Hi probably the best place to go is Costa Rica. Easy and cheap to get there ,ground travel is cheap reliable,safe and clean.. You can make it as easy or as difficult as you like since 90 percent of the parks are accesible by bus or private car if you're into mountain driving lol 12 different climate zones in an area the size of West Virginia from permanent frost to permanent tropics in the same day!! Both oceans are visitable on the same day also. Would love to visit S. America particularly Colombia but the political situation in most of S. America is terrible lol Check with the state dept. when planning a trip. A good idea no matter where you're going. Stephania A trip to Madagascar now that would be FANTASTIC!! But certainly not easy o cheap from my neck of the woods lol Love the pix. Can we see some more??? gary

I thought people on this forum would be more sensitive to environmental issues, and even to animal issues (since we are discussing living things, afterall) but apparently I was wrong - nobody seems to be the least bit bothered by comments about shooting cats, keeping dogs chained up (a horrible thing to do to any dog - visit www.dogsdeservebetter.org for more info, although I'm sure that's "opinion" according to some people here), poisoning or drowning rodents (aren't they wildlife, too, and an important part of the food chain at that? what harm are they doing as long as they stay out of your house and/or barn?), starving cats to make them hunt, etc. These are living creatures - whether most people will admit it or not. htown, you are one of the main people expressing "there extreme closed mindedness on this thread" but of course you don't allow yourself to see that because of your own tunnel vision. It seems that's usually the way it goes with people who call others close-minded. What "facts" exactly do you believe on the subject of outdoor cats, and what are YOUR sources for those facts? You claim that the sources other people have given are opinions, or at best, slanted to show a particular outcome. So tell me, where do you find your concrete facts on this subject? Secondly, all the people giving anecdotes about hawks swooping up cats and dogs (including a Boston terrier!) - I don't mean to be rude, but I think you were mistaken about the hawks' intent when you saw them circling over your yards. Pretty much the largest hawk most people in North America are going to find in their area is a red-tail. Red-tails typically weigh around 2.5-3.5 pounds. How do you expect a red tail, evan a large one, to pick up an adult cat, which usually weighs between 8-15 pounds, or an adult dog, which usually weighs from between 5 pounds for even the smallest breeds like chihuahuas, on up the scale? (And by the way, a typical adult Boston terrier weighs around 15-20 pounds.) Granted, hawks will pick up rabbits that weigh just as much as the hawk does (2-4 pounds), but it's a pretty incredible feat for a hawk to pick up something that weighs twice the amount or more that it weighs. Anecdotes like this are part of the reason so many people illegally shoot hawks (notice most people said they just observed the hawk circling around? How do they know that the hawk was thinking, "Hm, I'm going to go catch that dog or cat," instead of "There's a squirrel in that tree that looks tasty,"?). Thirdly, yes, cats and small dogs are frequently killed by coyotes. Coyotes are very opportunistic - they usually go for the easiest thing to scavenge or kill, which is why they are moving more and more into the suburbs, a virtual buffet for them. It's becoming a real problem in some parts of the country, even in places as populated as Cincinnati, OH. As some people have been saying all along, outside cats face dozens of dangers, and coyotes are one of those dangers. jeff_al, you said, "cats can fend for themselves when outdoors unless you thoughtlessly remove their claws" - how do you expect cats, claws or not, to defend themselves against coyotes? And for that matter, how will claws help them defend themselves against being hit by moving vehicles (some people actively try to hit cats, others are just careless and don't care)? And how will claws help a cat survive an encounter with black bears, mountain lions, or large stray dogs (no matter how viciously a cat will fight back, it is NOT going to win in a fight against a cougar, a bear, or a 60+ pounds dog that is determined to kill the cat, and it's also not going to win in any fight where it encounters two or more dogs whose prey drive have kicked in). And how do you expect a cat, claws or no claws, to defend itself against intestinal or external parasites that are everywhere outside, or to defend itself against being poisoned by a small animal that has itself been poisoned or to defend itself from being poisoned by people who set poison out specifically for cats? And how do you expect a cat to defend itself against people like lkz5ia who shoot them? I can understand the frustration with stray cats killing wildlife, but I deal with that by getting animal control out here - that's what animal control is for. The cat does NOT know it isn't supposed to be in somebody else's yard! You can't blame the cat for roaming - it's the idiot owners, but the cats are the ones being punished. Punish the owners by having the cat picked up by animal control - make the owners pay fines until they get the message that cats should stay inside. Fourthly, the people debating about free roaming dogs, dog/wolf hybrids, etc: dogs have been fully domesticated; cats have not been domesticated in the same sense as dogs. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Cats are able to eke out an existence, short and brutal though it may be, on their own. Dogs cannot. That's why you never really hear about packs of feral dogs roaming the countryside. You MAY hear about a "feral" dog or dog pack every once in a while, but in reality, these dogs are often stray former hunting dogs or pets that people dumped, and they're usually nearly starved to death after just a few weeks on their own. Any viscious or erratic behavior they display is usually the result of desperately seeking any kind of food and/or a result of severe diseases (such as rabies, distemper). Dogs do not fare well on their own. Most of them, even the hunting type dogs, have lost the ability to catch enough food to survive in the wild. That's not to say there aren't any dogs that can't survive in the wild - some breeds are better suited to it, especially primitive breeds like the Carolina Dog. But most dogs that even have hunting instincts left at all are bred to track or retrieve prey, but not to actually kill it or capture it themselves in most cases. (Think hounds - they track and then hold prey at bay, but don't kill it; retrievers only fetch what's already been killed; pointers find it and then freeze in place, the result of a neural malfunction in response to the prey drive kicking in which has been bred into pointers over centuries; spaniels which flush prey out for the hunters shoot; and so forth. None of those actually catch it themselves.) Cats are distinctly different in that respect. They have never been bred to manipulate their instincts into some sort of skill that humans wanted - they already had the natural instinct to kill any and all small animals they came across, and that was the only purpose (other than food) that they were kept for for thousands of years. Dogs are an entirely different story; they've been kept for protection, for ASSISTING in hunting, for entertainment (bear/bull/dog-baiting), for companions, for food, for herding, and for all kinds of other things, most of which involved manipulating the prey or pack instincts over generations to obtain the desired behavior. As to the wolves, there are indeed native wolves in North America - actually, ALL of North America, from Mexico to Canada. Most of them have been extirpated from almost all of their range, and most of the distinct subspecies are extinct. Some reintroduction attempts are being made in certain protected areas, but most of these attempts have not been going on long enough to know whether or not they'll be successful. Coyotes have taken over much of what used to be wolves' territory, and are to some degree filling some of the ecological void that was created when wolves were hunted to near extinction or extinction in most places; of course, coyotes are not as big or as strong as wolves, so they can't take down the larger prey that wolves used to (hence the severe deer overpopulation - that overpopulation is partially due to the recent [evolutionarily speaking] lack of wolves and cougars in most areas). I have not had any personal experience with wolves (I have with coyotes, though) but it seems from all the accountants I've read of both species that wolves would actually be preferable to coyotes if you had to choose one species or the other to be around suburban/rural areas (unless you're raising sheep in which case the coyotes are supposedly less of a threat). My understanding is that wolves tend to be shier, try to avoid people, and they hunt for their own food more often than coyotes, whereas coyotes tend to go right into people's yards and will frequently scavenge trash cans, kill people's small pets, and basically make nuisances of themselves. Lastly, getting back to the original purpose behind this topic. The cats will undoubtedly effect the wildlife in your area. How much or how little is variable, and can't be predicted - that's up to the individual cat(s). But as has been pointed out, you can't train the cat to only hunt rodents. It is highly likely, probable even, that the cat will kill the occasional or the regular bird, reptile, insect (grasshoppers, beetles, mantids, butterflies, dragonflies, etc), amphibian, small mammal, and/or fish if there's any water nearby. Several people have already cited specific studies indicating the damage just one cat can do, and several people have also pointed out that individual cats vary in their interest in hunting so I see no point in repeating all they said. All I'll say about that is that I agree with them, it is definitely best for the cat's safety and health and it is probably best for the lives of all the small wildlife in the area to keep all your cats indoors. If you have a mouse problem in your house or barn, then keep the cat confined to your house or barn, and don't let it roam outside. If there's a cat that's decent at hunting in your house or barn, it will soon clear the building of mice and keep them out as long as the cat lives in that building. Putting a cat outside will probably be LESS effective, because the cat will be able to wander over a relatively large area, and will therefore have much more prey to choose from instead of just being able to catch the mice you are targetting. And for God's sake, don't starve the poor cat. That's a horrible, inhumane thing to do, not to mention illegal according to most animal protection laws (nearly any law or ordinance in any county or state is going to require that all pets be given food, water, and shelter as a bare minimum). If the cat doesn't have the instinct to hunt, then don't force it to do so because it's desperate for food. Give the cat food and water every day, and give it attention or at least another cat for company. Cats are actually very social creatures, contrary to popular belief, and most cats like having some human contact and/or another cat(s) around. Remember, this is a living creature that deserves consideration for its mental and physical needs - a cat is not a mouse trap with fur, again contrary to many people's beliefs. You will be responsible for the cat's well being in every single way that entails, if you choose to buy or adopt a cat, and likewise, if you set loose a cat on your property and it kills any wildlife at all, you will be responsible for that, as well. The cat won't be able to kill wildlife if you don't first set it loose and allow it to do so.

It looks to me like you have many, many possibilities for this property, for making a bird garden. Everyone on this forum is incredibly helpful with advice. I also would recommend a book by Stephen Kress, "The Bird Garden," which gives a ton of information, based on each region in the U.S., on how to put together a bird garden that will succeed. He has done 1-2 other books on the same topic, too. Also, just for use as a guide (but it's also fun), check out the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Habitat program. It gives some very basic requirements for a habitat, and if you think along those guidelines I think it's very helpful, it has been for me. Looking at your photos - is the tray with the dish on it for the birds? If it is, it is also a tray for the squirrels - that will be easy pickings for them. I would try a feeder on a tall pole with a baffle below it, or hang a feeder up high from a tree and put a baffle above it, and make sure no tree limbs below that a squirrel can jump from. As anyone here will tell you, squirrels are ingenious. If there is a way to get to that seed, they will. Good luck - I have just been working on this for the first time myself this summer. You have to be patient, I've found, but when you get some things figured out and start having birds visit, it's AWESOME!

More winter sowing going on here. Things that were not even on my list are making it out there, stuff I found laying around... Wild blueberry today and pasture thistle seeds yesterday. Put out a 50 cell tray of Zizia aurea today too. I dunno, the promix I have says "not for use outdoors", so I mixed it 2 parts pro-mix, 5 parts pine bark fines, and added some controlled release fertilizer and put it outside under hardware cloth. I have two more species to sow soon because it says they do best sown outdoors in the fall, any other trays I'll artificially stratify, seed in the spring, and put out under greenhouse plastic with straight promix.