Thank you so much. Fantastic ! Then it stays ! Welcome Monarchs (although one little caterpillar would barely last a day on this, right ?) If I wanted to transplant it do you think I'd have any success ? How long should I wait to place it where it can self seed with abandon ?

A really big evening primrose... I saw some on the way home along the ditches that looked really big..... The ones in my yard stay smaller... Maybe there are different varieties?? Hopefully someone will chime in that knows

Oh dear! I was hoping that it wasn't the air potato because I've heard how invasive they were. Now the real battle begins...trying to rid my yard of them. Thanks again to u both!

I've handled raptors including hawks and owls. Birds are smart for birds, but don't have the traditional type of intelligence we associate with pets like dogs or cats. The birds get used to being handled if done properly but it's not something they ever relish. I have never known a raptor handler who didn't have a LOT of respect for the animals. Do it wrong and you will injure yourself in a nano-second, those talons are not toys. The hawk handlers I know of rotate their animals to reduce stress. that is key!! Of course the people I worked with were wildlife rehabbers, not folks who hunted with raptors. However, I'm not anti-hunting so I don't even have a problem with using raptors for hunting. If you're trying to score a lot of game, that is not an efficient situation in Great Britain today. It's a long way from hunting for fox fur in Mongolia. So even if they did hunt with them, they are probably just doing demo hunts to keep the tradition alive. So not a lot of little bunnies or foxes will get killed. Your average housing development kills far more animals . . . I would make sure there are other fun things to do in the area I was visiting. The idea of combining a raptor experience with birdwatching and visits to hawk habitat is a cool one, IMHO. Working with raptors was an amazing experience. I already had a lot of respect for the animals and having them as educational "partners" when I did the raptor programs, was wonderful. I really became so fond of the birds. Respecting the birds stress level, as I said before, is key. They are wild birds, they don't love being petted or handled, but they can tolerate proper handling for your sake and the sake of forever protecting their habitats, which is the real end game for reputable raptor programs. But don't kid yourself, it's not gonna be "fun" for the birds. Tolerable, it's like a "job" for them that they don't particularly like but it pays the bills and keeps the dead mousies on the table. They won't miss you when you're gone, although they won't necessarily hate you when you're there either.