Sunday, January 26, 2014
New Friend
There are already three ringtails that come to the porch each evening to eat. The large one which wants nothing to do with Tom. The medium size one which only wants to be fed hot dogs on the roof. It will come down one of the porch poles to get Tom's attention and then run back up and jump on the roof where Tom throws it a couple of hot dogs. Kitty, the smallest ringtail which will eat out of Tom's hand most nights. Having just returned from the Amasa Back Tom sees a very nervous and before unseen small ringtail come to the porch.
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Why are you feeding wild animals?
Coming back from Amasa Back last night the empty light on the side by side came on. Really, I haven't even been checking to see if I had gas? So, figured I'm slacking on lots of other stuff to so taking an Amasa Back day off. I think I've caught up all the other questions and comments of the last week or two, only one left.
Since it's a generic question of sorts it's going to be multiple answers. I'm out making kindling, watering, and doing some vehicle maintenance so during breaks I'll try and knock off some of this question.
Lots of guests cook with the kitchen door open. Some times that draws flies. I'd whack some flies with the swatter and after awhile one side-blotched lizard started coming to the sound of the whack and eating the dead flies. In time Who's Up taught a few other how to do it. Greatly minimized the fly issue. I whack a fly, I put it on the fly swatter and serve it up to Who's Up, What's Up, and Little Up. So, while your average side-blotched only lives about seven months, I've got two that have been on the front porch three years and some change. The extra benefit is there are only two things that can really hurt my guests. Midget Faded rattlesnake and scorpions. Guess who the primary consumer of scorpions is, that's right, side-blotched lizards. To my knowledge I haven't had a scorpion inside the lodge in the three years that Who's Up and What's Up have been here. So that why I feed the lizards.
Feeding the birds has gone through a learning curve. It started a few years ago when I had to hard piece of bread left in a loaf. Broke it up and threw it outside under the Desert Willow. Wasn't long before Juncos started showing up and eating it. They were pretty entertaining. Each morning I'd throw two pieces of bread all torn to little pieces out and by the 4th or 5th morning the Juncos were waiting on the porch when I'd open the door, even hovering about me. A few days later I noticed the Juncos weren't coming to ground and when I looked out the window there was a ringtail eating the bread. I moved the feeding across the driveway so the birds wouldn't get taken.
House Finches and White Crowning sparrows were the next ones to show up but by then I'd switched to bird food. When the House Finches showed up I'd walk out to feed them and sometimes there would be three or four of them that wouldn't flee from me and looking at their eyes I realized they couldn't see me. They had conjunctivitis that makes then go blind and eventually kills them. While in theory it's suppose to be a East Coast disease there was an issue here. Wherever the House Finches were eating, there was a problem.
I started filling up a bird bath out front and cleaning it each day. I put different kinds of bird seen out and in three different locations, each with foliage around the location for safety. It wasn't long before finding a House Finch with conjunctivitis was rare and I haven't seen one with it since probably summer of last year where it used to be a way of life.
In time with lots of birds you get predators. If you're been around the blog very long I suggest you go to February of last year blog and look for "A Morning of Magic". That's the last real issue I've had with the Sharp-shinneds though occasionally they still make a run or two.
Now there are hundreds of songbirds that visit Base Camp every day. I have so many people that like to set outside and observe them and photographers who get some just amazing shots. I've had 30 something kinds of species. I had an issue with hawks chasing songbirds into the windows and I'd bring them in to mend and when they were ready let them free. Eventually I put reflective tape on all the windows and it's been really effective. You can's see out of them as well but I had two birds total hit the windows last year that I know of. I've learned so much about them and share it with as many guests as I can.
That's why I feed the birds.
I got to get outside and get some more work done before dark but I'll let you read this last November as to why I started feeding the Gray foxes, One Ear in particular.
http://basecampmoab.blogspot.com/2013/11/old-friend-visited-today.html
As for the ringtails and spotted skunks they were just part of the package. It was a bundle. With the exception of going through about twice as much Fabreze Air Freshener on night when the skunks have little man syndrome they've worked out pretty well also. There has never been a winter I didn't have three to six mice and at least one pack rat running around inside the walls and ceilings. The ringtails are just like having three cats and a spotted skunk will eat anything that can't outrun it. This year I've had no mice, no pack rats, no nothing inside the lodge. That's why I feed the skunks and ringtails.
You can't invite this many critters to dinner without somebody showing up that wasn't invited. That would be Zorro the badger. We first me a few months ago when he/she was so hungry it was going around eating bird food. It's probably been two months now I've just left a bowl of dry cat food on the front porch. Zorro is usually the first one to show up right at dark with one or two of the ringtails. There's a pecking order for all the species and the strong generally show up first. Zorro, though I really like him is the first one I'm a little uncomfortable with. It's winter so he's not a threat to anybody but the time is coming when guests will bring their dogs, kids, and so forth. His time with me will be short. But it's that way for all the critters. We're a dog friendly lodge and many people bring their dogs. Once the place starts filling up with dogs it will be rare that I'll see much wildlife again until right after Thanksgiving when the place goes quiet again.
My big concern was can I feed the many critters and have peace between them. One night I looked out on the porch and saw a fox eating at one end and a ringtail at the other. Right then a skunk jumped up from under the porch and stole some of the foxes food. Awhile later One Ear was eating on the porch when Zorro came running up the ramp and One Ear just kept eating. That's when I realized that everybody already knows each other. They've met lots of times down in the tamarisk next to the river where they all live. If they can survive down there they can do it here also and they have. I hear some hissing and moaning and Kitty getting chased across the roof some nights but all in all the badger and skunks know to approach from under the porch, the ringtails from the support poles holding up the porch, and the Gray foxes from the driveway. I've built an tunnel of sorts for the ringtails and skunks behind a row of folding chairs leaning up against the porch wall and there are four entrances/exits under the front porch and for most of them escape is the preferred solution to conflict.
One size doesn't fit all. It works here. When I started I did the Google search also and saw all the reasons not to by all the experts. Leaving food out will draw bears, yea not so far, they shouldn't eat people food, well I don't feed them popcorn and so forth but they can eat meat and cat food. There will get to be a disproportionate number of them and if that happens the strong will run off the weak like always. They'll get run over by cars. I'm a dead end on a jeep road. Disc golfers were just here and that accounts for two of the four vehicles I've seen this month.
I read up extensively to learn as much about my friends as possible. I live contact with them everyday and not in lab conditions. It takes a lot of time, it's hard work, and having just added up all my receipts, it's expensive, but, it works and lots of people enjoy it.
So, hope that helps.
You can't invite this many critters to dinner without somebody showing up that wasn't invited. That would be Zorro the badger. We first me a few months ago when he/she was so hungry it was going around eating bird food. It's probably been two months now I've just left a bowl of dry cat food on the front porch. Zorro is usually the first one to show up right at dark with one or two of the ringtails. There's a pecking order for all the species and the strong generally show up first. Zorro, though I really like him is the first one I'm a little uncomfortable with. It's winter so he's not a threat to anybody but the time is coming when guests will bring their dogs, kids, and so forth. His time with me will be short. But it's that way for all the critters. We're a dog friendly lodge and many people bring their dogs. Once the place starts filling up with dogs it will be rare that I'll see much wildlife again until right after Thanksgiving when the place goes quiet again.
My big concern was can I feed the many critters and have peace between them. One night I looked out on the porch and saw a fox eating at one end and a ringtail at the other. Right then a skunk jumped up from under the porch and stole some of the foxes food. Awhile later One Ear was eating on the porch when Zorro came running up the ramp and One Ear just kept eating. That's when I realized that everybody already knows each other. They've met lots of times down in the tamarisk next to the river where they all live. If they can survive down there they can do it here also and they have. I hear some hissing and moaning and Kitty getting chased across the roof some nights but all in all the badger and skunks know to approach from under the porch, the ringtails from the support poles holding up the porch, and the Gray foxes from the driveway. I've built an tunnel of sorts for the ringtails and skunks behind a row of folding chairs leaning up against the porch wall and there are four entrances/exits under the front porch and for most of them escape is the preferred solution to conflict.
One size doesn't fit all. It works here. When I started I did the Google search also and saw all the reasons not to by all the experts. Leaving food out will draw bears, yea not so far, they shouldn't eat people food, well I don't feed them popcorn and so forth but they can eat meat and cat food. There will get to be a disproportionate number of them and if that happens the strong will run off the weak like always. They'll get run over by cars. I'm a dead end on a jeep road. Disc golfers were just here and that accounts for two of the four vehicles I've seen this month.
I read up extensively to learn as much about my friends as possible. I live contact with them everyday and not in lab conditions. It takes a lot of time, it's hard work, and having just added up all my receipts, it's expensive, but, it works and lots of people enjoy it.
So, hope that helps.
Well a double post and wish I would have proofread all the spelling errors first. The Amasa Back waits.
Glad to have all the information and background. Thanks for taking the time to explain what and why. Amazing how they all get along.
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