Criss crossing rows of seedlings with black cotton is an old way of protecting seedlings, especially peas. But having seen several birds with thread wrapped around their legs which had subsequently atrophied or become deformed and also having seen the damage discarded fishing line can do to waterfowl I would not want to use it. Even nets need to be carefully secured. I once found a blackbird dead in my garden having actually struggled so hard after getting caught in a net that it pulled off its own leg. A sturdy fruit cage is the best solution for bush fruits although it's expensive.

I also just finished reading the thread about dogs. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. I have always considered myself a responsible dog owner and having had small children who played in our yard, I understand the frustration of living in a subdivision with NOT so responsible pet owners. Once I was walking my elderly male dog on a street I had not previously walked and was verbally attacked by a man who was standing in a yard THREE houses down for not picking up after my dog. (he had squatted to pee in the grassy median between the sidewalk and street because he can't lift his leg anymore due to arthritis) I held up my very full cleanup bag and told him that I did indeed pick up after my dog, so he went on to rant about female dogs who burn the grass. As a gardener who is often complemented on the appearance of my yard and plantings, I also understand the effect of repeated application of urine IN ONE spot. My dog very rarely even gets out of our yard and somehow my gardening has not suffered. I went on to tell him that my dog was not female and the fertilizers that he put on his yard probably had more uric acid than the one shot my dog made to the grass in that spot. Of course he was still ranting when I walked away. I don't walk my dog down that street anymore. I often wonder how he manages to controll the wildlife that is frequent in our yards because the subdivision backs up to a state park. We have deer, turkeys, geese, ducks, squirrels, fox, rabbits, coyote and of course birds. The deer in my yard leave bigger piles than my 35lb dog does. If they eat the plants that I plant, I don't plant that anymore or I apply a deer deterrant. I also wonder if he thinks about the pesticide and fungicide applications he makes to his yard that wash into the pond behind his property and are killing the fish. People like that are oblivious to anyone or anything other than themselves. They want to live in a suburban or rural setting but don't want to deal with nature OR neighbors. There is a saying that fences make good neighbors. Some people need to baricade themselves behind a wall with a moat. Perhaps an apartment or a condo would be the best place for them to live. Then of course they would have to deal with other people who play music, walk around in shoes or children who laugh loudly in the next apartment. Some people are just never happy unless they have something or someone to complain about.

I have found 9-pound bags of a mix of mostly millet with some sunflower seed and, I think, safflower seed, at a dollar-type store here called Big Lots. $7 per bag. Birds gobble it up in winter, but in the winter they'll eat anything; in the spring they are picky, kicking out the milo for the pigeons and doves, so I stop feeding them and concentrate on hummingbirds and, this year, suet for Ladderback and Downy woodpeckers. Also I have nyger thistle feeders (both metal mesh feeder and sock feeder) out for our sweet, tiny lesser goldfinches. To complete my first post in this forum, I spotted and got pictures of a male Northern Cardinal this morning, a rare sighting for our area (Albuquerque). A similar male bird (the same one??) was reported a few miles further north back in February. I also photographed a rare Vermillion Flycatcher in April. Maybe more birds are moving into my state -- and I'll have figure out how to feed them if they visit my apartment complex :)

Boy, do I agree with all of you! I've had a lot of the same experiences and done a lot of the things you've suggested. (except for the You-Tube thing, that's funny!) It seems like as soon as somebody learns how to use a computer and how to e-mail people, that's what they start doing. It's the mark of a Newby. I have a cousin that doesn't e-mail me at all anymore because I asked her to stop sending stuff like that. I asked her nice, in much the same was as has been recommended here. Lots of genealogy buddies won't e-mail me at all anymore because I don't want the junk. It's not fair! I'd love to hear from all of them, just not the junk. An old classmate just happily continued sending stuff -- from work, yet -- until I blocked her e-mails from coming to me entirely. She hacked me off. I didn't like her very much while we were going to school with each other. I stole her boyfriend and still she wanted to be pals. --Especially after somebody came along and stole the guy from me! LOL I don't know why people get so insulted when they're asked not to send the junk stuff.