Feeding critters in the winter

[muleman]

We have a feeder in front of the house where we keep ear corn for deer and doves etc. We also recycle all our parrot and other birds seed for the wild birds. There are quite a few species that come in for the seed and it is funny to see the cats line up and watch them at the patio door. The front yard has a paddock look to it with a whole series of trails coming from different directions to the feeder. I scatter some ear corn around to cut down on the pushing and fighting as the deer compete for position at the feeder. There are at least 4 distinct groups that come at different times of the day. The crows come in till a few of the smaller birds run them off. We even have a few woodpeckers and cardinals hanging all winter. The turkeys have moved down the hollow to roost in the pines and will not be back till they are scared off down there or the snow melts. They eat out of the feeder as much as the deer at times.

 

[snow dog]

you are the animals friend,,, Bless you

 

[muleman]

When the snow gets too deep I take the skid steer and run around in the hayfields and make them some paths so they can browse the alfalfa and clover. They follow them right on up to the feeder.

 

[snow dog]

We want animal pictures

 

[loboloco]

Welfare for wild animals. You have a good heart.

 

[danocheese]

we are feeding baout twenty pails of corn a week to the pheasants. HArd winter for them we have one stop that we walk back into and before we are back to the truck there are ten birds eating.

We did have one perosn who thought they were doing good and dropped a bunch of cob corn next ott he hwy for the deer. We had four cars hit deer one night oneof them was th elocal sherrif deputy.

 

[Bamby]

I've read some controversy on feeding deer corn in many areas of the country. It was mainly around how their digestive system actually changes to what would be natural available food sources for the time of year. In this area they primary browse on the smaller trees eating the tender new growth shoots from the previous summer.

For this fact back when we had the family farm I used to just cut and down selected trees this time of year for next years firewood. It gave the deer browse, wood a head start on drying and it was a bit lighter to handle when I actually cut it and stacked it. So it was a win, win for both me and the deer.

 

[JEV]

People feed critters for their personal viewing pleasure or to fatten them up for the following hunting season. If it were not for people, the critters would get along just fine, regardless of the severity of the season. Mother nature culls out the weak so the strong can produce strong breeder stock in the future. Weak breeders produce weak stock which does nothing good for the general population, and takes away from the resources. It's kind of like welfare rats breeding and making more welfare rats who make more welfare rats. This is how dependency perpetuates itself, regardless which critter is doing the breeding. Left alone to fend for themselves, the strong will survive and the weak will either become resourceful to survive, or die out because the survival instinct has been bred out of the species. It works for all the species. Politicians feed the lazy because it's votes they don't have to work for...kind of like fattening up deer for the following hunting season, only it's for the next election. For welfare dependents the work instinct has been bred out of them, and they just enter the welfare rolls and then perpetuate themselves. When you look at it, feeding birds and feeding people achieves similar goals...it make people or critters come to you for their survival. Now all animal lovers can feel like politicians, and vice-versa.

 

[muleman]

We want animal pictures

 

[snow dog]

Muley,

My hat is off to you sir, thanks for the pictures.

 

[muleman]

Here is a shot of some of the cats watching the birds come in for the seed. They line up and stare them down.

 

[JackieBlue]

I love the word critters and I never use it. I'm gonna start calling my dog "little critter" instead of "little asshole".

 

[pixie]

Nice pictures, Muleman.

I feed the birds and anything else that can get to a porch 14 feet off the ground. It may be messing with nature but so are the cats that wander in every summer and wipe out the squirrels and chipmunks. They don't even eat them.... just hold little funerals... sometimes several a day.

I've nothing against cats and I love dogs but the people that own them are sometimes misguided. Thier pets should not be on my 5 acres. The dogs shouldn't be in my driveway barking at me and thier cats should be kept indoors. JMO

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Quote:Bamby
back when we had the family farm I used to just cut and down selected trees this time of year for next years firewood. It gave the deer browse, wood a head start on drying and it was a bit lighter to handle when I actually cut it and stacked it. So it was a win, win for both me and the deer.
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I do this for the rabbits, moose, deer at my woodlot. Rabbits were girdling the trees at an alarming rate in some places.

 

[muleman]

Well after the last round of snow and ice it is getting hard for the deer to get around so I cleared a few paths for them to use. It also lets them get to the alfalfa under the snow. This morning the first visitors were crows looking for any extra kernels. The snow is running about 16-18" deep with a crust about 2 in. thick. More coming tonight. The mineral block is just barely sticking out of the trampled down snow around the feeder.

 

[muleman]

The wife threw some recycled bird seed from the parrots out on the snow drift on the front deck. Well the birds came along with this guy and his buddy. He rooted out a tunnel under the snow to stash some of the seeds till he came back. They eat their fill and will be back when they are hungry again. He was up on the railing having a stare down with the cat.

 

[snow dog]

nice pictures muley,

you sure have lots of winter critters

 

[JimR]

I hate to say this but Grey Squirrels are nothing short of a country rat. They do however make a great stew and taste just like chicken. Nice photo of the deer. I just put out a mineral block, salt block and 50 pounds of grain today for the deer around me. We have over 2 feet of snow and more in places where it has drifted. There is also a couple layers of ice on it. My dog found a nice 4 point basket rack the other day near the house. The deer were eating our bushes up until two weeks ago when I started to feed them.