Are you Stocked up with bird food.

[pauco]

MINUS 15C.
:eek!: In the news paper today, Big freeze on the way next
week, so if it does happen i think our featherd freinds will
need more of our help!! lets hope they are wrong :news:
bert.

[steve_nova]

Good thinking Bert. Black Sunflower seed stockup imminent then.

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Just bought 25kg of mixed seed and 6kg of sunflower hearts. Still have about 10kg peanuts, 5kg black sunflower seeds and 3kg niger seed. Think the birds will survive.

[Sleeper]

Good reminder bert

I always try to have ample food available. just ordered a larger niger feeder which i have managed to find at long last!! Hurraaahhh

I don't know about any body else but at this time of year I find it really important to keep the feeders clean as the food seems to clog up and go off really quickly. I watched some great tits struggle to find a suitable Sunflower heart in the feeder today even though it was half full.

One of those jobs I love to hate. Oh well it 'elps the little bliters!

[seb_seb]

-15........u sure?:O

[scampo]

Another interesting thought...

A knowledgable friend was telling me that there might be a sad irony in putting out birdfood in as much as we are helping grey squirrels thrive like never before - and they, he suggests, are now possibly the single biggest predator of bird's eggs.

[Euan Buchan]

The bird feeder has peanuts and r waiting ;)

[KCFoggin]

Another interesting thought...

A knowledgable friend was telling me that there might be a sad irony in putting out birdfood in as much as we are helping grey squirrels thrive like never before - and they, he suggests, are now possibly the single biggest predator of bird's eggs.
I'll second this notion. On the fridgid days we had over the last 2 weeks, the squirrels basically destroyed all my feeders in their hungery urge to get to them.
I would come home to feeders knocked to the ground and seed scattered all over the place.

[Tammie]

Knock on wood, this winter has been really quiet for squirrels. The birds have been eating very well, tho'! In fact, I just stocked up yesterday on 2 - 30lb bags of striped seed, 1 - 30lb of black seed (tried to get another one but had lousy service at Home Depot and walked out!), 3 orange suet cakes and 2 suet balls. I swear this yard is a birdie restaurant!

[scampo]

You must get half the birds from Ontario in your garden, Tammie! More power to your elbow!

[Doug]

I put out hazelnuts for the squirrels - this diverts them from the bird feeders (hazelnuts are a favorite apparently). As soon as I started doing this I stopped having problems with squirrel damage - and we love to have them in the garden.

[gkrpepper]

my squirrels eat corn on the cob, so does the redbreasted woodpecker. Besides i hang the sunflower feeders where they can't get to them, and use safflower and niger seeds where they can.
good backyard birding
Gunter

[Tammie]

You must get half the birds from Ontario in your garden, Tammie! More power to your elbow!


Somtimes, I think so too, Steve!! ;)

[Nina P]

I smelt the winter weather coming and stocked up earlier this week, also cleaned the tables off, tubes and feeders, so when the winter strikes I'm prepared!
The birds sense it too, while cleaning the bird table, robin started flitting under my feet, Mr Blackie was waiting impatiently for the mealworms, and was scolding the time it was taking!
Once the food was out there was an interesting flurry of activity, but I'm having to go out clapping my hands to shoo awway the grey squirrels, but there are many getting flattened on the roads all around the place, or at least a lot of dead ones, not marked but dead, so I don't think there will be too many of them, especially as the raptors are bombing them out of the trees. I watched a sparrowhawk bomb one out of a tree by the road today! I never saw where the squirrel went though, as I was driving at the time!:gh:

[seb_seb]

"A knowledgable friend was telling me that there might be a sad irony in putting out birdfood in as much as we are helping grey squirrels thrive like never before - and they, he suggests, are now possibly the single biggest predator of bird's eggs."

They are probably at "un-naturally" high levels, particularly around human habitation now. Get a squirrel baffel,clap your hands as Nina says she does, or water-gun them. They are not native, have pushed the native reds out and are causing a nuisance to our birds in that they predate on their eggs and young, and compete for food.
Also, i remember reading an article where people were encouraged to kill these squirrels as the place had a red squirrel population, and the reds were now declining as the greys arrived. Coincidence-.....NO!

[scampo]

I put out hazelnuts for the squirrels - this diverts them from the bird feeders (hazelnuts are a favorite apparently). As soon as I started doing this I stopped having problems with squirrel damage - and we love to have them in the garden.
That's a good idea - but if our feeding them is helping reduce the bird population then I wonder what we should be doing!

[seb_seb]

Eating them lol

[helenol]

Dont' forget the bird baths....freezing water and all that.

[christineredgate]

That's a good idea - but if our feeding them is helping reduce the bird population then I wonder what we should be doing!
There are plans up here in Cumbria to start a grey squirrel cull by shooting them.There have been discussions on the local news and in the local papers.
I don't know what other people think,I personally have mixed feelings.I do not believe it is correct for man to kill wildlife unless it is posing a threat to human survival.Eg,if a poor farmer from a Third World country found his livelyhood was being threatened by scavenging birds or such like,and his family would literally starve to death,then yes,I firmly believe he has the right to kill the predators,his family are his priority,but once allowed to cull the Greys,where will it end.Ruddy ducks next,Hybrid Mallards!!.
An argument could be that if larger birds were a threat to small,rare birds,then kill them(the larger ones)to protect the rarer species.But most animals and birds will surely move away from a dangerous enviroment and re locate to breed.
I realise this could be a difficult topic,but just to look at things from both sides.The safety of the Reds,and how far can man go to control nature.After all,most of these situations occur,because man has interfered in the first place.
Christine.

[seb_seb]

"I do not believe it is correct for man to kill wildlife unless it is posing a threat to human survival"

What if it is a threat to other wildlife,because it has been introduced by man and has upset the ecosystem, and is *probably* causing a decline in a much rarer species?

[seb_seb]

Man should fix man`s mistakes?

[Sleeper]

Christine

I know what you mean it is a tough one. I actually feel in favour of riding this country of the greys. I don't think that culling (I presume shoot) is the answer long term to this problem. They seem to be prolific breeders so numbers would presumably be replaced.

I feel a greater understanding of the problem needs to be undertaken. The thoughts on the reds V greys has been seen to change over the years in various quarters. I would be more inclined to go along with some sort of sterilisation process where it would not be possible to procreate.

It's a tough one to deal with but I really don't think the problem will ever be solved.

[christineredgate]

Man should fix man`s mistakes?.

Yes,Seb,fair enough,but man should not make the mistake in the first place,he hasn't the right to introduce,then get rid of again.The eco system is already ruined by modern day living.I just think it is sad that these creatures have to be killed.Yes ,sterilization sounds a much better idea,wasn't that once tried with the Feral Pidgeons?.From what I remember,I don't think it was a great sucess.Not many months ago there was even talk of a Seagull cull!!.
Christine.

[scampo]

My friend shoots them in his garden - there are dozens and dozens of them about. They are classed as vermin, so I can't fault his decision - but I couldn't do it. He's a bit older than I am so maybe has been Disneyfied as most have. No doubt if they looked like slugs iinstead of cuddly little things we'd have done the right thing years ago without any false conscience getting in the way.

[IanF]

Personally I think that we should leave well alone. Grey Squirrels are wild animals after all. Whilst they should never have been introduced in the first place they are now part of our ecosystem and Nature should be left to fend for itself. If Nature dictates that the Greys are better suited to survival over here then Man should let them redress the balance without further interference.

[scampo]

So it's goodbye red squirrel and thousands of song birds, then?

(Sorry - just being devil's advocate!).

[Nina P]

You may be interested to know that while my father was farming you could get 1/-d for each grey squirrel tail you handed over to the ministry of agriculture! I have no idea if this has ever been repealed, but it was done as they took eggs, grain, and carried disease, I have not heard of any repeal but wondered if it was still going on. Just think how much could be claimed from the perrishers falling out of the trees and getting killed on the road! I think I should toodle off and gather the dead ones tails and see if it still exisits! Anyone out there know?

[scampo]

Ah I remember shillings, Nina! My friend sells his to a local farmer who runs an organic restaurant - he freezes them and uses them for special "squirrel evenings". Apoparently it tastes lovely.

Not sure I'd like to try it!

[christineredgate]

Ah I remember shillings, Nina! My friend sells his to a local farmer who runs an organic restaurant - he freezes them and uses them for special "squirrel evenings". Apoparently it tastes lovely.

Not sure I'd like to try it!
Steve,have I mis read here,your friend cooks squirrels and passes them off an an organic dish,/delicacy.:h?: If they are classed as vermin,yes,I am aware of that fact,as I tried to get the RSPCA to rescue two youngsters who were trapped and starving,and they did reply that if they did they would have to exterminate them as they were vermin-surely they cannot be offered up as a dish for humans to eat.The more I read re the contents of meat dishes,the happier I am that am a non meat eater.Trying to persuade hubby not to eat Chinese Take aways after hearing about those poor Thai chickens.They were being kept in the most appalling conditions
Christine.
Yes,I know it says the chicken cooked in food is not affected,it is the principle wherein the conditions poor birds are farmed.

[christineredgate]

So it's goodbye red squirrel and thousands of song birds, then?

(Sorry - just being devil's advocate!)..

No your aren't really Steve,you believe that they do pose a threat,and yes perhaps they do.But I still feel a compromise could be reached as to how to deal with the situation,without having to resort to culling and carnage.Imagine the effect it would have on a child to see one of her favourite Beatrix Potter characters suddenly drop dead at her feet,after having been shot in cold blood.
I always tend to look at things from the underdogs side.
Christine

[scampo]

I think Disney has a lot to answer for myself - and I speak as one soft-hearted about animals, too. But "nature is red in tooth and claw" as Tennyson reminded us over a century ago.

I think Beatrix Potter's Squirrel Nutkins is a British red one - don't you? And the idea that the red may be made extinct by the grey? Hmm. It's a difficult one, for sure. Isn't it like feeling sorry for mink even as they devour every last water vole in sight - and most waterfowl, too?

I couldn't cull anything myself - but sometimes, I think these things are necessary.

By the way - I am close to having to be a veggie because of my sympathy for animals - but I also think this: if life is a wonderful thing (and I believe it surely is), isn't it better to eat meat - so long as it is from well looked after animals - and so allow those animals even a few months of wonderful life?

When I see lambs gambolling around the Welsh hillsides and then realise that without meat eaters they wouldn't be enjoying life at all, well - maybe eating meat has some genuine advantages, after all! It's a complex equation.

[seb_seb]

"Imagine the effect it would have on a child to see one of her favourite Beatrix Potter characters suddenly drop dead at her feet,after having been shot in cold blood."


Yes i agree it would be traumatic and maybe disturbing. BUT i dont think thats a valid argument in preventing a squirrel cull- a person will sooner or later see a dead animal (how about a young girl nearly stepping on a roadkill squirrel on the way to school?)
I think a better argument for preventing a squirrel cull - its not long term and , as they are rodents, they will recover in numbers vary fast. It will be impossible to totally eradicate them, and unless there is constantly repeated culls it wont really work will it?

[scampo]

Steve,have I mis read here,your friend cooks squirrels and passes them off an an organic dish,/delicacy.
I'm told so - I don't know if he claims they are organic - but surely they are?

[christineredgate]

I
. Isn't it like feeling sorry for mink even as they devour every last water vole in sight - and most waterfowl, too?

.I keep meaning not to keep adding to this thread ,as it is one of these round and round in a circle things,I only mentioned the Greys as I had been reading about them and seeing squirrels mentioned a couple of times,just thought I'd pop in a few words,i should know better really,but Steve,can't resist a mention re the minks.Yes again,have not they been brought into the country by man,and now look at the havoc they are creating.Also it makes me feel ashamed that in the mid 50's I belonged to an Extreme animal Activist group when I saw the irresponsible actions they took upon themselves by releasing all these creatures.All the good which was done in the 50's and 60's is nowe being undone by some very irresponsible people.
Thank goodness Greenpeace remains level headed.
If you had been born a couple of decades earlier,Steve you would have been a dedicated veggie!!,I gave my Beatrix Potter book away,so cannot remember Nutkins colour.
Thankyou for all the comments,it has been interesting to read the various opinions.
Christine.

[scampo]

My heart agrees with you - but my brain won't let me stop eating (very little!) meat. Also I like the probably flawed argument about allowing life to these farm animals - animals that, without meat eaters, would not even be born to enjoy any life at all.

PS I understand your point, but at least these long threads allow lots of interesting opinions to be aired - great for reflecting on other ways of seeing this overly complex world.

[pauco]

Well said mother Nature has always looked after her own problems, its man thats the trouble!!

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Steve (scampo) said this earlier in the thread:

When I see lambs gambolling around the Welsh hillsides and then realise that without meat eaters they wouldn't be enjoying life at all, well - maybe eating meat has some genuine advantages, after all! It's a complex equation.

Perhaps I should have set up a new thread in RF or elsewhere - but I've been pondering over this since I first read it! Is it better to have a short life and a merry one - or never to have lived at all?

[scampo]

It comes down to what one thinks about life. I think life, however short - if it is consciously and freely lived - is likely to be a very good thing.

Regarding eating meat, it must then be important that farm animals that end up as meat are as well looked after as can be during their shortened lives.

[christineredgate]

Steve (scampo) said this earlier in the thread:

When I see lambs gambolling around the Welsh hillsides and then realise that without meat eaters they wouldn't be enjoying life at all, well - maybe eating meat has some genuine advantages, after all! It's a complex equation.

Perhaps I should have set up a new thread in RF or elsewhere - but I've been pondering over this since I first read it! Is it better to have a short life and a merry one - or never to have lived at all?Elizabeth,yes I think if you want a discussion on the above mentioned topic a fresh thread. I think may be a good idea.I shouldn't really have been talking about squirrel culls on this one,it was just that squirrels were mentioned,and I had been reading about the proposal to cull these creatures.I didn't really want to get into a very in depth discussion,as it is one of those topics where one can go round and round,and if one already has an strong opinion on a subject,then no amount of debating is going to change the way one thinks.,It should be interesting.I would be interested to hear any Vegans comments as to why they do not drink milk. But to my way of thinking milk is a natural product ,but I was guilty of wearing a leather bike jacket and trousers.Tough synthetic ones were not available in those days .Apparently it is because if the cows were not lactating in the first place and producing calves to be slaughtered for beef,then milk would not be produced.I am a quite strict veggie,no fish ,meat or eggs.I saw one of the first battery systems ever to be used in the country,totally barbaric,but there is absolutely nothing wrong with free range eggs,where the hens are happily picking around in the grass.Also in my somewhat misguided view many moons ago,I refused to eat eggs because they should be eventually hatching into chickens,therefore it is the equivalent of eating meat.In actual fact that is not theoretically true.But one sticks by ones principles however silly some of them may be.
I'll keep an eye open Elizabeth,in case you do start a new thread,would be very interested to hear what people have to say.It can be a very harrowing topic,though,if one goes into all the details of animals being transported in inhumane conditions,not to mention what passes for meat in Korea and such places,or even here in our own Chinese eating houses.
Christine.