Feed Your Feathered Friends All Winter Long

What winter traveler can resist the attraction of a small cabin deep in snow-swept woods at dusk, lit and warmed by a crackling fire and framed by two overstuffed chairs and a tray of snacks on the hearth? Indeed, a welcome sight on any blustery evening. This could be the site of a well-stocked bird feeder to the feathered visitors of our wintry backyards.

Winter provides a unique opportunity to attract various wildlife to your yard while lending the chance to be a small but integral contributor to the local food cycle.

The winter view from your home does not need to be bleak. As you move indoors for the season, the time is right to either place or reposition backyard or porch bird feeders within an easy sight line of windows to provide comfortable inside viewing of birding activity. Providing more than one type of feeder at differing heights will invite a greater variety of birds. For example, a raised feeder, five to 15 feet above the ground, will attract evening grosbeaks and finches, while feeders closer to the ground tend to draw doves and sparrows.

Whatever the season, however, always remember to consider the ever-present competition from the local squirrel population for the food you put out. Descending chain feeders are a more ready squirrel deterrent than poled platform feeders. Regardless of the feeder you use, you can often retro-fit a variety of squirrel guards to your feeder to tilt the food competition toward your small flying friends.

Once you have positioned your feeders for easy viewing from the inside, then comes the all-important enticement of food. Not unlike us, different foods attract different types of birds. And higher quality foods lend even more reason for feathered visitors to make your feeders part of their daily stops.

When considering what type of foods to put out, try to stay away from common generic mixes. Lower-priced mixes are often not a bargain, as they contain various fillers, like red milo, which almost all birds discard. Buying higher-quality seed mixes or individual seeds that end up being a complete food to birds are the best value. Sunflowers are a universally popular choice. They attract cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, goldfinches, purple finches, chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches. Black sunflowers are a particular treat for birds, as the oilier shell is easier to crack and they are also usually cheaper than the traditional gray and white striped sunflowers we most often recognize.

The use of safflower seed will further differentiate your visitors as this small white seed attracts chickadees, downy woodpeckers, cardinals and titmice, while repelling grackles, blue jays and starlings who often keep smaller birds away from feeders. Another excellent individual seed is niger or thistle. While this seed is a bit more expensive, it provides a high-energy meal full of oil and calories. Thistle is often the meal of choice for finches, one of the most colorful of birds to observe. If you don’t want to mess with putting out individual seeds, the best option is to simply buy a good premium blend of wild bird seed. Premium blends contain quality ingredients and are an appealing food source.

“Providing high-energy bird food is more critical in the winter, when natural food supplies are not as accessible, and no food is better suited to high-energy winter feeding than quality suet,” says Tony Vahedian, vice president of ScottsMiracleGro’s wild bird food division. Suet is a high-fat food that is readily affordable in various size cakes and easily inserted in matching wire-mesh feeders to keep larger tree animals out. Scotts Songbird Selections suet, available in February 2008, is an example of a new high-quality suet bird food. You can be sure to see colorful woodpeckers and blue jays visiting your suet feeders.

Finally, if you like to attend to your feeders daily, remember to sprinkle affordable white millet along the ground and you’ll be sure to spot snacking mourning doves, sparrows and juncos.

Winter doesn’t have to be a dreary, bleak landscape outside our windows. This year, provide some winter entertainment by making your yard like that little cabin in the woods -- an enticing stopover spot for the nourishment of our feathered backyard friends.

For more information on bird feeding, visit www.scotts.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

How to Keep Deer from Lunching on Your Landscaping

Sure you still shed a tear or two whenever you see “Bambi.” But your empathy for deer can suffer serious setbacks when you discover they’ve been munching on your landscape in which you’ve invested lots of time and money.

Wildlife management experts estimate there are about 30 million deer living in the United States. The animals cause millions of dollars of damage to the farming and nursery industries, not to mention thousands of car crashes each year.

“While avoiding deer on the road may be a matter of chance, you can keep them out of your garden using some proven environmentally friendly techniques,” says Jim Messina, certified landscape architect since 1988, owner of Messina Wildlife Management, and product developer of Deer Stopper. Messina Wildlife Management has been managing deer and other pesky critters, using certified organic products to prevent them from wreaking havoc on homeowners’ landscapes, since 2000. Messina personally developed the product line out of his own desperate need as a landscape architect to prevent deer and other wildlife from ruining his garden designs.

“First, it’s useful to understand where and what deer like to eat,” says Messina. Deer prefer to feed in open areas near cover, such as parks and suburban neighborhoods. Homes with open lawns, summer gardens and ornamental shrubs are particularly appealing to them.

Before you take action, be sure the damage to your garden or landscaping is really being committed by deer and not insects or other pests. Ragged, broken ends of branches, at a height of around 6 feet off the ground, rule out smaller animals and point to deer damage.

The good news is, once one deer has been turned off to an area, others will be reluctant to enter it as well. Deer have good memories and learn from each other. Fencing, electronic devices and chemical remedies have all proved effective in warding off deer. Fencing, however, can be expensive and will change the look of your landscaping. Electronic devices may be unreliable in some landscapes and environments. Some chemical products may repel deer but also prove harmful to the environment.

Fully organic alternatives, such as Messina’s Deer Stopper, do not harm the deer or the environment. Effective for 45 to 60 days per application, the product sprays on and dries clear without any offensive odor. Deer Stopper is available nationwide at lawn and garden retailers and hardware stores. For more information on Deer Stopper and the rest of Messina Wildlife Management’s repellent line, visit www.messinawildlife.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Deer Control 101

If you have mature plants that are being devoured by deer -- it's time to take action! Deer Repellents can be very effective and easy to use.

Deer will almost always stay away from plants that offend two or more senses. Therefore, if a plant tastes and smells offensive deer will avoid the general area it's planted in. Deer resistant gardener use's this knowledge to their advantage.

Yardiac.com recommends using two deer deterrents together (one that offends the sense of smell and one that offends the sense of taste) they will render your tasty plant repulsive to deer.

The best combination we have found is:

Tree Guard or Hot Pepper Wax used in conjunction with Coyote Urine.

Using two products will activate the sense of smell and taste and encourage the deer to move on to more attractive foliage (hopefully not your neighbors) You can learn more about or purchase these products at Yardiac.com's animal repellent department.

Deer hate hot and spicy foods

After one little nibble of a plant coated with hot pepper wax they will definitely say, “No thank you!” when it comes time for seconds. Hot pepper wax combines hot cayenne pepper extract in a food-grade wax. Unlike some solutions, the wax will not wash off of your plants for several weeks.

Applying hot pepper wax to the surfaces of your plants & hanging dispensers filled with Coyote Urine is possibly the most effective method of protecting your plants from deer browsing. Why do predator urine and hot pepper wax work best when used together? Most deer deterrents work on the premise of “offending” one of the deer’s five senses: sight, taste, smell, hearing or touch. Predator urine works on the sense of smell, while hot pepper wax works on the sense of taste.

Using these two products together you are not just offending one sense but two.

Say Bye to Bambi enter the Deer Repellent Department Here