[Slings and Arrows]

OK, folks: A genuine request for help at post #98.

[Bahbah]

Boy, I wish I had a clue what to do about this. I adopted a stray once after it had lurked in the neighborhood for a few weeks, but Rudy was clearly adapted to people and not feral. I have learned from this story, however, to never, ever feed feral cats.

[Lady Jag]

What I did was change the birds' venues. All my feeders are now on pulley-type clothes lines. Some are at a window, so all I need to do to fill it is reel it up close; don't have to go outside. Then I got some squirrel-proof seed and suet feeders. Now, except for hawks, the little birds are doing okay.

Nature takes care of itself. I wish governments would get that clue. After 30 years here in conservation land, I've seen various animal populations change drastically as the

food chain moves on.

We used to get a lot of cats in our backyard till the hawks and gray fox moved in. Now we have no cats, no woodchucks and, finally, the squirrels are gone.

Hawks also moved in, different kinds, some which hunt from the sky, some from trees and some from the ground. It's a zoo. First thing the hawks did was eat all the goldfish in our pond