fitting help (man's shirt)

Aaarrgghh! "Fortunately", the caffeine should kick in soon...

:-\

Back before I started keeping the cats in the house all the time, I left the cat doors open so they could come and go. One morning, I found cat food paste all over the kitchen. The feeder (one of those tube ones you can fill about once a week) was empty, the water dish looked like mud, and there was this paste of the two all over. A small raccoon apparently had a midnight snack in my kitchen. He had to be small to get through the doors.

Raccoons are extremely clever and have great manual dexterity. My ex-BIL had a Canadian raccoon as a pet years ago, and she was amazing. She had to be confined because there was nothing in the house she couldn't open. One time I recall she sat next to me on the floor and went through my purse, opening and tasting everything.

I don't have the weed problem from the bird food. Nothing grows here unless you put water on it, so I have the feeder over a bare space. Next to it is a place the birds take dust baths. It looks exactly like they do in the birdbath with water, they just do it with dust instead.

When we had the feeder in the tree over the grass, we still got no weeds, but we still have bare spots where the feeder was (we moved it several times) and we are watching and hoping the grass will be able to grow across these spots.

So far I am not feeding the hummers, but I have a monster honeysuckle bush that they like. There seem to be other flowers in the yard to their taste, too, because I do see them flitting about.

My best plants, right now, are those cheapy miniature roses they sell in the grocery store around Mother's Day, etc. When they go on sale, I buy a bunch and put in the border around the patio. They thrive, and right now I have so many perfect little roses in a rainbow of colors it's dazzling. If I head them, they'll keep this up all summer. They do much better than my standard roses and don't require as much maintenance.

Sheila in Canada

Joanne, hummingbirds like red and pink flowers the best; impatiens, phlox, fuschia, and any other flower that has a tube-like blossom.

My husband is a wildlife photographer who specializes > So far I am not feeding the hummers, but I have a monster honeysuckle

Ha! She was a love and a very classy lady. ;-) She was also much larger than the local raccoons in Mill Valley, Ca. When we made her an enclosure out on the deck, she held court out there.

I'm enjoying feeding these denizens of my back yard. They are endlessly entertaining. My scrub jay came to the window today, calling me. It seems that I had forgotten to put out some peanuts for planting. We both enjoyed the ritual that followed when I put out a new supply.

Pogonip wrote: I have two feeders - one with

Do you get woodpeckers? In Indiana, I used to get huge woodpeckers at my suet cakes. They especially liked the peanut flavors, and I even found a recipe online to make my own.

I also used to get hawks, who don't eat seed, at my seed feeders. :(

I have an adorable downy-headed woodpecker and a flicker. They like the suet cakes, and the pressed cake. The flicker seems to like the ants, but I wish he would eat more of them.

I've only seen hawks sitting on top of nearby power poles, and one came off there and picked off a dove. He went into a tall cedar to enjoy that snack, and it "rained" dove feathers for hours. This is a red-tailed hawk. I suppose the feeders attract potential meals, hence the hawk stops by about once a month. Hawks and owls have to eat, too.

We have a lot of woodpeckers here. Good grief! Those that come to the feeder include the Hairy Woodpeckers, Downys, Sapsuckers but only in the winter, Flickers infrequently (they vastly prefer ants), and Red Bellies. Mr. & Mrs Red Belly are coming often right now which likely means that they have a youngster. Last year, they had only one pretty male. My favorites do not come to the feeders despite trying to tempt them with all manner of nuts and goodies. But you can hear them over a long distance making a loud racket with their drumming. One of those Pileateds frequents a tree right across the driveway on the edge of the forest. Pileateds are truly a remarkable sight if you are lucky enough to find them.

This year we also have been lucky to have a pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks at the feeders. He's a real beaut with his brilliant rosy bib. Mother grosbeak has no red but her eye markings are quite striking. She is rather shy and intimidated by the redwing blackbirds and lark sparrows at the feeders but she waits patiently until they've had their fill. I've seen one fledgling male with a slightly pink under-chin. Phae

Oh they do indeed ingest ants... something like 2/3 to 3/4 of their entire food supply. I just love Flickers... they are SO pretty. Ours is the type with the black V on their breasts. Where there are flickers, there are almost always brown thrashers too. I don't know why.

Phae

They are not very shy, are they? ;-) They seem to be good judges about who they can trust, though.

Wow! You have many more varieties than we get here in the high desert. How fun! My handyman reports red-winged blackbirds at his house about a mile away. I have blackbird envy.

The first time I saw a flicker, I broke up laughing. That is a bird who looks like he was designed by a cartoonist. Every time I caught a glimpse of a different part of him, he was like a another bird. It was especially interesting to me to find out he was a flicker, because all the time I was growing up my mother would tell me my room was like a flicker's nest. I had no idea what a flicker looked like, just that he must be very messy!

Phaedrine wrote: One of those

Thats what they were - I couldn't remember the name. They are so big! We had several that came to the feeder daily. We also had the little black and white - I think those are the downy? but those big one are just amazing. I miss my house. :(

I had some friends from Germany visiting my porch, and a little hummingbird came to feed from a flower. It looked like it was the size of a bumblebee. I casually pointed it out, and they were so impressed - just so excited and absolutely fascinated. I saw the hummingbirds all the time, so I guess I was doing something right.

I never did the nectar feeders though - just flowers. They loved the monarda in my yard about the best, I think.

Did I mention I miss my house? Sigh....

I see those here. They seem to prefer fields to forests. I wanted blue birds, but those were field dwellers too.