I suspect rattlesnakes are bird predators. Fortunately I have a rattlesnake predator, old Smokey.
Posted on 12/16/2014 2:52:17 PM PST by saminfl
I live in the Florida panhandle. I have a couple of bird feeders in my yard and I keep them filled. For the last few weeks, I haven't had to add any food. It dawned on me that there are no birds in my yard anymore. I used to have many cardinals along with jays, doves, woodpeckers and all the little ones I am not smart enough to identify.
I thought it was just me, but I had dinner with two of my neighbors the other night and they brought up the subject asking where the birds have gone.
Have any Freepers noticed their birds are missing?
That's what I was referring to........sorry i wasn't clear about it
With that being said, there was nothing normal about the snowfall in New York this fall.......
“Fortunately nature has it’s own cure for the coon population via a naturally occurring virus called “canine distemper”.”
Well, that’s what I mean. The native species may over-predate and cause imbalances here and there, of course. However, they have lived in the ecosystem long enough that there are regulatory mechanisms in place to correct it. When an invasive species comes along, there is usually nothing in place to balance them, and it can take a very long time for anything to develop that can balance them.
“When you have a growing population of subdivisions that is taking over natural habitat...”
Well, anytime you throw man into the mix, you’re not really talking about a natural ecosystem anymore. We are the biggest invasive species of all.
We used to have tons of raccoons. Not anymore. Just a few months ago we had one wander up to the garage door - just all out of it. When I saw it laying there a few hours later and barely moving I whacked it over the head with a hammer and triple bagged it for the garbage man.
I was fortunate growing up that by the time I was able to drive and hunt by myself there was a boom in the rabbit population. Did well on roughed grouse too - I imagine they have a cycle as well.
I suspect rattlesnakes are bird predators. Fortunately I have a rattlesnake predator, old Smokey.
A board angled up a metal trash can with dog food in the bottom will collect quite a few as well.
Yes, they have worked for us tremendously! I sprinkle in a little of the old seed that the mammals liked just till I get rid of it. So far, no one has tried to steal the feeder. We get all kinds of birds - cardinals, chickadees, tufted titmouse, goldfinches, sparrows, wrens, nuthatch, junco. I’ve seen robins and blue jays nearby, but they don’t go to the feeder. We also set out a “simply suet” feeder next to the other, and get the woodpeckers there, including the pileated. Can’t wait to see who visits in the springtime!
Wow, amazing. I would have thought it too cold, but there you have it.
I see a lot of crows
Wow, that dog has some nerve. Most my old dog ever caught was a possum, and he just cornered him, he wouldn’t even get near him.
They’ve migrated to the bottom of the oceans where the warm air is hiding.
Thanks, this is him with a smaller rattler. He was amazing to watch. He was so quick that he could dodge a strike. He also did not kill them the way most dogs do. He would jump in and catch them behind the head and bite down. Most dogs will grab them in the middle and shake them to pieces.
Your crows and everybody else’s must be here visiting then. Last evening I watched a murder fly overhead that must have had over 1500 birds in it. 4 minutes solid of flying crows in a group 20-40 wide, never more than 5’ apart nose to tail. It was WEIRD!
We have a 4 year old Rottweiler who is a bird dog. We waits on the edge of the deck until a bird lands below. Then he pounces on it like a cat. It is sudden death for the bird for it is crushed under the weight of the 120 lb. dog. In the last several months Brody has done it three finches, two doves and one pigeon.
I have only seen crows like that one time before.
It was in a place called “St. John, Kansas”. literally thousands of them.
I’ve lived here for 25 years and this is the first time I have seen all the birds disappear.
Today at my feeder I had
3 Stellars Jays,
over a dozen Oregon Junkos,
several American Robins,
a couple of Northern Flickers,
many house sparrows,
and a couple of striped little sparrow-like birds I haven’t identified yet.
I use an air gun to tweak the tails of any kittehz that try to interrupt the feathered ones. Squirrels get headshots, though.
Not many in East Texas either. My bird feeder was untouched for a month. I thought the feed had mealie worms or something. A few days ago, they began to appear. Mostly Cardinals at first.
Maybe they know something you don’t... they heard it through the “bird grapevine”.
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