That would indicate an ecosystem horribly out of balance and unable to support the local population. If anything i would feel morally obligated to lower the population so the ones that remain are not starving. Hunger is a horrible way to go.
So far the ones i see in my forest seem fat and happy.
I donāt think so, I think it indicates typical rodent cycles of boom and bust. For instance, when we have a bumper crop of acorns the rodent population will boom the following spring, and then if the following fall crop is sparse the squirrels go nuts (ha ha) and start stripping every morsel of food available from the forest and yards and then other animals starve as well. The squirrels are doomed without stored food through winter anyway, but other creatures might have had a chancre to store some fat if all the berries werenāt taken. Fortunately, all human beings in my neighborhood only have to buy all their fruit if their orchards are raided by wildlife.
I agree completely, but I kill them just to stop them from taking my own food. However Iām happy to do them the favor and do feel something for the misery mother nature imposes on so many of us. When animal activists complain about hunters, all I can think about is the starvation that occurs when herds arenāt thinned- that and the destruction to landscapes.
Most creatures will expand their population based on food availability- when humans harnessed oil and natural gas to produce nitrogen for fertilizer and gasoline to plow fields our population tripled within a century. What a waste of energy wealth! Oh goodie, more humans! Of course that expansion did include my own birth and Iām quite happy for that, as well as having 5 siblings. Happy guilt, I guess.
Yes, a bust cycle is an ecosystem horribly out of balance, thus mass starvation. Not only that but it is never a single species thing, it affects the entire food chain.
I recall in Maryland somebody going all āAwww!ā when they saw a deer on his hind legs reaching up a tree. What I saw was horrifying; it was a deer infestation that has obliterated the forest floor, driven to the brink of extinction a number of species that rely on it for food and cover, and were not starving themselves and trying to eat the tree bark as high up the trees as they could.
That is funny to me. By that def, no ecosystem is ever in balance- it is a never ending balancing act and if that is horrible then I guess life in the wild is horrible. I can buy that description of it- ever been to Africa and witnessed the kill and be killed panorama of wilderness parks there- say in Kenya or S. Africa- the beauty, the horror!
It certainly is. and with climate change the way that it is going species that stood a chance to recover are no longer capable to do so.
There are around a million species risking extinction. For instance when we created an environment where four-legged lawn mowers we call Bamby destroy ecosystems and push thousands of those species closer to the precipice we do have a moral responsibility to inject some balance into the equation.
Heck here is an interesting factoid: in the US 12 percent of 4,230 bird species are declining in population and headed for extinction in our lifetimes. One of the few groups that are actually thriving and growing in numbers are the ones that we hunt, waterfowl. Why? Because we manage, we monitor, we protect their environment, and watch for treats. Just about every duck hunter out there is an environmentalist, being on the literal trenches looking at treats to the environment. Often when corporations are about to cause harm to small out of the way wetlands that nobody else even knows about, they are the ones to raise the alarm and organize to stop it.
The forest I can see through my window is pretty lush right now so it took me a bit to spot a squirrel but they are there. If as you say they start starving because their environment canāt support their population I will do my part to help them get back in balance before they needlessly suffer.
Thatās a big number. I wonder who counted them and and checked the "risking extinction " box.
This is from research for the United Nations, compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries over the past three years with inputs from another 310 contributing authors. The report assesses changes over the past five decades, based on the systematic review of about 15,000 scientific and government sources
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/
If you donāt jive with future projections just look at the unprecedented rate at which species has been disappearing. If anything the rate seems to be accelerating.
I am very aware of the current species collapse going on and believe that public awareness is important, however grey squirrels seem to be doing just fine at the moment and maybe we should return to that- at least itās something I can do something about in a way that I immediately see results.
Iām 70 years old and only had one child- that is my contribution to my planet and its other species. Lets move on.
Iām further north and east of you in Connecticut but close enough to have similar pest pressures. Can you say what you spray, exactly? Iām rigorous with my own spray regime and I havenāt produced pristine fruit yet.
they have me produce pristine fruit for them which requires about 6 sprays a year.
On the squirrel baffels, Iām surprised you havenāt found the lower parts of your kit to be perfect habitat for breeding earwigs. I had to remove all of my spiral trunk shields because of that. Hundreds of earwigs had made a home amidst the frass they dragged up from the ground and tucked in the space between the trunks and the shields.
Oddly enough they didnāt damage the trunks.
Go to guides for my basic low spray sched. To that I add 4 sprays from about July 7th and every 2 weeks after (for late apples- for earlier ripening fruit I stop 2 weeks before ripening). Another spray may be needed for pristine Goldrush and other late apples for protection into Sept. I use Captan mixed with Indar mostly, although if the orchard only has apples Iām protecting from summer fungus I use different fungicides besides Indar with Captan every other spray. Topsin M or Flint. I can also replace the Indar entirely with myclobutanil.
I like Indar for its kickback, systemic chemistry (doesnāt wash off) and the fact it can be used on stonefruit affectively for brown rot as well as apples for summer fungus. I also use Pristine, but it only works for both species because it has 2 separate fungicides in it so you are wasting one, at least when you spray stone fruit. Itās expensive too. I learned recently that Topsin M is systemic and also labeled for stonefruit, but I only use it in July sprays because of recommendations of label.
Cornell instructs that summer fungus must be protected against through June, but I ignore that guideline because I was unaware of it when I found my method works just fine although their explanation that once the fungus is established itās too late is very convincing, even if untrue- no matter what their microscopes are telling them. Perhaps they donāt take into consideration the kickback of Indar or Myclo.
Thanks. What is your application rate for Indar? I have used 1/4 tsp based on Scottys guide but it seems low to me.
I always follow the label at highest rates.