What are you doing to help the little animals? (fleas, birds, raccoon)

[nmnita]

As most everyone knows, the whole country is suffering from drought in some way or another, well not the entire country, but most regions and the region from the Canadian border down through the great lakes, midwest and into the south central part of the country is suffering the most. There is almost no green grass here, even on our golf courses, hanging plants that are being watered daily are still dieing and leaves on our usually, green trees are brown. Obviously our small wild animals are suffering the most.

We have put a couple of pans of water in the back for the squirrels and today we say about 4 squrrels drinking out of the pan: we have never seen that before. We usually keep the dried out corn cobs for the deer, squirrels, fox, whatever. We toss them out as well: in the past few days we have watched the squirrels trying to drag the entire cob across the grass. We have watched the birds eat leaves off our tomato plants which we have never seen before and I was heading to a near by town to visit the farmers market last weekend and saw a cow eating, what appeared to be leaves off a tree. I have no idea what the deer are eating as they are the ones that normally eat the corn cobs. We are seeing almost no possums or coons this year..We have seen a lot more ground hogs, unfortunately most of them are sleeping, legs up in the air, by the side of the road.

Nita

[lkb0714]

You should do nothing. By interfering with the natural survival rates, you can create a situation that is much more dangerous to the animals.

[lifelongMOgal]

In town I allowed the birds to have at my blueberries. I didn't cover them with netting. The birds needed the moisture. The birds, rabits & squirrels congregate where I have used my sprinkler to keep berry bushes and specific trees alive. That is enough.

On the farm I cleaned up and rebuilt several stock ponds a few years ago. Those are still holding water. The wild critters visit those as necessary. It is a rare sight to see a flock of turkey come out of the woods to drink at a stock pond close to the house. They are doing it though as the seasonal cricks are dry.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by lkb0714

You should do nothing. By interfering with the natural survival rates, you can create a situation that is much more dangerous to the animals.

Having a pan of water in the back yard and the dry corn cobs is not interfering in my estimation. But we all have our ideas. What you are saying would be the same as saying we shouldn't have bird feeders for instance. It that what you are saying?

Nita

[J5K5LY]

I have, as usual, bird baths and one overturned garbage can lid filled with rocks and with the hose dripping. Fresh water all the time. Birds, raccoons, squirrels, and all the turkeys use it every day. During the hottest days, the turkeys were standing around with their mouths open. I have this available all the time, not just for now. I love watching the raccoons use it, washing food and playing in the water. I picked alot of the raspberries this year but left quite a bit for the birds. The deer get treats every night ( I have a 3 footer that struggles and love her) and they have a bucket of water. They empty it every night.
So I guess everyone here is pretty happy.

[harry chickpea]

We don't have that problem here, although a brief dry hot period killed most of the corn in the area. Just the other day I was trundling a load of stuff in the wheelbarrow and a deer gave me a berth of about forty feet as she moved from field to forest. She looked quite healthy.

Realize that when you feed or water, you are doing so more for your own pleasure than to affect nature. Humans are to the power of nature as flies are to the windshield of an eighteen wheeler.

[J5K5LY]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

We don't have that problem here, although a brief dry hot period killed most of the corn in the area. Just the other day I was trundling a load of stuff in the wheelbarrow and a deer gave me a berth of about forty feet as she moved from field to forest. She looked quite healthy.

Realize that when you feed or water, you are doing so more for your own pleasure than to affect nature. Humans are to the power of nature as flies are to the windshield of an eighteen wheeler.

I like the way you put that! I do have to say that without my help during the winter, my 3 footed (hooved) deer would not have made it for the last 3 years because she can't forage. I know the rest of it isn't much of a help but I enjoy it. Nothing gives me as much pleasure as seeing a happy critter.

[harry chickpea]

No problem at all with that, as long as you recognize it for what it is. We will all pass on eventually, if you want to prevent that from occurring early in an individual animal, great.

[J5K5LY]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

No problem at all with that, as long as you recognize it for what it is. We will all pass on eventually, if you want to prevent that from occurring early in an individual animal, great.

Thanks for that! Yes, I love my 3 footed deer. She has even brought me her babies and it is amazing she can do that at all. I will be heart broken when she no longer comes around but till then, I am taking care of her. Making her survival a little easier is my pleasure.

[animalcrazy]

The animals seem to be coping well here. I remember the drought of 1988 and seeing dead possums and raccoons on the streets. I haven't seen that this year. I have a fish pond in my yard that attracts possums and raccoons, and unfortunately their fleas too. For the first time in 14 years our cat brought them in from the yard. It's been a nightmare. I think the wild animals fare better than our dogs and the idiot people that insist walking them in 90 degree weather is a good thing.