Chicken lovers push to lift town’s ban on backyard coops
CARY - Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because Cary told it to scram.
That’s a growing joke in urban poultry circles. Long stereotyped for its rule-happy sameness, Cary refuses to allow backyard chicken coops. Too noisy. Too smelly. Too … well, un-Cary.
But the town’s defiance has stirred a grass-roots chicken push; its supporters hope to bust Cary’s reputation as a snooty killjoy.
Check out the new Web site carychickens.com, or the poultry fans flocking on Facebook, the popular Internet social hub.
They point to Raleigh, where chicken coops are common enough that in some neighborhoods you can pass three on a single block, and where the annual Tour d’Coop draws a curious crowd.
Wake Forest just relaxed its poultry rules — letting homeowners keep up to 10 hens — and Durham is pondering the fresh-egg benefits of city chickens.
Cary, like the farmer in the dell’s cheese, stands alone.
“They don’t want to be seen as rednecks,” coop hopeful Michael Manfre said. “I don’t see how that association works, because cities like New York, they also allow chickens.”
In July, Manfre and his wife, Alissa, laid out their chicken plan for the council.
The rules: No roosters. No slaughtering. Permits required.
The perks: Tastier eggs. Locally grown food. Pets that eat bugs.
But the idea died when the council voted down a motion to study the possibility. Cary does allow poultry in its scarce agricultural zones, but council members backed firmly away from putting birds in neighborhood yards.
“Everywhere I went, I had people begging me not to let this happen,” council member Don Frantz said. “Noise, smell, disease, property values. It’s not an urban thing. It’s best left to the country.”
As to Cary’s image, and whether the chicken ban adds to its renown for regulation, Frantz shrugged.
“I guess that’s part of the reason we win so many national awards,” he said.
Chicken supporters in the Triangle and nationwide say most of the fears are misguided.
Having a few chickens in the backyard isn’t any noisier or messier than keeping a pet dog, fans say. Roosters are a different story, but they aren’t asking Cary for anything that crows.
“I’m not a morning person,” Manfre said. “I don’t want to hear them, either.”
Most towns require coops that keep hens from wandering, and any owner will tell you that a coop needs constant cleaning.
Cary leaders warned that for every law-abiding chicken keeper, you’d see two scofflaws. But in Raleigh, longtime chicken owners say they are vigilant.
“All of us are sensible, so they don’t crack down,” said Bev Norwood in the Five Points neighborhood. “We had our chickens for months, and the people whose bedroom window is 20 feet away didn’t even know we had chickens.”
Manfre said it is ironic that Cary would hold up its award-winning status when defending the no-chicken stance.
The town recently ranked 16th on Money magazine’s list of best small cities. Nearly every place that ranked higher — including Fort Collins, Colo., and Round Rock, Texas — permits poultry.
Cary’s council might not fret about how that looks to outsiders, but some residents do.
Read More:News & Observer
Passing the Buck . . . and the Doe and the Fawn
(ARA) - Sipping coffee on your back deck on a beautiful fall morning, you look up and gasp — there in your suburban oasis stands a small herd of deer. For a moment you pause, enchanted. An instant later, as the deer begin to munch on your landscape, you realize they’re just not as awestruck by the encounter as you are.
You don’t have to be a wildlife expert to know that after generations of dwelling in close proximity to humans, modern deer aren’t afraid of us anymore. What’s more, they no longer fear many of the traditional repellents some homeowners still use to protect shrubs, trees and landscaping. So when cool weather comes along and the natural landscape dies, deer have to start foraging for food sources. And they aren’t afraid to walk right into your yard and help themselves to your well-watered, well-established evergreens.
Even just a few deer can cause significant damage to your landscaping. “A single whitetail deer can consume, on average, 8 to 12 pounds of foliage a day,” says James Messina of Messina Wildlife Management. “In many areas of the country, deer overpopulation is a serious problem. With nowhere to go and not much left to eat in the dead of winter, deer can wreak havoc on shrubs, trees and gardens, and destroy new buds and leaves before they have a chance to grow, ruining your prospects for any spring growth.”
Hungry and bold, deer move into residential areas in the winter, and the damage they do in the cold weather will affect your landscape’s health next spring. Traditional animal repellents are also less effective than they were decades ago, Messina notes.
“That’s because those repellents rely on a bad smell — like the stench of a rotting carcass — to fool animals into thinking a predator’s kill is in the area and the predator may be returning for it,” he says. “But the number of predators has actually declined, and deer know it. They’re less afraid of predators, so relying on scare tactics has a greater tendency to fail over time.”
Some wildlife has also built up a resistance to chemical deterrents. Plus, increasingly eco-conscious homeowners prefer not to put potentially harmful chemicals into the environment. Other more lethal alternatives are not only inhumane but illegal in most parts of the country.
More homeowners are turning to organic alternatives, like Deer Stopper, a repellent formulated from plant extracts. This organic option works because it confronts deer by using their natural repulsion to certain plant smells and tastes rather than relying on fear.
“We know that deer will eat over 500 different types of plants,” Messina says. “Normally, they’re quite discriminating. But in fall and winter, when food is harder to find, they become less picky and much more of a threat to suburban landscapes. Still, like many wild animals, deer rely on taste and smell to judge if a food may be harmful to them. If your backyard foliage tastes or smells unpleasant to them, one bite and they’ll move on.”
An effective taste deterrent, Deer Stopper is 100 percent organic and completely safe for use on all types of plants — from vegetables to trees, flowers to shrubs. The Organic Materials Review Institute lists it as approved for use by organic growers. The smell- and taste-based technology also eliminates the need for a foul odor, so Deer Stopper actually smells good to humans. Lightly mist vegetation once a month, even during the cold and snowy winter to keep deer away all season long. To learn more, or to find retail locations, visit www.messinawildlife.com.
“In the early 1900s, there were probably only about half a million deer spread out over the country,” Messina says. “Today, there are more than 15 million. Deer, it turns out, adapt quite well to life in suburbia. Keeping them away from residential and commercial landscaping can help everyone — deer and homeowners — co-exist more happily together.”
Courtesy of ARAcontent
ARA) – Disappearing plant species, endangered wildlife and adverse health effects for humans – all grab headlines whenever talk turns to the impact pollution has on our world. But pollution also affects production of pearls, the gem American pop culture has made an icon of exemplary womanhood.
From June Cleaver to Marge Simpson, a perfect strand of pearls has come to represent the essence of feminine perfection in American culture. The bestowing of an heirloom strand from mother to daughter is a treasured rite of passage in many families. Yet pollution’s effect on the mollusks that produce pearls may mean fewer pearls – and higher prices – in the future.
Pearl production and a pristine environment are tightly linked. Pearl-bearing mollusks are filter-feeders. To get their microscopic food, they filter as much as 106 gallons of seawater a day. Filter-feeding makes the mollusks extremely sensitive to pollutants in the water.
Pearl-bearing mollusks are also very sensitive to water temperature. Mollusks that produce pearls evolved over millions of years to live in very specific environments. Although those that live in temperate latitudes are accustomed to seasonal fluctuations in water temperature, an unusual rise in summer can kill them. Pearl-bearing mollusks that live in tropical latitudes can survive only within a very narrow range of water temperature. A small rise at any time of year can kill them.
People Can and Do Help
The mollusks’ sensitivity to temperature increases and pollutants make people who are dependent on the mollusks’ productivity acutely aware of environmental factors. Pearl farmers — people who grow cultured pearls — have a stake in mollusk health and productivity. That stake makes pearl farmers good stewards of the environment. If water pollution or temperature increases kill their mollusks, pearl farmers lose their livelihood.
Jewelmer, a pearl-farming company in the Philippines, has been especially active in promoting environmental preservation. The company has strongly lobbied the Philippine government to outlaw cyanide and dynamite fishing in the islands. Those fishing techniques produce big, easy catches, but they’re environmentally destructive, and they adversely affect the mollusks on the pearl farms.
“Jewelmer produces some of the finest golden South Sea cultured pearls,” says Jeremy Shepherd of PearlParadise.com, Inc., a leading online pearl-seller, “and the company has been among the most aggressive in protecting the pearl-farming environment.”
Forum for Pearl Lovers
www.Pearl-Guide.com is a pearl forum that has more than 3,000 members, many of whom contribute posts about pearls every day. Since pearls are the members’ passion and reason for participating in the forum, they are naturally concerned with pollution’s and global warming’s effects on pearl culture. Without protecting the delicate environment mollusks need to produce pearls, Pearl-Guide.com members and other pearl lovers around the world would lose their favorite gems.
W.F. Young makes pain-relief products for both horses and humans.
(NewsUSA) - When it comes to finding a great shampoo or topical pain-reliever, some consumers don’t horse around. Others do, and they just might tell you that it pays off.
Using horse shampoo or other products designed for animals may seem a bit strange, but according to some pet-care industry experts, there’s a growing trend of consumers doing just that.
W.F. Young, for instance, sells an equine topical pain-relief product called Absorbine Veterinary Liniment, but company officials say that some of their human customers use it for treating their own achy muscles and joints.
“We often hear from our loyal customers that in addition to using Absorbine Veterinary Liniment on their horses, they have found that they reap the same therapeutic benefits the liniment gives their pets,” said Jaime D. McKinley, corporate vice president of sales and marketing at W.F. Young. “Our customers tell us that when they apply the liniment to their horses, they feel the soothing, warm sensation on their own hands and it feels great.”
Horse products aren’t the only ones making it out of the barn and into Americans’ bathrooms and medicine cabinets.
Creams made for moisturizing cows’ udders are used by some people to moisturize their hands, while certain balms designed for soothing animals’ cuts and skin abrasions have also proved popular in recent years.
Such products are popular enough, in fact, to be sold at many major retail chains.
CVS, for instance, sells a cow ointment product in its skin-care section, as well as a shampoo initially developed for horses. And W.F. Young’s Absorbine Jr., a pain-relieving liniment made specifically for humans but similar to veterinary Absorbine, is also sold at CVS locations as well as Rite Aid and Brooks Eckerd stores.
So why might people use animal care products on themselves? At least in regards to Absorbine, perhaps it’s a question of commonality.
“Muscle pain and stiffness are conditions common to humans and animals,” says McKinley. “We all need a little relief now and then.”
ARA) - With about three-quarters of the nation’s population taking at least one prescribed medication, it’s no secret that our bodies need help to be healthy. Heart disease, insomnia, depression and other diseases have reached epidemic levels.
Heart disease has almost quadrupled since 2000. Nearly 80 million people in the United States have heart disease, up from 22 million. More than 70 million people in the United States suffer from insomnia, a number that has stayed the same for a number of years. Roughly 18 million adults in the United States suffer from depression. Ten times more people suffer from major depression now compared to 60 years ago.
Fortunately drugs like Lipitor, Ambien and Zoloft have improved our quality of life and allow people to live longer, healthier lives.Lipitor is used to lower the amount of bad cholesterol, and Ambien is used for people with insomnia to help them sleep better. Zoloft is an antidepressant, but it’s also used to help obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
These valuable drugs don’t happen by themselves. And often, the frontline of drug discovery and ultimately development begins with a relatively unknown profession: veterinary pathology. These scientists are part of a team that not only finds the drugs that keep us healthy; they also keep thousands of unsafe drugs from ever hitting the drug store shelves.
These individuals are uniquely aware of animals’ and humans’ responses to drugs, because to know the animal body makes it easy to know the human body.
Ricardo Ochoa, a veterinary pathologist and pharmaceutical consultant, says veterinary pathologists have helped keep thousands of compounds that could have been harmful to humans from getting into development. Ochoa has worked extensively in the pharmaceutical industry discovering and developing drugs as a drug development scientist.
“People don’t realize that most of the compounds that we start working with actually don’t make it,” adds Ochoa. “Veterinary pathologists are guardians of the safety of compounds, and ultimately, of the greater population. The odds of becoming a winner in American Idol are better than getting a compound to the market.”
Hundreds of processes go into producing a therapeutic drug. Veterinary pathologists have proved to be invaluable assets in the pharmaceutical industry, but there is currently a shortage in the pipeline that could hinder future pharmaceutical development. Currently there are approximately 1,500 licensed veterinary pathologists – and only a small percentage in the pharmaceutical industry.
Ochoa says that the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) is working hard to ensure that there will be sufficient veterinary pathologists to continue to serve humanity. For more information on the profession, and other areas of public health served by veterinary pathologists, go to http://www.acvp.org . And the next time you pop a pill, quietly thank a veterinary pathologist.
Says it’s not calling for policy change
WASHINGTON - The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species Wednesday because of the loss of Arctic sea ice but also cautioned that the decision should not be viewed as a path to address global warming.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the past three decades and projections of continued losses, meaning, he said, that the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future.
But Kempthorne said it would be “wholly inappropriate” to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases or to broadly address climate change.
The Endangered Species Act “is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy,” said Kempthorne, reflecting a view recently expressed by President Bush.
The department outlined a set of administrative actions and limits to how it planned to protect the bear with its new status so that it would not have wide-ranging adverse impact on economic activities from building power plants to oil and gas exploration.
“This listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting,” Kempthorne said. He said he had consulted with the White House on the decision, but “at no time was there ever a suggestion that this was not my decision.”
Melting may quicken
Kempthorne, at a news conference, was armed with slides and charts showing the dramatic decline in sea ice over the past 30 years and projections that the melting of ice — a key habitat for the bear — would continue and may even quicken.
He cited conclusions by department scientists that sea ice loss will likely result in two-thirds of the polar bears disappearing by mid-century.
The bear population across the Arctic from Alaska to Greenland doubled from about 12,000 to 25,000 since 1960, but he noted that scientists now predict a significant population decline. Studies last year by the U.S. Geological Survey suggested 15,000 bears would be lost in coming decades with those in the western Hudson Bay area of Alaska and Canada under the greatest stress.
But when asked how the bear will be afforded greater protection, Dale Hall, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, had difficulty coming up with examples.
Better management of bear habitat on shore and making sure bears aren’t threatened by people including hunters, more studies on bear population trends and their feeding habits were among the areas mentioned. “I don’t want to prejudge recommendations for management,” said Hall whose agency administers the Endangered Species Act.
Lawsuits likely
Environmentalists were already mapping out plans to file lawsuits challenging the restrictive measures outlined by Kempthorne.
Read More:News & Observer
(ARA) - Many young boys – and girls – enjoy following their grandfather or father around his workshop, admiring his tools and hoping to help with a project. With Father’s Day quickly approaching, there’s no better time for dads or granddads to encourage this interest by letting youngsters pitch in on a kid-friendly project.
“Working together on a hands-on project is one of the most rewarding activities you can engage in with young family members,” says Pat Hensiak, Dremel customer service supervisor. “You’ll create memories that will last a lifetime, and often end up with a special souvenir.” Interestingly, the company recently conducted a survey about do-it-yourself projects and found that a high percentage of men – 44 percent – believe that working on home improvement projects with another family member strengthens the relationship.
These projects include easy steps that kids of any age can follow when working with their dad or grandfather. An experienced adult should always complete power tool work, and this time provides a good opportunity for adults to explain the proper use of power tools and shop safety to their young helpers.
* Build a wooden toy racing car. Working together to create a wooden toy racing car is a classic father/son activity, stemming from derby car racing’s early association with clubs such as the Boy Scouts of America. Nowadays, derby car racing has been adapted by many other groups, including church and community groups, and could even be turned into a family race.
Start by drawing the car on a block of pine showing the top, side, front and back views. Using a vise to hold the wood block, remove large areas of wood with a scroll saw or coping saw. Then, use a Dremel 300 Series rotary tool to shape, smooth and make contours to the car. Kids can jump into hand-sand the car, then paint with their favorite colors and designs. Assemble wheels and you’re ready to roll.
* Create a homemade puzzle. Let your kids pick their favorite photo – maybe one from vacation or of a family pet – and use a photo service found in most drug stores to enlarge it to the size puzzle you wish to create. A colorful magazine page or one of your kids’ own drawings will also work. Purchase or cut an 1/8- to 1/2-inch piece of wood to the same size as your image. Allow kids to hand-sand the wood until smooth, then draw an outline for puzzle pieces onto the back. Using glue, affix the image to the top of the wood piece. Follow the puzzle piece outlines drawn on the back of the wood with a scroll saw to cut the wood into the puzzle pieces.
* Make a terra cotta birdfeeder. Kids love watching wildlife gather in their own back yards. Make a trip to the hardware store first to gather supplies: a clay pot 4 to 6 inches in diameter, a clay saucer large enough to cover the pot, a 3/8-inch threaded rod that is 2 inches longer than the length of the pot and saucer combined, three nuts for the 3/8-inch rod, three metal washers, three rubber washers, an extended nut, an eyebolt or threaded hook and a 1/4-inch dowel 3 inches long.
The saucer serves as the birdhouse roof. Using a rotary tool, grind a 3/8-inch hole in the center of the saucer. Make the bird’s door by grinding a 1- to 1 1/2-inch hole in the side of the pot. Beneath the door, grind a 1/4-inch hole using a tungsten carbide cutter and press a dowel into it for a perch.
Thread all components together to form the hanging house:
1. Thread the nut from the top of the rod to position the pot.
2. Slip the metal washer, then rubber washer, up from the bottom of the rod then slide the pot into position.
3. Slide rubber washer then metal washer up under pot.
4. Thread the nut up from the bottom of the rod and tighten against washers until pot is securely held.
5. Repeat the same procedure for securing the saucer upside-down. Then, thread on another nut to act as a lock nut. Thread extended nut on top of rod and screw eyebolt into it as a hanger.
After hanging in a nearby tree, wait for a bird family to make the house a home.
For more family-friendly project ideas, visit http://www.dremel.com or call the Dremel Experts at
(800) 437-3635.
The Rev. Sally Bingham is the godmother of the environmental movement in the religious community.Back in the 1990s, when religiously based environmentalists were still viewed as nature worshippers, she founded Episcopal Power & Light. Now called Interfaith Power & Light, the nonprofit organization has 27 chapters across the United States, including North Carolina. The mission of the organization is to mobilize a religious response to global warming through the promotion of renewable energy and conservation.
Bingham, the president of Interfaith Power & Light and the environmental minister at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, met with 20 religious leaders at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Raleigh last week. She said religious communities have made remarkable strides in addressing the intersection of faith and global climate change, and she encouraged them not to give up.
“You clergy need to talk about it,” she said. “I think it should be in every single sermon.”
We caught up with her on the occasion of Earth Day on Tuesday to ask her about the progress religious people have made on the issue.
Q: How are churches becoming more active in environmental issues?
A: Environmental issues were once political issues. They didn’t belong in the church. Now it’s integral to mainstream religions in ways unimaginable five years ago. … We’re seeing changes in the liturgy to reflect care for creation. That’s huge because in the Episcopal Church there’s a deep tradition that resists change.
I am seeing clergy take this responsibility seriously enough to actually say that care for creation belongs with love, justice and peace. You hear the term “JPIC,” or justice, peace and integrity of creation. It’s putting care for creation on parallel with love, justice and peace … We have a green mosque in Washington, D.C. We have hundreds of Protestant churches with solar panels on the roof. We have two large cathedrals with geothermal systems — in Boston and in Cleveland, Ohio. The Catholic Cathedral in Los Angeles in solar.
Q: How has Interfaith Power & Light changed?
A: We now have an office in San Francisco and a staff of seven. We coordinate this national campaign. That means we help the state programs get started … One of the important things we do is make sure the Interfaith Power & Light campaign doesn’t get sidetracked. We don’t want to be viewed as the Sierra Club at prayer. We’re not political. We’re not Republicans or Democrats. Our message is rooted in theology. It’s different from an environmental organization. We want to be seen as conservative people coming from a theological perspective. We don’t love trees more than people.
Q: What is the spiritual message you offer?
A: I see it as part of the commandment to love God and love your neighbor. If you love your neighbor, you don’t pollute your neighbor’s air. We are called to serve one another. If you see that your behavior is harming your neighbor and your neighborhood, other species, flora and fauna, or the next generation, it’s a direct disobedience to the commandment. Jesus said what you do to the least of these you do to me. If vulnerable and poor communities are harmed by our behavior, we’re insulting God.
Read More:News & Observer
(ARA) - Feeding wild birds is a popular interest of many Americans. In fact, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, around one third of Americans feed wild birds. Whether it’s the enjoyment of viewing wildlife up close and personal or listening to the pleasant chirps and trills of the birds’ songs, more and more Americans are being inspired to put up feeders, buy outdoor pet food and turn wild birds into lovable outdoor pets.On the other hand, some people are hesitant to dive into the hobby of feeding wild birds because they are discouraged by the shells (and subsequent weeds) that can accumulate around a feeding station. According to research done by the Wild Bird Feeding Industry (WBFI), the number two reason why people don’t feed birds is because of the mess left under their feeders. Innovative wild bird food manufacturers have taken notice of this concern, which has resulted in the creation of “waste-free” and “less mess” mixes. These formulations allow bird lovers to enjoy the best of both worlds: a yard full of colorful outdoor pets and a lawn that is neat and tidy.
Less mess products are designed to keep outdoor living areas clean because they are made without the shells of seeds. Without the shells, there is less leftover debris scattered around the feeding station. Better yet, premium mixes like Wild Delight’s Less Mess line of products are specially formulated to help prevent the germination of seeds into weeds under feeders.
When trying to keep a clean yard, it’s important to consider the type of seed being put out. “Basic mixes” or “economy mixes” contain many extra ingredients that birds simply sift through and push to the ground. These mixes can also attract less desirable birds, such as starlings and sparrows that typically gather in large numbers and can make quite a mess. For those who want to avoid a messy yard (and nuisance birds), look for products that are made with premium ingredients like fruits and nuts that more sought-after birds such as cardinals and finches love. Products like Wild Delight’s new Less Mess Fruit & Berry blend, for example, is formulated with real cherries, juniper berries, peanuts and hulled pumpkin seeds – ingredients desirable birds will gobble up without excessive sifting and leftover mess.
Another option for those who want to keep a clean yard is to place a tray under a feeder. Trays will help catch any spilled seeds and make cleanup much easier. Plus, they act as another level to the feeding station. What some birds pass up and toss onto the tray, others might feast on happily, creating a wide variety of feathered friends at one feeding station.
Feeding nectar and suet is another way to keep a tidy lawn. These types of food help attract many different types of sought-after birds like woodpeckers, orioles and hummingbirds, creating a beautiful spectacle of unique wildlife. There are even suet products that you can place close to your home. No-waste products such as Deck, Porch N’ Patio Party Suet from Wild Delight don’t contain filler ingredients like corn and milo that birds either toss aside or ignore completely. Plus, premium suet products are formulated so they will not melt even in temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
It is also important to put out multiple feeders to prevent overcrowding. When too many birds gather at one feeder, things tend to get a little hectic and messy. If birds have the option to dine at more than one feeder, there is less pushing and shoving, which may mean that more seeds are eaten instead of thrown to the ground.
Finally, spreading mulch under feeders is another easy way to keep a yard looking cleaner. Mulch will hide the seeds that may fall, and it can even dress up a feeding station. By adding a border with stones or other decorative items around the mulch, a feeding station can become a nice addition to a landscaper’s design.
With the proper food and a little bit of planning, bird lovers and new bird enthusiasts alike can enjoy both the wonderful hobby of bird feeding and a well-groomed lawn at the same time. Thanks to the creation of less mess products, birds can delight in the foods they love, and bird lovers can admire their outdoor pets without the mess.
(ARA) – The birds are back … and unfortunately so are the squirrels. There are few sights that ignite as much frustration in the hearts of bird-lovers as a squirrel’s bushy tail bobbing happily in the bird feeder. Serious birders and casual bird lovers alike know that when the squirrels move in there’s not often much left for the birds.It is possible, however, to provide for your feathered friends and send the squirrels packing. With the right seed mix and some nature-friendly squirrel control tactics you might just be able to win the age old battle of the birds and the squirrels, and keep everyone happy in your backyard habitat.
The first step is to draw the birds to your back yard. Next, provide alternatives or deterrents to convince squirrels to stay out of the bird feeder. Here are some steps for doing just that:
Start with the Right Seed
Birds, like people, are selective – even picky – when it comes to food. To attract the most birds to your feeder, buy the best seed possible. Many commercial feed mixes contain cheap filler seeds like red milo that most songbirds just don’t like. They’ll sort through the undesirable mix to get to the “good stuff” – and leave the rest in the feeder or on the ground. What the birds won’t eat, the squirrels will love, so reducing the waste will help reduce your feeder’s appeal for squirrels.
Opt for a mix, like Cole’s Wild Bird Products, that offer birds select natural seed choices specially formulated just for them. Cole’s feed is comprised of top-of-the-crop seeds pulled from the top 1 to 2 percent of every crop. The complete line of wild bird feed was developed and based on factual research about what birds really eat.
Finally, select seed mixes that attract specific types of birds. A good mix will contain seeds that appeal to bright favorites like goldfinches, woodpeckers, cardinals and bluebirds, as well as colorful migrating species.
Birds are like people; give them what they like to eat and they’ll keep coming back - and they’ll bring their friends. For more information on Cole’s products visit www.coleswildbird.com/products.html.
On to the Squirrels
Squirrels need not be an inevitable element of bird feeding. Love them or loathe them, most birders agree they don’t want squirrels in the feeder, where they can damage the feeder itself and devour seed meant for the birds.
One alternative is to stock your feeder with a seed that the birds will love, but squirrels will hate. Squirrels will eat just about anything you put out for birds … but they won’t like Cole’s Hot Meats. It’s top quality sunflower meats infused with an exclusive Habanero chili pepper and Safflower oil that birds find delicious but squirrels simply hate. The blend is a safe, effective and a humane way to feed the birds and not the squirrels.
Another option is to serve the squirrels something they’ll find even more appealing than bird seed. It is possible to enjoy both the squirrels and the birds in your back yard if you lure them away from the feeder. Squirrels love whole, dried corn-on-the-cob, loose dried corn and Critter Munchies, a blend of whole yellow corn, striped sunflower, peanuts in the shell, black oil sunflower and raw peanuts. Provide Critter Munchies on an open platform style feeder, an ear of dried corn on a stick, or even a stake (or pinecone) coated with peanut butter, and hopefully squirrels will be less of a problem at the bird feeding station.
Finally, if you just can’t stand the bushy-tailed pests in your back yard, consider an organic solution that sends them packing safely and effectively. Messina Wildlife Management’s Squirrel Stopper is an OMRI certified 100 percent organic animal repellent. Easily applied in a ready-to-use spray bottle, it dries clear, has a pleasant aroma and works for 30 days before reapplication is needed, no matter the weather. Spray it around your feeder and the squirrels will stay clear. It won’t harm the squirrels or the birds. For information of Squirrel Stopper, and the full line of Messina’s pest repellents visit: http://www.messinawildlife.com
