Community Chat

[ValuSkr]

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@Junebug54 wrote:

Bird feeders are very much discouraged in our area.    They also attract other unwanted creatures such as squirrels, skunks, bears, etc.   Also not good to get wildlife dependent on humans.    Bird feeders in my condo complex have been ordered down.

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My condo association doesn't forbid bird feeders but asks that they be hung away from the buildings for the reasons you noted - they attract mice, chipmunks, and other wildlife.  Of course, the rule isn't enforced and some people hang them close to the buildings - so they can see the birds up close, of course.  So, as much as I enjoy bird watching, I rather wish they would be outlawed.

[Spurt]

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

I stopped feeding the birds when I started having rats come around. But, when I did feed the birds, I let nature take its course... squirrls, birds of all kinds whatever.  

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@SeaMaiden

My sister feeds the birds and squirrels and hangs feeders outside her dinning room window......but it has started drawing field mice from the undeveloped land around her area......  She just hates to stop feeding the squirrels who have become alomost tame.....and the birds as well....her indoor cat can sit on the window sill and that doesnt even scare the mice.....so she said she is going to have to stop the feeding too....

I have a crepe myrtle tree and occasionally hang a bird bell or bird cake.....I absolutely love the cardinals and primarily put the food out for them....

[Yardlie]

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@Keeper of the koi wrote:

@TaxyLady, I see your blackbirds  and  raise  you all my pigeons .  I have all these beautiful cardinals , Bluejays  ,juncos and a million pigeons !Guess they have to eat too....sigh..Maryanne

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@Keeper of the koi ... I hear what you are saying! We have a patio that is roofed and enclosed on three sides, so it attracts a lot of animals for shelter. We feed the squirrels peanuts and sunflower seeds. They are tame, and in the summer, the squirrels and chipmunks will take peanuts right from our hand. The birds eat sunflower seeds too, but we have a larger birdhouse that we fill with birdseed every morning. Like at your house, It attracts a lot of pigeons. Something else is getting into it at night...maybe a racoon. I was filling it with high quality birdseed, but it got too expensive with needing to refill the entire thing every day. Now I just use cheaper Walmart birdseed. Like you said, I guess the pigeons have to eat too. I wish I knew what is getting in there at night and making a big mess of the patio. Oh, well...I just feel bad for those poor animals outside in our wicked Northern Wisconsin winters.

[Spurt]

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@sidsmom wrote:

This is what I've observed on a larger level.

Here in Dallas, black birds like to migrate to

certain pockets of town and wow....it gets BAD. Thousands!

A shopping center placed plastic, fake owls on top

of their buildings...along with a pre-recorded 'owl screech.'  

Gone.  

You probably don't want to use the screech, but placing

plastic owls around might be worth a try.

I did a quick Google search...and it apparently works.

As for squirrels?

You might as well give them a key to the house.

They own the back yard.  

 @Spurt

YES!  This is exactly what certain parts of Dallas metroplex has.

It's kinda cool to see the 'sea of birds'...but that lasts only

foe a second until they poo all over everything! Ha

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@sidsmom

It's like a scene from the AlfredHitchcock movie, The Birds---LOL!!!

[Spurt]

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@Keeper of the koi wrote:

@TaxyLady, I see your blackbirds  and  raise  you all my pigeons .  I have all these beautiful cardinals , Bluejays  ,juncos and a million pigeons !Guess they have to eat too....sigh..Maryanne

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@Keeper of the koi

My sis does not like the mourning doves (relatives of pigeons)they come in droves and can eat a whole bag of seed by themselves very quickly....she calls them "bird pigs"....

[Keeper of the koi]

@Yardlie, I live in ny so its mighty cold and i have to feed the birds!I mix one small bag of nuts and seeds with a 20lb bag of regular food, figure everybody will get a little something...might very well be a racoon, we get bears!Maryanne

[Keeper of the koi]

@Spurt, they are just so strange they are bulky walk strange and depressing looking . . They eat like crazy and will not budge when you get close... I have to say i love my little cardinal couples so sweet,  him feeding her.. the color the sweetness is precious...My big bluejays are stunning but bullies...  Funny even  birds have very distinct personalities . . Tell your sister  i will think of pigs now everytime i see pigeons !Maryanne

[TaxyLady]

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@Brinklii wrote:

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@Keeper of the koi wrote:

@TaxyLady, I see your blackbirds  and  raise  you all my pigeons .  I have all these beautiful cardinals , Bluejays  ,juncos and a million pigeons !Guess they have to eat too....sigh..Maryanne

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@Keeper of the koi ... I hear what you are saying! We have a patio that is roofed and enclosed on three sides, so it attracts a lot of animals for shelter. We feed the squirrels peanuts and sunflower seeds. They are tame, and in the summer, the squirrels and chipmunks will take peanuts right from our hand. The birds eat sunflower seeds too, but we have a larger birdhouse that we fill with birdseed every morning. Like at your house, It attracts a lot of pigeons. Something else is getting into it at night...maybe a racoon. I was filling it with high quality birdseed, but it got too expensive with needing to refill the entire thing every day. Now I just use cheaper Walmart birdseed. Like you said, I guess the pigeons have to eat too. I wish I knew what is getting in there at night and making a big mess of the patio. Oh, well...I just feel bad for those poor animals outside in our wicked Northern Wisconsin winters.

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It is probably a racoon as you said.  They will eat most anything.  My friend has seen them shaking the feeders.  Once they knocked the feeder down and dragged it into the woods.  So they have feeders now they take in at night and put out in the morning. 

[Yardlie]

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@Keeper of the koi wrote:

@Yardlie, I live in ny so its mighty cold and i have to feed the birds!I mix one small bag of nuts and seeds with a 20lb bag of regular food, figure everybody will get a little something...might very well be a racoon, we get bears!Maryanne

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@Keeper of the koi ... Happy to hear you are so generous and feel like I do about animals! We get deer occasionally around here too...mainly in the summer if we are having a dry summer. They come into town looking for tender greens. I know we have bears that are seen occasionally in town, but I've never seen one of those in our yard. When people come up to our back door, they have to pass the patio. Everyone says that it is like a scene from "The Birds" as all the birds just swarm out.

[Spurt]

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@Keeper of the koi wrote:

@Spurt, they are just so strange they are bulky walk strange and depressing looking . . They eat like crazy and will not budge when you get close... I have to say i love my little cardinal couples so sweet,  him feeding her.. the color the sweetness is precious...My big bluejays are stunning but bullies...  Funny even  birds have very distinct personalities . . Tell your sister  i will think of pigs now everytime i see pigeons !Maryanne

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@Keeper of the koi

LOL....I'll pass it on that you now call them "pigs"......what's funny is there is dove hunting season in Texas (not that I support hunting animals/birds at all)...but the hunters were complaining that there were very few doves to hunt....when my sister saw that news story she commented, "they are all at my feeder"!!!