To Feed or Not to Feed - Wildlife in Winter

Feeding wildlife (or not) in winter months is a subject often discussed but never fully resolved. There is no real hard and fast answer. A recent article in the Tribune suggested feeding wild birds in winter helps them survive and gave numerous artificial feeding methods and foods to use.

Those suggestions will not help wild birds survive our winters because they are un-natural solutions, with no basis in science. They complicate things by encouraging wild animals to become dependent on insufficient diets.

Woodpeckers for example, do need fats and proteins in their diets but not those found in commercially prepared suet. They need animal protein from insects – not rendered cow fat. 75% of a Downy Woodpeckers winter diet consists of insects and other larva that winter in tree bark. Woodpeckers spend days foraging on specific trees digging out these pests, some of which are harmful to the trees and to farmers crops.

As human beings, we want to believe we are doing good things for wildlife - that we’re helping them. Leaving food out for wild animals, does not allow them to be wild, nor fend for themselves. More birds have likely become ill and died, than have survived, due to misguided feeding by humans.

Feeders are left outside, rain or snow. The contents routinely become soaked and can quickly mold. If just one sick bird feeds there, it leaves bacteria that thrives in that moisture behind, and passes that on to other birds who visit. Suet can become rancid very quickly. The type and quality of seeds we place in feeders is dubious at best; the majority of such seed mixes are corn based. That may be nutritious for some species but is not suitable for all. Feeding breadcrumbs is unwise. Bread is not a part of any bird’s natural diet in the wild – have you ever seen a bird in a grocery store buying bread? Bread contains preservatives and additives that may be harmful to these fragile creatures. You may feel rather noble in thinking you’re doing good, but are you really? The diet you’re providing may be very inadequate for optimum health.

Spilled birdseed, breadcrumbs and the likes, attracts all manner of other wildlife to the area. They may not be so desirable to have in your backyard and not quite as cute as the birds you want to watch. Those living near you will not enjoy the mouse and rat parade under those feeders, if spilled seed is not promptly cleaned up. Nor will you (or the neighbours) be thrilled when those rodents start looking for a place to call home as winter approaches.

There’s another detriment to feeding wild birds that causes high mortality and that’s death by cat. Attracting birds to your yard also attracts all the free roaming pet cats in your area and possibly some feral cats as well. People think that because Fluffy has a bell on his collar all birds will hear it and fly away safely, are mistaken. Parent birds do not teach ‘bell avoidance’ to their offspring. It’s just not part of the repertoire in raising their young. The same people think that because Fluffy is well fed, he couldn’t possibly leave their yard, or go after any birds or small mammals. Too many people are irresponsible pet owners and allow their cats to roam freely without thinking for a moment what those cats do to native wildlife. If you care about Fluffy - keep him inside.

Wild animals survive through a natural process not controlled by human beings. Food sources don’t disappear just because it’s winter. Wildlife is genetically programmed and hard wired at birth - as they mature, they instinctively know how to forage for food and find shelter. Those unable to do so, or who are imperfect in some way, will not make it, regardless of what we do. That is the way of nature.

If you truly want to help wild birds, learn about the species native to your area, the types of plants, shrubs, grasses, and trees that support those birds. Grow those. You will attract these beautiful species, naturally. For non-migratory songbirds, these plantings provide food through the winter months. Provide shelter with tall, thick shrubbery in a corner away from prevailing wind so they can utilize this in inclement weather. Make sure these areas are cat proof.

If you do decide to put out bird feeders, don’t fill them on a daily basis. Do it on an intermittent and unreliable basis so you don’t cause the birds to become dependent. Empty them weekly, and scrub in hot soapy water with a bit of bleach to disinfect them then rinse twice more. Dry naturally.

Artificial feeding of wildlife causes major imbalances in nature. Birds may remain in the area because they have become dependent on handouts, habituated to humans and rather than migrating, they stay. Evidence of this is available - just go to the Welland River near the aqueduct. Artificial feeding also invites other species to the area that may predate on the very birds you want to enjoy. Make your choice wisely.

Mary-Catharine Kuruziak is a member of the Tribune Community Editorial Board and manager of Niagara Wildlife Haven. Their website is at www.niagarawildlifehaven.org

(C) The Tribune. This article was published in The Tribune 11 February 2009

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Have the wild things moved in with you?

Are strange noises in your attic or fireplace keeping you up at night? It may well be that a few wild animals have decided to take advantage of that roof you were going to get around to replacing (and never did) or have found another weak spot in your home and moved in. So what should you do?



Look around your property carefully with a pair of binoculars if you can and check these areas: roof, soffit, chimneys, dryer vents or other air vents, windows, and screens. Look under porches, decks, and sheds. Damaged areas or signs of burrows are evidence that you may be living with wildlife.

Are you or the neighbours feeding your pets outside or leaving easy to access garbage? Are there feral cat colonies being fed in the area? Those are unwise actions. Cats belong indoors! Cats are not native wildlife and have no place outside. Even well fed cats arbitrarily kill millions of wild animals a year just for the fun of it.

Are you feeding birds? Any hungry animal passing by will consume the birdseed, and mice and rats will be more than happy to availing themselves of spilled seed on the ground. Once you determine how much of the problem is your creation, you can fix it.

If the animal is already living in your house, you need to humanely encourage it to move out. With patience and persistence, you can avoid paying a wildlife removal company. The money you save can hire someone to do the repairs and prevent future access.

The majority of animals in buildings and homes this time of year are nursing moms trying to raise their families. Resist the urge to borrow a trap or pay some unregulated individual to do the job ‘cheap’ by telling you that they’ll relocate the problem animal. You run the risk of leaving helpless, dependent babies behind who will die without their mother. You can humanely annoy them and get them to move out. You need three things to do this. Use these three things continuously for four to five days.

Set up a radio on a talk station as close to the entrance to the den as you can, loud enough to annoy them but not you.

Aim a flashlight or electric work light into the nest area. Flashlights will need a battery replacement throughout the few days of use but are less costly than paying mega dollars to a removal company. Leave the light on day and night.

Wild animals are bothered by the smell of ammonia. Use clean, empty margarine containers stuffed with old socks or rags, and sprinkle Amex™ ammonia cleaner on them. Pierce holes in the tops with a knife or awl. Place these containers along the path the animal uses to access your living spaces. Place some near the entrance to the area they are occupying and toss some into the opening being careful not to put them near any babies who are not mobile enough to move away.

All wild mothers have at least two or three alternate den sites that they can use. You need to give them a few days to get them all moved. This method works for evicting skunks from under houses, sheds, and decks.

When you hear no more activity in the area, tape a plastic bag over the entrance, or stuff it full of newspapers. After two days if it is undisturbed, securely repair that access point. If you do not, another wild animal will move back in.

Far too many people think that the solution is to ‘relocate’ the animal’. There are laws that specifically address the relocation of wild animals. You may not relocate an adult wild animal more than one kilometre from the point of capture. Fines range up to $25,000.00. When you move a wild animal, you move an entire biological package of genetics, possible diseases, or parasites into another area that could spread to other species.

Just as not all humans are nice, pleasant, or kind, so too it goes with wildlife. They can become destructive and cause damage. Under Section 31 of The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, the legal landowner may take certain steps to protect his/her property.

• there must be “reasonable grounds” to believe that wildlife is damaging or about to damage the person’s property.
• control activities can only occur on the property owner’s own property.
• a person may not harass, capture, or kill more wildlife than is necessary to protect the property or cause unnecessary suffering to the wildlife.

You are still subject to the one kilometre release restriction once you trap the animal and the methods you utilize cannot cause cruelty or suffering to that animal. As the legal owner of the property, you may dispatch the animal by humane euthanasia or hire a reputable agent to do it for you.

The federal Migratory Birds Convention Act applies and supersedes provincial legislation, so approval from Canadian Wildlife Service for control of any birds protected by the Migratory Birds Convention Act would be required for nuisance birds.

We need to develop some tolerance for sharing our living space with native wildlife. The animals are not destroying their natural habitat by building shopping malls and subdivisions - we are responsible for that. We have staked our claim on these areas and then we expect the wild animals to behave. Do your part by not making it easy for the animals to access your domestic space and do not provide food, be that bird feeders or easy to get at garbage. Those are all variables within your control. Nature will take care of the rest.

(C) The Tribune. Published in The Tribune on 6 June 2008.

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