So rehabber should we eradicate them? What about cheetahs? Alligators? Lions? The list could go on and on. I think you need to take an ecology class.

No, they are magnificent and to be admired for their beauty, cunning and strength. The issue I have is with these people who set up cameras at nests so the public can watch while live prey is ripped to shreds. The indifference to suffering is disturbing and these animals cause a great deal of not only suffering but terror. I've seen it here, in my garden, where literally all day long numerous hawks perch and perch and perch. Parents trying to feed young cannot feed them or themselves. There was a study done by a university that concluded that constant predator presence takes a toll on birds to the point where less eggs are laid, those that hatch often become sickly and die due to lack of food and the parents are under-weight and unable to withstand illness or extreme weather. Too many predators ruin an ecosystem. I would like to see concentrations distributed or managed by experts. And by management, I mean egg destruction or whatever is done to keep populations at a certain level. Songbirds are in decline so they should be getting a little help, not indifference with webcams designed to encourage the viewing public to idolize raptors.

As for your ecology class comment, as always, I don't care what you think. You keep commenting as if I should. Good luck on that one pal.

Well as an expert I can tell you if you are having all these issues then you must have 57 bird feeders out in your yard and I bet the 37 cats that you have around are not helping with the song bird population either. Outside cats are taking out a huge percentage more song birds than birds of prey.

https://youtu.be/_Gtc-GtLlTk

I know this may come as a shock but I don't consider you to be an expert and claiming that you are, on a forum, isn't going to convince anyone else either.

As for feeders, I have 9, some hidden in shrubs but some are exposed due to defoliation in winter. When we got 2 1/2 feet of snow, I sprinkled some seed under a hedge which I'm in the process of cleaning up but I'm sure that has been noticed by hawks. As I said in previous posts, which you seem unwilling to read, we are in an area that is saturated with hawks due to living near a golf course and large park.

Until I can get evergreens planted that will hide feeders, my property will attract hawks unless I remove all feeders which I don't feel is right given that we are still in the Winter season. I am considering stopping all feeding for a time and am definitely removing nest boxes to prevent loud, non-native house sparrows from using them. House sparrows attract hawks and other predators like no other bird. They use them for roosting at the moment so I again, do not feel it is right to remove them just yet.

As for stray cats, we started feeding 2. One, a female, continued to hunt despite being fed regularly. We took her to the vet, gave her shots and brought her indoors but because of her age, she declined due to an illness and we eventually had to euthenize. Another, a male, does not hunt if provided with food so we feed him regularly at the same time every day and he lives under our shed on an outdoor heating pad. He is quite content. If cats that are feral become a problem here, I have no problem trapping and euthenizing.

You should really ask questions first rather than blurt out statements that don't apply.

Update on how to 'solve' the hawk problem. From what I've learned, a bird-eating hawk will relentlessly attack if it can see it's prey. Solution: to feed birds, you will have to hide them from you and hawks. I plan on cladding a structure or two with opaque plastic or 1/4" treated plywood with a few small openings for birds the size of a cardinal or smaller to get in. A falconer told me that a sharp shin can't get through an opening around the size of a chain link fence opening. I think slightly bigger, about 1/4" in each direction, would be ok so that cardinal fits inside. Also, make the exits so they are up against cover like dense bushes that can't be slammed into by a sharp shin or create mesh tunnels for birds to get through to access the feeding area. Put a bird bath and some branches inside and the birds should be pretty safe. With birds eating inside, the sharpie should go elsewhere. They may wait around but usually these birds need a morning meal. The colder the temps, the more desperate they are to eat and get some energy so if they can't see or access their prey easily, they will likely leave and find some unlucky bird elsewhere.

As for red tails, I know that woody cover is the best deterrant in the form of hedges that connect to each-other and lead to thickets (dogwood and viburnum shrubs, blackberry thickets, tall native grasses and fast growing climbing roses left to form large mounds. Paul's himalayan musk is a good choice. Multiflora rose is excellent cover but is invasive so if you grow this plant, try to trim the rose hips and rake up as many as possible to avoid birds eating and distributing seed. Encourage neighbors to plant more evergreens and thicket producing shrubs like those mentioned above and have the hedges connect to each property to allow movement of wildlife. You can't save 'em all but with humans taking 6000 acres per day in this country alone and replacing wildlife habitat with large expanses of useless green lawn with little to no cover or food, wildlife will need some help or, we will lose our wildlife.

Has anyone had any success with flying a drone to scare the hawks away?

I don't think the person was saying they hate hawks. They just enjoy being closer to nature & feeding the "critters" is a nice way to relax & "connect". I do the same. I also have a very hungry hawk who has brass balls lol - I have tried everything to scare him away. I don't want him to starve to death but, I do wish he'd move on (way better places than my backyard) for him to hunt/eat where I live. I feed squirrels (a lot of friends of mine & family call them little rodents) I happen to think they're adorable. They are almost all injured at this point from this one Red-Tailed hawk. I finally found out a way to make him leave my yard. I play Great horned owl sounds continuously on my phone & he gets freaked out & leaves. He comes back but, not too often. I also yell at him so now he seems to associate me & the owl sounds & it's all to much "work for him" he moves on - I continue to feed multiple birds - chipmunks -& squirrels. Anyway, that's what worked for me. Good luck! & everyone should be nicer to each other.....jeesh. Peace out -

& p.s so far as my having "too much time on my hands" I'm a full-time 24/7 nurse & there is a lot of down time. I relax by sitting out on the patio & just enjoy the antics that go on.

I just got a good idea reading these posts. Since someone keeps mentioning being there so there won't be an attack. Get a life sized (what do you call those) um..a picture of Hillary Clinton - on one side of the yard & Trump on the other....Obama in the middle...Maybe it'll confuse all ....iyiyi

I finally found out a way to make him leave my yard. I play Great
horned owl sounds continuously on my phone & he gets freaked out
& leaves.

Great Horned Owls are one of the few predators that will kill and eat a red-tailed hawk ... this could work for some people.

Maybe it's a silly question. Could a hawk learn to take food from a human ? Pieces of chicken bought at the supermarket, or frozen/thawed rats from the pet store ? Hawks too seem to have generally a hard time getting a meal.

You could, perhaps, but then the hawk would not be wary of humans and would get killed by some jerk.

Thank you lazy_gardens, yes I understand

Hawks always prefer live prey to carrion. I doubt they would accept a carcass unless it's deep winter, temperatures are cold enough and they've haven't fed in a while. If anyone ever does this, Winter would be when it is most needed. Be sure to use a reputable seller of frozen rats or whatever you purchase. The last thing you want to do is put out something that harms a hawk.

As for hawks losing their fear of humans, the hawk would likely wait until you go in before approaching the carcass so it's doubtful they would ever get used to you enough to lose it's fear of humans.

Thanks rehabber46

Not in NYC, Robert. Especially the red-tailed ones

Robert, I'm afraid you are misinformed. Redtails are thriving in our human landscaped environments because it exposes prey. Few people fill their chemically treated green lawns with native evergreens, thicket producing shrubs and flora. They add the super canopy trees and occasional shrub though, allowing little cover for the prey animals to survive. Perfect scenario for a hunter. I see them for what they are.. extremely intelligent, talented, and amazing.. but the end result is that they kill and while their numbers are growing, at least some of their prey numbers are shrinking (cottontail rabbits, some birds and certain rodents). You should google that. I'd also recommend you google 'hawk attacks dog' and educate yourself on the growing complaints in recent years. What anyone here thinks of hawks is irrelevant. The end result is what I look at and I'm seeing more hawks growing and killing while some prey animals are shrinking. Not a good scenario long-term.

I was reading that regarding endangerment hawks are considered 'of least concern' . Also certain species of hawks can lay , each time, up to 6/7 eggs . Red-tailed I think 3/4 each clutch. So if we do the math. Other birds don't lay as many. Maybe Rehabber46 can explain better....

Hawks aren't outnumbering other birds by any means. Some ducks lay 7-14 eggs due to the high level of predation. Hawks generally average about 3 or 4. You have to consider that most of the juveniles wont make it (mortality is about 70%, give or take, for juveniles due to starvation in their first year). However, the meat-eaters have to eat daily so one hawk can cut into the population levels of it's prey quite considerably. Multiply that by a growing raptor population and this is how you get the 'decimating wildlife' scenario that started this thread. Look, hawks are to be admired for their abilities. There's no question. But when there are people who glorify hawks while ignoring the suffering they cause to their prey, and when the government doesn't do more to encourage homeowners to create more protective habitat, this is where I have a problem. At the moment, there is an eastern cottontail population crash going on where I live. We must have had hundreds of rabbits in our neighborhood and I'm not talking just the immediate streets but half a mile or more radius. We've had peregrine falcons, broadwing hawks, coopers, redtails and goshawks preying on them daily. They're succeeding.. because it's a human designed neighborhood. Any few hedges existing are single row only, affording no extra barriers to allow escape and few evergreens mixed in to help hide them. It's a nightmare. This is what I have a problem with. People need to even the playing field a bit with 4-plant deep, connecting, entwined, twiggy hedges and vines mixed in, evergreens and twiggy deciduous dogwoods, viburnums, etc. I saw rabbits running around in confusion not knowing where to go because no good cover was available. My yard is the only one close to good cover and it isn't close enough. I ended up placing wood pallets and plywood over logs to try to help (ugly but temporary as all the rabbits are almost gone) but the smaller hawks get along side the pallets and grab from the sides. Just a horrific nightmare scenario and it's because of humans. I did dislike hawks but they have no choice but to eat meat. Humans have a choice to plant more and help wildlife, but they don't.

There are a small number of raptors that are considered endangered, such as the American Kestrel. Most, however, are growing rapidly so I hope that anyone reading this will consider that 4 (native) plant deep hedge with vines entwining throughout.

I have been reading the comments above regarding hawks and I find some of them to be rather sad. The underlying problem is not the hawks but humans. We have, for decades, encroached on their natural habitat with deforestation, and our luxury homes, shopping centers, business centers, and parking lots. We have pushed them out of their homes and now we want to get rid of them for intruding in ours. Hawks haven't changed their eating habits or their prey. Song birds, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels have always been on the menu. It is just unbelievable to me to hear someone make them out to be these relentless, cold blooded murderers of the sky, that swoop in stealing babies from their nests while their mothers scream out in terror. They are doing what they are genetically predispositioned to do. Hunt for their food, kill their food, and eat it.

There are many people who feel the same way about snakes. Hawks, just like snakes, are opportunistic. If they see something they know they can catch and eat, they will not turn down that opportunity. Snakes don't lurk around in dark places just waiting for some unsuspecting human to come by so they can jump out and bite them, and hawks don't fly around looking for someone's nice little garden, with lots of bird feeders, just so they can get an easy meal.

Predatory birds also help keep the rodent population in check. Just think, a female house mouse is capable of giving birth to over 300 pups in their 18 month life span. A female rat can have a litter of 10 to 12 pups every 3 to 4 weeks. So with about 17 litters a year, you could have 170 to over 200 rats in a year. Having bird feeders is an attractant for rats and mice. They like to eat the seeds that fall to the ground and love when people just throw loose seed under bushes, and will set up nests near by to get to the seeds. Imagine how quickly our homes would be overrun if their were no natural predators around.

You can't pick and choose which predators you will give a pass to just because they don't come in your back yard, or because you can't see them using their natural instincts to hunt and kill their food.

I appreciate the frustration when something you have enjoyed for years is becoming less and less enjoyable. I also understand how easy it is to become angry and do something that may not be for the best. There are solutions to these problems that have the best interest of both human and animal in mind. We created these problems, it's time for us to be part of a beneficial solution and not the continuation of destructive behavior.

.

Monica, I could be wrong but I believe your criticisms are directed toward me. I did see countless attempts by juvenile redtail hawks to steal babies from nests. When I wrote those posts, I was fairly new to the hawk vs prey world. I don't feel quite the same. Like you, I do feel that humans are to blame for what is happening. We have all changed the landscape and not for the better for prey animals. Right now, I'm watching an eastern cottontail population crash. Because of the total lack of cover in most yards, the numerous types of hawks are easily able to catch rabbits of all sizes. It's the saddest thing to watch this occur and there isn't anything I can do about it. The hawks (and falcons) chose my neighborhood because it's an old one with massive trees and little below to provide thick cover. My yard has the most connecting hedges but they are only one or two plants thick which doesn't afford rabbits enough cover to avoid detection or those talons. Like most people, I didn't consider animals or birds when planting our gardens. I am researching plants that may be suitable for a 'thicket' of hedges and am considering burying pipe that they can move through if the thickets are ever trimmed or removed by the next owners but my neighbors may want no part of it. I have yet to ask. This year, our gardens had hundreds of lightning bugs yet none of my neighbors had any. We have the most wildlife in the area but we still didn't have enough for the poor rabbits. Very sad really but I agree with you, humans are to blame, not the predators who are merely taking advantage of the impact we have had on the landscape.

I've been in touch with a local conservation group in my area. I'm considering buying native bulk bare root plants and offering them this Fall to homeowners for free. It would be under the affiliation with this conservation group in the hope that homeowners will add more plantings to their garden. I can't think of anything else to do except try to encourage planting for food and cover.

I want to add one more comment to this issue of hawks, in particular, redtails. They absolutely hunt for sport. There are so many rabbits displaced by stupid construction that they find it irresistible to 'play' with their food. They and other hawks take the rabbits to one particular spot, chase them around, carry them to different areas, etc. I hear those rabbits screaming at all hours of the day and night as they're toyed with. When food is this abundant, those hawks are evil. I would never trap or hurt one but I'd never save one if it was in trouble either.

That's the way most likely how the hawk parents, especially red tails, show their young ones how to survive. Nest cams show this also happening when hawk parents carry different small size preys still alive, but inoffensive, to their nests . Yes it is very cruel to our eyes, but that's how it is....unfortunately.

There's an unusual scenario/phenomenon playing out here. I doubt it's ever been documented. There are redtails, peregrines, broadwings, goshawks, coopers, eagles and possibly others seemingly tolerant of each other and almost working together to guide lots of displaced rabbits into a particular spot. Once there, the smaller hawks that can get into the spaces near rabbits and grab them. The bigger hawks will grab some not in good cover and will also use their size to smack their talons against whatever object they are hiding underneath. They take them across the street where there are lots of tall trees and little cover below. They seem to enjoy chasing them around. Lots of screaming with periods of silence as the rabbits try to hide. Then, I hear an incredibly loud chorus of cries as God knows what is happening. My guess is they are all swooping down on them, juveniles and adults, and carrying them away to be killed. I've heard rabbits voices screaming as they're carried away so many times I've lost count. There has been construction of farms in our area lately and with the population explosion the last 3 yrs or so, many rabbits have been displaced and in trying to go to the local Park, have been intercepted along my road. It's the most horrific thing I've ever heard. Like I said, I'd never seek to harm a hawk but I sure as heck wont help one if I ever see one in trouble. They are talented, swift and cunning but evil to the core, enjoying every bit of terror they cause.

I wish for some hawks...I have a rabbit population explosion in our town. Squirrels are incredibly bold as well. Hawks for the balance! :)

Why hate on rabbits? Their numbers aren't as abundant as they used to be 30 yrs ago. They're not deemed 'threatened' but there's been a 30 yr decline in lagamorphs world-wide as well as songbirds, amphibians and other wildlife. Be careful what you wish for, folks.

I'm not sure about your last sentence, it might be just our interpretation of what is just their instinct, and behavior. They just act without judgement. But thank you for describing the scenario. Many birds too scream. Sometimes their mother follow the hawk in desperation when they grab their chick. I've seen it and heard it , and it just stayed with me. Pigeons don't scream, but I was able to free them when it happened under my eyes, as I love pigeons, and I can't bare the sight of them being trapped. I often ask myself why nature works this way, but there is no answer....it just does. I sometimes wonder if it means anything spiritually, or metaphysically.....

I'm not sure about the meaning.. rather, it's just survival. One life form lives off another. But when there is killing without purpose, or terror just for pleasure, and keep in mind that this has been going on for months right here in front of me, I hate to say, I'm back to hating hawks. Not all hawks as I've seen some who are just about the business of survival. They only take what they need.. but the hawks that are here right now are vile. I have no intention of ever feeding wildlife again after such an experience.

Rabbits can be cute...but when you can go out in your yard and see up to three in one tiny city yard....it's too much.

I'm a gardener, and I don't appreciate the loss I take on plants due to rabbits shearing things off. I wish for something to eat them rather than them eat everything I buy.

I get it, I'm a gardener too (although given that rabbits are hiding here constantly, I can't weed, trim or do anything). There's a bigger issue that we all need to think about. Our wildlife is dying. Why? Because they're inconvenient to us. We encroach on their habitat, erect huge buildings with little to no native cover nearby and then get pissed off when the only habitat they have to turn to is our gardens where we don't want anything touching our plants. My solution is to buy plants they'll eat and that will grow back quickly. These plants distract from the ones I want to save. Also, buy plants that are less palatable to them but for the sake of future generations who may want to experience seeing rabbits in their gardens, please try to be tolerant of rabbits and all wildlife.

That may be true where you are, however, rabbits are ubiquitous and abundant in Arkansas. In some years they are simply every where...then of course predators typically increase in numbers, and they get less. However, most of the predators dont' thrive as well as the rabbits in towns/cities.

Being abundant in pockets within a State doesn't indicate they are stable or not declining. It just means there's a pocket of rabbits that have gone unnoticed. The problem is, there are fewer and fewer thickets for them to hide in. As soon as they're noticed by predators, it's all over. As I type, a juvenile rabbit was just taken. Two minutes ago, a mature rabbit was taken. Despite me burying pipes in the ground to hide them, having some small brush piles and more hedges than anyone else, it's not enough. They need thick, thick cover. Welcome to human disruption of the environment. We are the problem. Off the topic sort of, I just heard that the western lifestyle is causing men to create less sperm at such a fast pace that this will begin to impact population growth of humans. Here's hoping.

I can often see a half dozen rabbits in yards on my street. They sit out there and are completely unwary. I can usually walk to within 4 feet of a rabbit while it sits happily eating and/or immobile thinking it's hiding on the mowed lawn. Often I will see two in my front yard (not together) at same time. The yards in the area are about 30x15.

Now, if they were vorpal rabbits (fantasy) that ate meat by chasing down small critters, I'd worry less about their foraging.

I do have to admit that the rabbits are being well behaved this year (on their foraging), by mainly eating lawn clover. I do not begrudge them that, I'd just have to mow it anyway. But in winter and drier years, they're a gardening nuisance.

I've never seen a predator take one, though I'm sure it does happen. Baring that, I welcome you to come trap and remove precious rabbits from my environment :)

Trapping and relocation for rabbits and many other wild animals doesn't usually go too well. They don't know the safe areas, they don't know the lay of the land and they don't know where to find food and water. We just all need to stop getting our knickers twisted over the flowers being eaten and fence it off or buy something the rabbits/groundhogs/whatever doesn't like as much. Distraction plants are a good method of saving the plants you like too. Something to consider.

All the same, I welcome my new raptor overlords into the neighborhood. I always did like hawks and eagles. I have a number of pieces of native american art depicting eagles in the living room.

I welcome balance. What I'm witnessing here isn't balanced, it's a population crash. Some predation is to be expected but these hawks seem to enjoy the hunt so much that it becomes cruel and unnecessary. Hunting for food is one thing but hunting for sport when the animal killed is wasted is quite another. As for admiring hawks and eagles, they are to be admired. I just don't like the ones that are here right now. Also, I personally prefer owls. Great horned, great gray and barred owls in particular but all owls are pretty cool.

Yes, I admire owls, but I don't see much of them, only very occassionally hearing one call. When I lived in Oklahoma, I'd regularly get the stuffing scared out of me, when I went out after dark and a GHO would sail over my head (having taken off from my pine grove). In Houston, it seemed like almost every night there was a family of GHOs that would light on the high power lines (of all things) and sit there observing for movement.

I agree with balance, and Nature shall provide balance, when the rabbit population (and other prey) crashes, the raptor population probably will as well. Hopefully in my area, the raptor population is building. I do see a lot of (or a lot of one) smaller hawks, like coopers. I have seen a pair for the last year or so, they call back and forth quite a lot.

Coopers hunt rabbits but their focus will mostly be birds unless the rabbit population explodes. Then it seems every raptor focuses solely on rabbits. I'd bet your rabbits wont go undetected for too much longer. The rabbits here were discovered in the Fall when a family of redtails overwintered here. They only hunt rabbits and must be known for this because other raptors arrived in the Spring that I'd never seen before. They must all know that where these redtails are is where tons of rabbits are. So it's just a matter of time until pockets of high populations are found. Hopefully rabbits in other places are doing well because I've got the raptors from hell here.

I see a bountiful number of rabbits every time I drive the country road (20 miles away) where my father lives. We have no shortage, I tell you. But that may not be the same in other states.

Causing wild animals to concentrate at feeding stations can result in disease outbreaks.

Agreed. I never want to feed wildlife of any sort again no matter what the weather is like. It's messy too. I have seen disease here despite my best efforts to change water in birdbaths, bleach feeders, dropped seed areas, etc.. a concentration of anything is bad for wildlife. On another note, moderator, where did the last couple of comments go? If you are removing them, can you explain why? This isn't the first time I've noticed this and the comments aren't just mine. Is there a problem that I/we should be made aware of?

I've not actually noticed comments disappearing from above? Not saying they aren't, of course. I would be inclined to say it would be more likely for some backup/restore combination to have impacted it, than a hypothetical moderator? Do we have one ? (would be news to me)

Ok, maybe I commented on another thread and am getting them confused but I've noticed this before with comments I've made in the past. It's a shame if that's the case. I'd rather someone write to me and let me know what the problem is rather than just remove comments so I can repeat whatever wasn't appreciated.

Red tailed hawks are not 'decimating wildlife.' That's what HUMANS do. Leave nature alone, because there are checks and balances that are in play that humans have NO BUSINESS messing with. The birds aren't 'gone.' The birds have moved to another area because they know the hawks are there.

Imagine your neighborhood overrun with squirrels and rats. I love all of nature, but an imbalance of anything causes problems, and disease can run rampant without nature's checks and balances.

The hawks are being hawks. That's it. The birds will return when the hawks hunt elsewhere, which they eventually always do.

People eat chicken, fish, cow, pig, duck, goose, LAMB, etc. Heck, some people eat squirrel (not me). We humans... are the greatest predators on earth.

ellaboobella, you are incorrect. The cards are stacked against prey species because of human interference with the environment. There is next to no cover in most neighborhoods that adequately protect prey species. I agree with your statement about imbalance and humans but the original post about wildlife being decimated can be very true because of the reasons already given - we have made the natural environment into a sparse, barren one with little to no cover. This gives predators an unnatural edge.

I understand what you're saying, rehabber46 and agree with most of what you said. My issue with the original statement is that it's honestly incorrect. I believe that if hawks were literally "Decimating" a neighborhood that the local news would be on it, at the very least. I'm completely with you on human impact on natural environment, and in that respect I truly believe the word "Decimated" is correct, and the cards are definitely stacked against them. This is why I don't interfere with nature, and I don't chase hawks out of my yard. We have tons of native plants, shrubs, trees that border our front and back yard, and we only plant native when we add anything to the mix. We don't use chemicals on our lawns, etc., we take great care not to over-light our yards at night.

As for the hawks and the birds.... when our resident hawks show up, the birds flush, then they leave for a while. Eventually, the hawk decides on another area to hunt and watch for prey... then the birds return. And we have several hawks that we see almost daily here, large and small. I'm just saying... I doubt that the bird or squirrel population is, or will be, wiped out due to a few hawks. And if they were in a certain area, the hawks would move on to somewhere else, and the life cycle of birds and squirrels would continue.

On the flip side, if people don't have or aren't planting shrubs etc to give birds cover from predators... that's also a problem. I say, give birds a chance (natural cover from predators) and let nature take its course. Nature, in the end, usually wins anyway.

We aren't all that different in our opinions. In recent years, I've made tons of errors when it comes to trying to interfere with nature etc but now agree with your point of view entirely, about not interfering. The best course of action is to plant things that provide cover. I will soon be working on a garden plan that will hopefully not only provide several layers of cover, but hopefully be pleasing to look at and low maintenance. I hope to start in the early Spring. My yard is a disaster at the moment but it wont be that way for much longer. I wish I could say that neighbors around me were interested in planting for wildlife but you and I are in the minority there. Most yards are bare and manicured with almost no cover and most people like it this way. Unless people's views of beauty and landscape change, wildlife will continue to decline which means less of everything really. I've been told by a professor that 6000 acres of land is taken per day within the U.S. Where are animals supposed to live as we greedy humans take their homes? Don't they have a right to live too?

It's sometimes a process, rehabber46, just learning (sometimes the hard way) what to do or not do. I see it all around me, the destruction of habitat as the city encroaches on the more 'wild' part of a county. People fleeing the 'city' move into portions of the county that were basically flattened and stripped of trees and shrubs, acres of it. Makes no sense to me, to be honest.

Those bare and manicured yards are often kept that way with pesticides. Heck, we don't even spray for mosquitos. We just let the bats do the job for us. Right now, my yard is covered in tons of leaves. Many people don't know this, but some 300 species of insects (butterflies, moths, native bees, etc) overwinter in leaves, many of them attached to the very things most rake, mulch, mow, and clip away. Leaving leaves on the lawn, undisturbed, means far more beautiful and beneficial insects in the coming spring, and it also means more food for the birds as well.

We've planted 2 plots of garden for hummingbirds and butterflies (and bees of course), and we've also planted native shrubs (additional ones to those already out there) for birds. American Beautyberry was our most recent. We have oaks that drop an abundance of acorns, several black cherry trees, maples, pine, and tons more. Even holly is beneficial to birds. As long as it's native, it's beneficial. As they say... fresh food, water sources, and shelter (for protection against predators and nesting), and you'll be helping nature thrive.

Honestly, it's a lot less yard work when the shrubs are left 'scrubby' and the leaves are left until the temps are back into the 50's consistently, when raking is less harmful to what's overwintering in those leaves.

I see more and more people going for the 'cottage garden' or 'wild garden' look for both just landscape.. and even vegetable gardens. I prefer the more messy and wild gardens than the sterile landscapes of most suburbs.

This past year there was so much rabbit hunting that I didn't go out into the yard to weed or trim. It looked pretty bad. I also forbid my husband to mow as often because each time he did, he'd flush a rabbit and soon after, we would hear it scream as it was caught. So the grass was a bit longer and things were untidy. My husband and I went for a walk at dusk one night over the Summer. We did a few loops around some of the streets and then walked back. During our walk, not one firefly was noted in any of the yards. As we approached our yard, we noticed a gradual increase of fireflies until we entered our yard through tall evergreen trees and then, there were literally hundreds all signalling to each other. It was amazing and beautiful - our own 'light show'. Also this past Summer, while the yard was a mess, we noticed so many more caterpillars, beautiful blue darners and other dragonflies, butterflies, moths and our resident bats. These are not found in other yards, just ours. The challenge for me is to create habitat that is both functional for wildlife but beautiful and low/no maintenance for future owners. What early nectar sources do you plant for native bees? I've had trouble finding some that are early enough. I have some non-native plants that were put in before I was aware of the native benefits and we do have some holly trees that are fairly early but not early enough. If you know of a great early nectar source that is native, I'd be very interested.

I wish I could get about 10 hungry hawks in my back yard. We are overrun with squirrels and they tear up the trees, furniture, eat the birds eggs and scare them off!!! It makes me so mad when my neighbors feed them peanuts and keep them coming!!!