Wildlife in our gardens

[dutch-s]

Sorry the picture is blurry. I see the giant pileated woodpecker here all the time. I’ll keep an eye out and get a better picture.

[moose71]

the most beautiful of the woodpeckers in my opinion! 30 yrs. ago we barely had any. they’ve come back because the loggers stopped cutting down the large dead trees that the woodpeckers use to nest in.

[jeremymillrood]

My house backs up to a creek. back in the wooded area and we have dozens of old rotted out trees, swamp oak, sweet gum and who knows what else. prior to Irma, we had woodpeckers galore back there, pileated, red headed and red cockaded used to see them all the time pecking away…when the storm came through it blew down a lot of the old trees…still see them ever now and then just not as many…

[Richard]

Q: Why do doves roost on telephone lines?
A: They are waiting their turn to be eaten.

[jeremymillrood]

In my experience doves aren’t too bright…I find them in my back yard all the time just hanging around, you could almost walk right up to them…Someone told me they’re actually pretty tasty…

[fruitnut]

In my experience doves aren’t too bright…I find them in my back yard all the time just hanging around, you could almost walk right up to them…Someone told me they’re actually pretty tasty…

Same dumb birds here. With a pellet gun you could feed yourself forever. And they are easy to clean. Just rip the breast meat out. Better yet we have the big invasive ones from Mexico that can be shot on sight 24/7/365.

[Hillbillyhort]

big invasive ones from Mexico

And how high would “the wall” have to be to keep them out ?
( My concern about " the wall " is mainly that it maybe to keep us " in" ! )
I love Mexico and Mexicans, we are neighbors , and should be friends.
Sorry if this is inappropriate here, just saying…"

One spring,after returning from a long stay in southern Mexico , i was working in my garden here, in Wv., and I heard a parrot.
And I am thinking cool ,a parrot right there.
Then , I realized there are no parrots in Wv.
It was a cat bird , that had just followed me home, from the land of parrots (southern Mexico ?) and they mimic the calls of other birds.
An unmistakeable parrot call , right I my garden.
Had to wonder if it was one I spent time with in the jungles of Chiapas ?

[fruitnut]

I love Mexico and Mexicans, we are neighbors , and should be friends.

Sorry if this is inappropriate here, just saying…"

Wasn’t intending to say anything negative about Mexico or their people. Since we’re only 80 miles from Mexico it’s hard to see how birds could be considered invasive. But that’s what people here think and apparently the state also since they aren’t protected from hunting like the “native” doves.

[Hillbillyhort]

Did not mean to imply ,that there where any negative feelings toward Mexico
From you. ( mainly these negative feelings are from " our ? " leader and others that really need to go visit " the neighbors". they are good people. Just looking to better them selves , and provide for their loved ones, as we all are.
Again , sorry this is not what the post is about .

[Hillbillyhort]

Pigeons , doves ,are quite tasty,I hunted them as a kid.
Now , even though I am a meat eater, have a hard time killing one , as mostly they eat weed seeds here,that I consider a nucence .
And they are so nice looking. And hardly a meal . But good.
I feel better taking one life , a deer , that will feed me for months , and get rid of a bigger problem, for me.

[Richard]

a deer

https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/occurrence.html

[Hillbillyhort]

Thanks ,for the heads up.
But chronic wasting disease ,only occurs in a few eastern county’s in Wv.
( not near me) , I have been paying attention to this .like mad cow disease
Blue tongue disease has had a significant. Impact here.
Less deer to eat , but less deer damage .
Honestly the deer needed thinned out here.
The impact on gardens , orchards, the wild ecosystem , etc , was getting out of hand. I was starting to see them like rats. Now , “very” few.
Thinking its a good opertunity to plant young trees .
As the deer population is at a 20 yr low here , for now.

[jeremymillrood]

not sure what part of WV you’re in, but in the Summers County where our property is, the deer are everywhere. We went up just this past summer and you couldn’t drive a mile down the road without seeing them. they could definitely use some thinning. The man that care takes our old homestead says he doesn’t even bother hunting them any more since it’s not a challenge. Not sure how many other hunters follow those same practices.

[Hillbillyhort]

Summer’s Co. Is near Beckly , central part of state.
Iam west of there , closer to Ky.
Last year , and for many years, it was not uncommon to look out the window and see a dozen or so ,usually at least one of which was eating one of my favorite plants… I keep telling myself it could be worse , at least i am not over run with skunks. They are good to eat, and have provided me with “many” good meals for many years.

For those of you with out a deer problem:…

It’s one thing to grow a fruit tree or garden without deer.
But 2…-3 .times harder to do it with a large deer population .
Was concidering getting a pet tiger or some such thing…
The real impact I noticed was in "the woods"where most people don’t go, or if they do they are not really paying attention.
Where I live is one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet. ( for the temperate zone). The high deer population reduced that ,befor my eyes to a virtual biological desert .in about 20 yrs or so…over browsing .
Amazingly to me most people here did not really notice ,as this happened slowly over a period of years…only when you would mention how it used to be, with all the wild flowers , etc .would they remember , and “get it”.!
I blame this on the Wv DNR. They are in charge of managing wild life populations, and I believe ,more interested in revenue from the sale of hunting license (especially out of state $) than keeping the ecosystem healthy.
So whatever it is ( blue tongue disease ?) that is thinning the heard is natures way.
Hoping to get some trees planted, and raise a few gardens befor the plague of Bambi returns

[subdood_ky_z6b]

Blue tongue disease has had a significant. Impact here.

Less deer to eat , but less deer damage .

Honestly the deer needed thinned out here.

The impact on gardens , orchards, the wild ecosystem , etc , was getting out of hand. I was starting to see them like rats. Now , “very” few.

Yes, we had a similar decline in the deer harvested this year in eastern Kentucky due to blue tongue and EHD. Fewest deer taken in some counties since they’ve been tracking them online (1999). I saw none during the two weeks of rifle season, and very few since then. Like you, I’m not too tore up about it; deer have been my nemesis for 4 years. Hopefully this year our gardens and fruit trees will be given a better chance to thrive.

Long time residents have said 20 years ago you barely saw any deer in these parts, up to last year they were rampant. We lost most of our tomato crop to them, and they shredded our sweet potato plot. But, we did have a bumper crop of corn, beans, cukes and peppers. Guess they got their fill of 'maters and tater greens.

[Richard]

Well, as posted elsewhere I successfully grew a vegetable garden and fruit orchard in a northern California rural area rampant with wild “visitors”. But I took advice from a few locals that also had success. The entire area was enclosed by an 11-ft chainlink fence plus 3 strands of barbed-wire on top. This was for the deer that (by observation) would usually not attempt jumps over 9 ft. Be aware though, the snow depth was rarely 4". But in addition to the chainlink there was also 4 feet of wire mesh that extended about 18" below ground and the remaining above ground. This was for the marmots, voles, rabbits, etc. Finally there were a couple of dogs (with dog house) that lived in the enclosure to discourage squirrels (forest rats). The end result was the wildlife would not bother with our property.

[moose71]

my cousins land in missouri is infested w/ deer so last fall me and my brother drove there and filled a freezer for us and them!

[Steve333]

Might be a good thing that that other disease is thinning the deer herd, at least as far as CWD goes. Our county had 40% CWD infection rate a few years back. It supposedly has gone down some, due mostly to the dept of wildlife thinning herds in heavily diseased areas. But I still see a deer every so often acting strangely, like separating from the herd and just going in circles or rolling for a while. (all supposed to be symptoms of CWD)

It’s not clear yet whether CWD is transmittable to humans, but we don’t eat deer that was taken anywhere near here.

[Derby42]

Here they required you to bring your deer to a station and have samples taken the first weekend of gun season. Mine was negative, kinda takes a little of the enjoyment out of it though, waited six weeks for results

[Steve333]

Similar thing here too. Testing takes quite a while and the results seem dubious at best (results for some list the wrong sex of the deer, etc. makes you wonder which deer they were testing)