sunflower seeds, tree rats, eer squirrels would almost rather
starve then eat saflower seeds. So a good way to keep a few pretty birds
around for your cats to ambush, use saflower seed.

(pardon, but am tickled to see people in a cat group talking about habitat
for small critters given the millions our beloved cats destroy each year -
unless of course you never let them out)

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.