Free Lunch

Gimpy said:
Luckily, our cat is an excellent mouser, and she takes care of any we miss. ;D
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Ours too...she knows she can trade them for "Pounce" treats :)

If you do feed birds, make sure you put the feeders well out from your house. If the feeders are too close, you will end up with mice and those that eat mice. I've had snakes on the back porch (which I don't bother, none were poisonous)
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Our new house also came with resident black snake, at least 6 feet long, that lives in the rafters and crawl spaces. I came face to face with him when I was changing out the satellite dish. I was on a ladder, turned my head, and he was about 6" from my nose. He could have struck my face very easily...but he didn't. Just looked at me for 1/2 a minute, then slowly moved over to another rafter. I've since run across him several times under the house while wiring up stuff. I say "Excuse me Mr. Snake, but I need to run this cable past you" and he just watches ...not afraid, but not aggressive either.

I was raised to leave wildlife alone, not to feed them, or otherwise interfere with their lives.... but times have changed drastically since I was young. We've taken so much of their habitat, and this winter is one of the coldest on record in our area. We have raccoons and opossums living under the cabins to survive near zero temps, and I don't have the heart to lock them out. Everyone at Thornhill has at least one large dog, so it's unlikely anything will come inside, but we have all decided to share our space with a variety of critters this winter.
 
Guardian said:
Gimpy said:
Luckily, our cat is an excellent mouser, and she takes care of any we miss. ;D
Click to expand...

Ours too...she knows she can trade them for "Pounce" treats :)

If you do feed birds, make sure you put the feeders well out from your house. If the feeders are too close, you will end up with mice and those that eat mice. I've had snakes on the back porch (which I don't bother, none were poisonous)
Click to expand...

Our new house also came with resident black snake, at least 6 feet long, that lives in the rafters and crawl spaces. I came face to face with him when I was changing out the satellite dish. I was on a ladder, turned my head, and he was about 6" from my nose. He could have struck my face very easily...but he didn't. Just looked at me for 1/2 a minute, then slowly moved over to another rafter. I've since run across him several times under the house while wiring up stuff. I say "Excuse me Mr. Snake, but I need to run this cable past you" and he just watches ...not afraid, but not aggressive either.

I was raised to leave wildlife alone, not to feed them, or otherwise interfere with their lives.... but times have changed drastically since I was young. We've taken so much of their habitat, and this winter is one of the coldest on record in our area. We have raccoons and opossums living under the cabins to survive near zero temps, and I don't have the heart to lock them out. Everyone at Thornhill has at least one large dog, so it's unlikely anything will come inside, but we have all decided to share our space with a variety of critters this winter.
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Yeah, we're the same way. :D My neighbors are phobic of snakes, and until they got all the holes patched up, I'd get a call to bring over my 'grabbitt' tool to remove snakes from their house and pool. These were rat snakes, not poisonous, and good to keep around. I finally bought them a book so they could identify the poisonous from non poisonous. Since they've gotten most of the holes patched, I think they finally figured out how to use the pool net to pitch them into the stream near their house. :D They still have a vole and skink issue, but that isn't as big a problem for them as snakes were.

The only time we take measures is if we have a sick wild animal, or a dog that's been dumped in the neighborhood. It just depends on if its something fixable.
 
treesparrow said:
Pete02 said:
They've tried putting 'dish-like shielding around the pole to stop the squirrels from climbing it, didn't work. They've lubed the pole up with every slippery substance they could find (like butter and cooking oils) to stop them, didn't work. And if they did manage to keep the squirrels from climbing the pole, they would just jump for it from a tree or the roof of the house! Very determined I tell ya!
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Hi Pete02

To see just how determined they can be take a look at this squirrel completing an obstacle course!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6bbbk7JilM

:D
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Thats too much!! :P Thanks for the vid treesparrow!
 
And this poor furry fellow tried to stop the squirrel. ;)

okeh-so-there-wuz-this-squirrel-right.jpg
 
Gimpy said:
The only time we take measures is if we have a sick wild animal, or a dog that's been dumped in the neighborhood. It just depends on if its something fixable.
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I don't like to interfere either...but I can't just watch animals starve, freeze, etc. Last year, I had to shoot a raccoon that had been hit by a car. I don't want to get graphic, but it was obvious he was so badly hurt there was no saving him. It's been over a year, and it still bothers me.

We've taken so much of their habitat, they have no choice but to adapt to living with humans. :(
 
Vulcan59 said:
Looking at the acrobatics of that squirrel, I think you have to come with a more inaccessible bird feeder. Maybe one surrounded with a moat! :lol:
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Someone invented one...it's called "The Yankee Flipper" :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEW9TG6Dcgg&feature=related
 
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