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When you live a little outside the urban area, critters become an issue. There are field mice that really like to "come in" for the winter. Then there are the squirrels that find your bird feeders a great place to dine (no matter how much you try to discourage them). Then the rabbits. Well they think your garden is free food (my little dog has caught 3 this year alone). The coyotes are a little pissed I have a 4 foot chain link fence because they think my little dogs would be a great snack. Now a wood chuck has moved in to help the rabbits eat my garden and dig up my yard.

I have become an expert at trapping, snaring and other methods of population control. Funny thing is the raptors are very appreciative of the free meal now and then. I hope they like woodchuck.

ValveSlide wrote:How many chucks can [a] wood chuck chuck if...

Chuck does not like to be "chucked"...

It doesn't help that its about 70 degrees, so they're capitalizing on this bonus time!

Have you tried any of the subsonic, primer only,... .22 rounds? That would help with the rabbits and chucks without annoying your neighbors or the wife.

Bob Kolada wrote:Have you tried any of the subsonic, primer only,... .22 rounds? That would help with the rabbits and chucks without annoying your neighbors or the wife.

Thought about it, but most of the neighbors consider a pellet gun more civilized.

Critter Pot Luck Stew!!

I have the typical problems with raccoons and squirrels in my bird feeders but one visitor I get are the young hawks that prey on songbirds.

opus37 wrote:Thought about it, but most of the neighbors consider a pellet gun more civilized.

I think the main problem with pellets is the default 177 size. It's easy to find 22, e.g. Crosman air pistol.

Grackle = flying rats!!

ValveSlide wrote:I had to look up "grackles." Never seen nor heard of them 'round these parts...

I wanna live where you live.

The damn things are everywhere around here!

I've seen them, but not around here - so, no idea what the problem is. They been eating your grain crop? A friend who used to work as a wildlife biologist dealing with stuff like this, said the farmers would get all excited when they saw a big flock of starlings or whatever, and saw the damage, from their pickup trucks. But if you wade a ways out into the field, no damage out there, and total crop loss was actually rather minimal. They just happened to beat up the areas that the farmers could see.

Anyway, raptors like to eat other birds. A hawk can pounce on a bird and not get its toes chewed off. Doesn't seem like anything will touch squirrels but the apparently either stupid or fearless redtail hawk. We have Coopers hawks that eat little birds, and eagles that I suppose eat mostly dead things, but sadly no redtails.

ValveSlide wrote:I had to look up "grackles." Never seen nor heard of them 'round these parts...

Grackles are very common but you can deter most blackbird-types if you select feed mixes that DO NOT contain corn. Personally... I like the Grackles. They aren't near as aggressive and invasive as European Starlings.

ValveSlide wrote:Now crows we have. Crows the size of pterodactyls. Seems like they get bigger every year...

You're probably getting smaller.

Crows pay attention to what's going on. The local university did an experiment where they "banded" some crows, and the guy who did it wore a mask. Crows don't appreciate being banded, and whenever anyone wore that mask, they'd mob him and raise a big fuss. Different mask, not much reaction, even if it's the same guy. They remembered for years, and crows were participating who were born after the event. You don't really have to do much to the crows to make them hate you - I kind of like crows and haven't directed any harm at them, but when they hammer on the cedar shingles I go out and give them a look, and they fly off. Apparently that's enough. Whenever I go out to the street, the crows start hollering. Outside the immediate neighborhood, though, I can pass within a couple of yards of a crow without putting it to flight.

On the other extreme, a local family became kind of famous when the daughter made friends with some crow who would bring her gifts. Over time this turned into visits by many, many crows, with predictably unpleasant consequences for the neighbors who eventually were reduced to taking some legal action.

...and they are unattractive.

If the same bird was a parrot, few people would mind.

Hmm... it literally depends on Your point of view:

Many people put bird seed to places that are in plain view, offering their guests little chance to pick up that food safely.
The "benefit": Nosy humans as well as hungry predators get easier access to cute little animals. As a bonus, You might get to see predators go after their food, which may be more entertaining to watch.

Bird seed might help little birds (and other animals) overcome tough times.
More little animals will in turn help bigger animals overcome tough times.
Looks like a win-win- Situation to me.

Quit feeding little birds at places where they´ll be forced to expose themselves in the open, if cleaning up after a hawk´s meal on Your porch is what bothers You.

I stopped putting out food when the field rats showed up.

I am astonished that a four foot fence keeps out coyotes; maybe because it is chain link and they have nowhere to rest on top....but they easily and often go over six foot walls here and eat people's pets, including very large dogs. Gang up on them.

tubeast wrote:Hmm... it literally depends on Your point of view:

Many people put bird seed to places that are in plain view, offering their guests little chance to pick up that food safely.
The "benefit": Nosy humans as well as hungry predators get easier access to cute little animals. As a bonus, You might get to see predators go after their food, which may be more entertaining to watch.

Bird seed might help little birds (and other animals) overcome tough times.
More little animals will in turn help bigger animals overcome tough times.
Looks like a win-win- Situation to me.

Quit feeding little birds at places where they´ll be forced to expose themselves in the open, if cleaning up after a hawk´s meal on Your porch is what bothers You.

The people down the street from my previous residence had a bird feeder in a tree. One day I walked by and saw a peregrine falcon sitting patiently in the tree just waiting for them to show. That neighborhood with its tall trees had a pretty substantial peregrine falcon population.

MaryAnn wrote:I am astonished that a four foot fence keeps out coyotes; maybe because it is chain link and they have nowhere to rest on top....but they easily and often go over six foot walls here and eat people's pets, including very large dogs. Gang up on them.

Yeah they clear the six foot fences here all the time. My back yard is 18,000 sq. feet and two of them cleared the fence and surrounded my 17.5 year old 35 pound dog. What they hadn't counted on was his pal Bobo sitting 8 feet off the ground on the second level of the brick/stone deck off my Florida room in the opposite corner. Bobo is 95 pounds of big fast flying muscle that sprung off that deck and hit the ground at lightning speed. Nobody but nobody messes with Bobo and all that is in his purview - except small children who can climb all over him for hours on end with no complaints on his part.

We're starting to see some of the bigger coyote/wolf mixes creep in the area. They are smart and very adaptable. I don't mind as they keep the rabbit/raccoon/opossum/rodent populations in check as it brings a natural top predator back in the mix. Before they showed up we were being overrun by these unchecked populations. People just have to stop being lazy and leaving pets out unattended.

What You´re describing resembles a recent development all over Europe.
Wild animals increasingly learn to make use of civilization´s benefits in every way possible.
For over 100 Years, there have been neither wolves nor bears in what was left of Germany´s semi-wilderness.

Not so anymore:
Wolves have trickled back into well-populated areas and form considerable packs in decreasingly remote regions.

Wild pigs flock into our cities. Not just suburbs, parks and large cemetaries, but actually all-concrete downtown neighborhoods. These make clever and systematic use of our infrastructure: some hords of them have learned to cross busy autobahns at highway junctions and safely raise their offspring in those green areas surrounded by circular entrance ramps. No-one is going to disturb ´em there.

Reaction among humans ranges from fascination and pride all the way to downright fear (and, being German/European, a call out to officials to take "action" and "regulate" human-beast relations).