WindStar Wildlife Institute Blog

ATTENTION READERS

EFFECTIVE TODAY this blog is closed so we can devote more resources to the WindStar Wildlife Garden e-Newsletter. If you don't already receive this publication, please go to www.windstar.org and sign up at the bottom of the page. There is no charge. 

Will Yellow Jackets Sting Hummers?

I JUST read Ronald Patterson's article re using mint extract & alcohol to keep yellow jackets away from the hummingbird feeders.  I am going to give it a try & sure hope it works.

 
This morning I found one of my little hummingbirds lying dead in the grass; just a couple of feet North of where the feeders are hung.  He did not show any signs of a cat getting ahold of him. The yellow jackets have been bothering around the feeders all summer.   Do you know if the yellow jackets will sting the hummingbirds? And, will it kill them?
 

We live in the Inland Northwest; just south of Spokane, WA.  The yellow jackets are the worst I have ever seen them in the 48 years I have lived here.  Four weeks ago my husband & I were both attacked/chased & stung by yellow jackets.  My husband was allergic & had to go to ER.  We thought the dog had gotten too close to their nest over by the fence line. 

Later that day, I went out to start sprinklers.  I thought the area was safe---wrong!!!  The nest turned out to be near where we were standing earlier that day (and not by the fence line).  I got attacked again.  All together, I was stung over a dozen times.  Thank God, I was not allergic.  Last week, I was just out a few feet from my house--got stung again & apparently, I am now allergic; as my whole arm swelled up for 5 days.  Needless to say, I am now traumatized to go outside at all.  I don't wear perfumes, scented lotions or clothing that is colored like flowers.  I have never had a problem with yellow jackets before.  Had only been stung a couple of times in my entire life before this summer.  I love to garden & being outside; so this is quite a challenge.  

Any suggestions, ideas, info you could share with me would be greatly appreciated.  I also enjoy watching the birds.  I feed quail & pheasants in the winter.
 
Lois Blanton

Blame Stupid Pet Owners

FERAL CATS are truly wild. Even given a great effort, only a small minority are able to become comfortable anywhere near humans. The best thing for them is to be neutered and, if possible, placed as barn cats where they can "work" as rat and mice killers. The only other thing one can do, besides placing them back into the wild, is euthanize them, and I fail to see how that is humane. Feral cats do kill birds, but at the same time, they help keep the rodent population down, keeping disease causing rodents in check. Blame stupid pet owners who don't spay/neuter their pets for the overpopulation, not the animals.

Joyce Murphy

Colorado Woman Who Fed Bears Is Killed By One

If you feed bears, your life could be in danger!

DONNA MUNSON, 74, considered the Black Bears that swarmed across her land in southwestern Colorado to be her pets.

She fed them dog food and scraps--poking the food through a metal fence she built around her porch -- attracting so many bears that neighbors sometimes counted as many as 14 on her property at a time.

On Friday, one of them killed and ate Munson, slashing her head through the fence and dragging her body underneath it.

"She was dead set on continuing to feed the bears, and unfortunately, she paid the ultimate price," said Ouray County Sheriff's Investigator Joel Burk, who had to shoot a bear that tried to approach Munson's remains as he interviewed witnesses.

The 74-year-old considered the animals her pets, feeding them dog food through a fence she built around her porch. One bear reached through and dragged her under the barrier.

If Munson's death is the worst consequence that can result when people get too familiar with wild animals, her actions were extreme, Tyler Baskfield, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said Tuesday.

Her death is one of the rare instances in which bears have killed people in Colorado; officials have recorded two other fatal attacks since they began keeping track in the 1960s.

For the last decade, Munson had developed a reputation for doting on wildlife at her log cabin in Ouray County, about 190 miles southwest of Denver. She fed bears, skunks, elk and stray cats, said Tammy York, 36, who boarded with Munson seven years ago.

She described Munson as a sweet woman whose husband had died years ago and who seemed to have little contact with people. "I think she really loved them and loved to watch them," York said.

And Munson and others were watched in return. "It was like being in a zoo. We looked at the animals, but they also looked in our windows," she said.

When bears began breaking into nearby homes--apparently seeking the dog food they were accustomed to getting from Munson--neighbors complained. Wildlife officers tried to persuade her to stop, Baskfield said.

It didn't work, and last year the state sent her a letter warning that it would pursue legal action if Munson didn't stop. When she continued, officers began working on building a case against her, Baskfield said.

But state law requires proof that a person is knowingly feeding wildlife, and Baskfield said officers didn't have the evidence they needed to issue a citation. He said he doubted a $100 fine would have stopped Munson.

"To friends and family she trusted, she would tell them, yes, she was feeding the bears, but they were harmless, they were her friends. She was helping them and they would help her," Burk said. "When people told her she was in danger, she would refute that, saying, 'These are my pets, my babies.' "

On Thursday, the night before her death, Munson made reference to one of those "babies" as she spoke on the phone with a relative. "Oh, the little bear is here. I need to go and take care of the little bear," Burk said Munson told a family member.

The next day, a man arrived at her home to ask about a painting job and spotted her body, Burk said.

Munson apparently was standing inside her porch when a bear swiped at her face through the fence, Burk said. An autopsy released this week indicated that she was unconscious when the bear pulled her underneath the fence into the yard. Her walker was found inside the fence, Burk said.

"It was one of the more gruesome scenes I've dealt with," he said.

Burk was interviewing witnesses at the scene when a 250-pound bear approached, ignoring deputies as it tried to reach Munson's remains. "It had no fear," said Burk, who ushered witnesses into his car, retrieved a shotgun and shot the animal.


A 400-pound bear was shot the next morning as it nosed around the scene. An autopsy revealed human flesh and Munson's shirt in its stomach.

In the nearby community of Ouray, some are upset with Munson for endangering them, said Christine Kersen, owner of Apteka, a liquor store on the town's main street.

Feeding the bears was foolish, she said. "They're wild animals. They're not pets."

DeeDee Correll
Denver, CO

Animals Are Bright and Manipulative

 

ANIMALS are smarter than we think. 

“A dog will never lie to you,” is an oft-repeated refrain sung by most dog owners. 

“I prefer animals to most people," is another. 

"I can trust them to be honest.” Honest? Really? 

Have ... Read more »

Cathy Taibbi

Helping Hand That Led Geese Across Road Now Holds Ticket

THE POPULAR children's book, about a family of ducks escorted across a busy street by a Boston police officer, apparently is not on the reading list in Fairfax, VA.

When Jozsef Vamosi, 60, tried to help a family of Canada Geese cross the Fairfax County Parkway, he was given a ticket by a Fairfax officer--for jaywalking. The geese guardian is taking his case to court.

 "I don't feel guilty," said Vamosi, a home remodeling contractor who said he has been involved in rescuing both people and animals in the past. "My instinct is you try to do something good. We are only humans. I can sleep."

"We can appreciate the citizens' response and compassion for wildlife," Officer Don Gotthardt said. "But a more prudent response would be to pull off the road and use their cellphone. Call the police, and have them respond." Vamosi said there was no time to wait, as about a dozen geese seemed ready to make their way across the four lanes of traffic on the parkway. Gotthardt said police are very responsive to potential traffic hazards on a major roadway and typically arrive quickly.

Vamosi was driving north on the parkway when he spotted several smaller geese edging toward the pavement, a full gaggle behind them. Vamosi said he pulled his car to the left lane, got out and stood in the right lane.

"I showed them my hand," Vamosi said, "and said, 'Move, move, move!' " Vamosi said he grew up in the countryside of Hungary and felt he knew how to approach the animals without spooking them.The three larger and eight smaller geese waddled to the parkway's wide median, mission halfway accomplished. Vamosi then stepped into the southbound lanes, held up his hands to signal approaching cars, and the cars stopped, he said. Again he urged the feathered pedestrians to make haste. They did, ducked under a guardrail and continued on their way,

Vamosi said."Everything came out fantastic," Vamosi said.

Then an officer sped to the scene. "He jumped out the car, yelling at me," Vamosi said he asked the officer if he was there to help and the officer responded by questioning Vamosi's sanity. The officer said Vamosi's priorities were misplaced on a busy highway, Vamosi said.

Vamosi added that he had previously helped a Fairfax officer chase some geese off Interstate 395 and was not ticketed. He said the officer instructed him to sit in his car and eventually gave him the jaywalking summons. Vamosi said he told the officer that he would fight the ticket.

"And if I had the chance, I'd do it again," he said. "That's the way I'm raised."

In Massachusetts, "Make Way for Ducklings" is the state's official children's book, and statues of the ducklings stand in Boston's Public Garden. In Virginia, the law states that "pedestrians shall not carelessly or maliciously interfere with the orderly passage of vehicles." There is no jail time for violating the law, only a fine of as much as $250.

Should Vamosi be fined for helping the geese cross the parkway?

I Threw A Birthday Party For A Snake!

Black Snake

A FEW YEARS AGO, I threw a birthday party for my son, when an unexpected guest arrived.It was a large snake, about 3 or 4 ft. long and black, that slithered up my wooden fence in an attempt to get at a birdhouse where sparrow chicks had just hatched.

My guests, most hailing from suburbs more urban than my own, were amazed. Heck, I was too. It was quite a spectacle.

Before the snake could make good on its meal plans, I used a garden rake to gently remove it from the fence, took it to the back of my yard and released it.I never saw that particular snake again, but every summer as the temperatures warm up, I see its smaller cousins, garter snakes, throughout my yard. Having grown up in one of the  more urban suburbs, I'm continually delighted to see snakes.

My childhood was nearly devoid of wildlife sightings, aside from squirrels and the occasional deer.Here in Steger, though, I've been exposed to many more species. Last summer, I spotted a blue heron squatting on top of my backyard shed, seemingly solving the long-running mystery at my home of what was happening to the goldfish in my little plastic-lined backyard pond.

A Groundhog has taken up residence under that shed as well, and while it has been known to defoliate some of my pepper plants, I plant enough that it's not a problem. I saw my first-ever oriole this year, feasting on the fruit from my mulberry tree, and hawks and other birds of prey are almost commonplace as they circle the skies over my house.

Crawfish occasionally creep up from the drainage ditch, and I keep an eye out for toads as I mow the grass.It all adds up to an enjoyable experience that adds some unexpected excitement for my wife, son and me in our everyday life.

But not everybody agrees with me. My neighbors on both sides, who both happen to be women, abhor the snakes in particular. One went so far as to place mothballs all over her back yard to ward them off, making visits to her home reminiscent of entering an unused closet.

On the other side of me, my neighbor and her husband are at odds over snakes. She hates them, he likes them. He told me not long ago that a garter snake actually entered their house recently, causing quite a commotion. Snakes have never entered my home, but I can imagine the hubbub, as my wife is no fan of snakes, either.It doesn't matter that snakes are actually good garden denizens. They eat bugs and mice. Their excrement doesn't constitute hidden land mines, as that of other animals. And they make interesting discoveries for kids.Plus, they're harmless.

My cat often catches garter snakes, and while I've seen the snake try to strike at my cat, its fangs evidently had no effect. I've picked them up with no sign of aggression. While I would be more hesitant to handle a snake such as the large one who showed up at my boy's birthday party, I do know that there are no poisonous snake species in our neck of the woods.

Last month, a message appeared on the Internet about a Steger resident who had spotted what he or she thought was a Massasauga Rattlesnake. They called police, who eventually killed the animal. I put in a call to the Steger Police Department to ask if there was an actual rattlesnake sighting in Steger, and the woman who answered the phone replied, "I don't think so."

While anything is possible, my guess is that the snake was misidentified, unless climate change is expanding the territories of more southern-based critters earlier than we thought.

Observing wildlife is one of summer's small pleasures. And rather than being afraid of the animals out there, try to take some time to watch them and show them to your kids. After all, there's enough to be afraid of out there without including the little critters with whom we share our yards.

Paul Eisenberg

Steger, IL

Florida Hopes To Start Hunting Pythons

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's not often that we include a feature in this space about an invasive species that is affecting wildlife so profoundly. Read this article by Curtis Morgan and then tell us your views.

THE PYTHON POSSE is coming to the Everglades.

Florida wildlife managers are poised to unleash a team of trained hunters to track and kill the giant snakes on state and federal lands.

''We've got to start doing something,'' said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). ``Gov. Crist wants to take action to stop the spread of this snake.''
The program, which Barreto said he expected the governor to sign off on Wednesday, would be the first of what could turn into a two-fanged assault on a serpent that routinely grows longer than a Hummer. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson on Tuesday also called for organizing a controlled hunt in the federal lands of Everglades National Park.

''There's one way to do this: kill the snakes,'' Nelson said in an e-mail. While the FWC is still considering placing a bounty on the constrictors, the state's initial program will be similar to its handling of wayward alligators. The dangerous business of capturing a snake that crushes and swallows its prey whole will be left to professionals--perhaps 20 trappers at first who could be cleared to begin taking out pythons within a week.

''This is not the wild, wild West. These people will be licensed, trained and managed by us,'' said Barreto, who has been pushing for a python eradication program for two years as the snakes began showing up in increasing numbers in the state-owned water conservation areas north of the national park's Tamiami Trail boundary.

Over the past decade, park biologists have charted an alarming explosion in the python population, now estimated at 100,000-plus in the park alone.

Though a pet that strangled a toddler two weeks ago outside Orlando served as a chilling reminder of potential risk to humans, experts believe python primarily pose a threat to natural wildlife.

Burst Snake
Birds, bobcats and deer have been found in their guts, and as one of the largest snakes in the world, sometimes topping 20 ft., they could potentially challenge natural dominant predators--a concern underscored in 2005 by now-famous photos of a 13-foot python that burst after attempting to swallow a six-foot alligator.

In May, Barreto ran the bounty idea by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar during a tour of the Everglades. Salazar, whose department oversees national parks, agreed it was worth looking into, but parks service managers have been unreceptive, said Dan McLaughlin, spokesman for Nelson, a Melbourne Democrat.

'Bounty hunting conjures up an image of `Come one, come all' and go out and start shooting around like Dick Cheney for $50 a head,'' McLaughlin said.

There were concerns, he said, about the precedent, and legality, of opening federally protected lands to public hunting -- even for pythons. Scientists who study the snake also believe it will be difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate pythons from the Glades, where they can easily move across vast wetlands.
Nelson, in a letter sent Tuesday to Salazar, pitched an alternative to the bounty proposal: Not an open, public hunt but one run by the park and confined only to ''deputized'' agents from other agencies and volunteers. Nelson said it would best be held in the winter when the cold-blooded creatures are most easily found sunning themselves along roads and levees.

Legislation Filed
That approach, he said, would avoid any violation of the ban on hunting in national parks.
''The idea is to not let it get out of control,'' said Nelson, who filed legislation in February to ban imports of the snake.

In a written statement, Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for Salazar, did not address the hunting proposal specifically but said the secretary was looking into more funding to quickly develop a plan to control the snake.

''Secretary Salazar agrees with Sen. Nelson that pythons pose a significant threat to the Florida Everglades and must be dealt with immediately,'' she said.

The state won't pay trappers for each carcass, but, like with the alligator removal program, they will be able to pocket proceeds from selling python meat and the more valuable skin. Though it is a start, Barreto believes the state will still need to offer the public some sort of bounty for any chance of cutting the snake down to size.

''We're going to need more bodies on this,'' he said.

He also said the commission would gladly extend the services of state trappers to federal lands if asked and also would offer to assist if the park does run a hunt.

''We would love to be on their land doing it now,'' Barreto said. ``That's where Ground Zero is.'' --Miami Herald

This Is A Good Year In My Backyard

IT HAS BEEN a banner year for wildlife in my backyard, and each evening my wife and I enjoy the show from the back porch.

Pairs of bluebirds, robins, phoebes and Chipping Sparrows tend to their second nests of the season, while the young of their first broods search the backyard for insects and earthworms.

Each nest was within 25 ft. of the house. The bluebirds used an old Downy Woodpecker hole in a dead apple tree just off the porch. The robins nested inside an open shed. The phoebes built their nest under the roof at the cellar door. And the chippies used a blue spruce that I planted nearly 20 years ago after using it as a live Christmas tree.

Two mammal species have had similar success. In the evening, as many as 10 cottontails scamper around the lawn, and I think a White-tailed Deer gave birth to a fawn on the edge of the yard. One evening my wife spooked the fawn from its bed while doing yard work. And a few days later, I glanced out the kitchen window and noticed a doe browsing at the bottom of the driveway. As mom ate, her spotted fawn ran wind sprints up and down the length of the yard. It was almost as if the fawn was showing mom it was ready to venture beyond the safety of the backyard.

But Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been the stars of my backyard refuge. Normally I see just a few adult hummers at the feeders from the time they arrive until mid-July. Then young start coming off the nest, and their numbers increase dramatically. Many years I can count 12 to 20 hummers feeding at any one time after mid-July.

This year is different. I saw the normal few hummers through June 16. Then on June 17, the population tripled and has been growing ever since. These observations suggest that females began nesting within days of their return on April 26.

Scott Shalaway
Cameron, WV

'I Live In An Extraordinary Wildlife Habitat'

Striped Skunk

 I HAVE MORE delightful creatures than a Nature Sanctuary!    I have had Chimney Swifts in my chimney for years...and they are here this year too, keeping my property free of mosquitoes.  My bluebird box has at least four tiny bluebirds working on fledging. The bluebirds have already fledged five youngsters this year.  This one is their second brood...in prior years they have had as many as five broods!

The Gray Fox has four tiny foxes living under my shed in the Groundhog borrow.  The Groundhog seems displaced and he or she is wandering...perhaps to find a new burrow location. Several Whitetail Deer spend a lot of time wandering into the yard and munching on apples. This evening there were five.  One already has antlers in velvet..taller than his ears and one had an udder larger than a basketball.  Last week two tiny fawns visited and nibbled a bit on fallen apples and laid down, cuddled up and took an hour nap. 

On Friday evening, a violent storm was bearing down from the North and I was watching it approach through a back window...the sky was darkening and lightning was flashing when five tiny Striped Skunks waddled hurriedly down the path and slipped under the GQ.  They were completely white!  No black was visible. (I identify them as Striped Skunks because they are the only species that we have here.)    There are often six rabbits (Cottontail) chewing their way around the yard and they raise their young under my deck which is just six inches off the ground and at least that many Grey Squirrels scurrying from here to there doing all their busy stuff.

From time to time we have bats.  I love to have them but I think that the competition from the Chimney Swifts may force then to move to a less competitive space.

There are often Black Snakes in the shed....and I'm pleased to have them there. Sometimes snake sheds hang from the rafters.  On two occasions, Copperheads.

The birds here are worthy of an Audubon Society Chapter's bird walk.  Blue Grosbeaks nest within 75 feet of the Skunks' hideaway. ( Which is directly under my feet as I type.)  We have Indigo Buntings and Towhees. For the last two months I have heard a Poor- Will calling in the very early morning hours. Note that this is a relative of, but not the same as, a Whip-Poor-Will. The Whip-Poor-Will was common here for many years but now seems to be absent. 

Contrary to many habitats in the area,  there are more Great Horned Owls heard here than Barred Owls. (That could well be because of the skunks!)  Today I saw Purple Finches darting around in the apple trees.  I've lived her for 30 years and I can confidently say that I have seen at least a hundred species of birds here. I have kept a list. I won't bore you with it unless you'd like to have it.

I feel privileged and proud to live in an extraordinary wildlife habitat, much of which I have developed and enhanced.  I can't imagine one being more complete. Or, any other wild creatures that I'd like to attract.
 
I worry only about the skunks under my feet.  (This may become a trapping and relocation project.)  I do often get a whiff of their defensive power.... as I am receiving right now.

Jack Lewnes
WindStar National Master Naturalist
Port Republic, MD