Glad you moved, Ann. Maybe that is why some communities have such a high cancer rate among their residents?

Wow, that's so sad! Since I've lived in the country, I do notice the insects and other wildlife are much less in the city. Maybe there's less pesticides use out here?

flaflwrgrl said:When we moved up here we rented while we were looking for a house to buy. The place where we were renting was in a 55+ community. You wouldn't EVEN believe the amount of poison in that place!!!! Every single house - each privately owned - had their house exterior AND entire yard sprayed * every * single * month*. We felt like the whole place was toxic. It probably glows in the dark. We lived there 2 years & in that time I never once, NOT ONCE, saw a lizard.

I think so Linda. At least we can surely say that the houses are not so close together and even if your neighbors sprayed there is enough room on your property for critters to live & not be affected.
Since we were renting, we had to submit to what the owner of the house had going on. We did manage to mitigate that to some extent. I flat out told the bug man that he was not to spray except down one side of the house and I watched to make sure he didn't. I did not want to have the dog getting all that crap all over her paws.

It is very frustrating to see such over use of pesticides, everywhere we turn!

I saw a similar thing here a couple of years ago. One winter morning I went outside and there were spiderwebs blanketing over the leafless branches, bushes and across the ground. It was quite a site. I admit my first thought was, OMG spiders are taking over... but then my next thought was, actually that is food for the birds. As the sun came up, I again went outside and could no longer see the spider webs. Didn't see them the next morning, or ever again. Nature takes care of itself. If only people would let it.

Another short story, it was a few years ago back when emails were popular; someone sent me a picture that was being passed along . It was a picture of a BBQ pit that had been taken over by honey bees. Apparently whoever owned the bbq pit went to use it, discovered the bees and immediately went and got the bug spray to kill them all. Yes, the picture was of thousands of dead honey bees. I was so angry about that, it still sends shiveres through me to write about it here.

Okay, I'm mad again.

Happy story, anyone?

I provide a habitat in my small yard. Nothing dies from chemicals unless I say so, which is typically only the fire ants. I have so many bugs and wildlife in my yard it is amazing. I live in a typical neighborhood and most residents round me don't have any such habitat. I have had raccoons, opossums, armadillos, rats (yeah, not my favorite), huge populations of lizards, lots of squirrels, all kinds of birds (including birds of prey), bobcat, fox, wild rabbits, gopher turtles, snakes, lots of butterflies and caterpillars, bees, etc. in my yard that show up from time to time. So even 1 single small yard CAN make a difference for some wildlife. And I share my experience with the neighbors hoping to get them interested too. I think many around me are most fascinated by the hummers I get in Winter, so I suggest to them plants for their yard and tell them that they eat bugs so not to use pesticides. Even 1 other yard becoming wildlife friendly is my goal in my neighborhood.

Becky.

This 6 ac. that we have gets no poison excepting for the aforementioned fire ants which I treated this morning btw. I can't possibly treat all the mounds but try to keep them from the immediate areas around the house & paths that we frequent on a regular basis.
We have critters, large & small. I don't exactly welcome the armadillos or the pocket gophers but I'm not killing them either. Sometimes I'd like to kill them but I am a realist & know there's more where they came from.
We used to regularly see a fox, a wild turkey hen & a female skunk & her offspring when they were still with her. We haven't seen these critters in some time. The other day I was talking to the neighbor who is on 16 ac. out back & they had 5 chickens free ranging. Coyotes got them all. Also, she found, on her side of the adjoining fence line, the remains (only fur) of 1 our western neighbor's cats. Another one chalked up to the coyotes. I do see tracks & feces on our property that is larger than a fox. I have not seen any dogs roaming free, if so, they only come at night. So I'm thinking it's more than likely it's the coyotes. I do hear them yipping from time to time. A sound that sends shivers up my spine. I think this may be the explanation for us not seeing our fox, skunks, & wild turkey hen.
Well, I started off with something upbeat & ended with a bummer. Sorry.

Ann.

Ann - Oh my!

I know there are coyotes here in our county (Indian River County, FL), but they are not in my immediate area. And probably won't be because of the neighborhood and surrounding development. But the vobcats (predators) are occasionally seen here. I don't mind any of them honestly. Most of them were here first. We just forced most of them out of their natural homes by developing this once beautiful native habitat. My yard will remain a habitat as long as I live here!!!

We often talk about the Monarchs overwintering in Mexico, but California has their own population, too! And they seem to be doing really well. Check it out: http://www.berkeleyside.com/20...

That is terrific news.

Hawaii has their own population as well. Dancetta Feary of Hawaii raises the rare white Monarchs:

http://www.dianeako.com/?p=308

http://smalltalk.staradvertise...

And this is a little information about Dancetta's brother and why she named the white monarchs "Mackey's Monarchs":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Florida also has their own population that is resident butterflies, not migratory. Scroll down this page to Florida Monarchs:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw311

Melanie, that is awesome news about the Monarchs in CAL!

Always good news to hear about a large population of monarchs roosting anywhere! Let's hope the numbers keep building up!

mellielong said:...note the irony in the resident who thinks the city should spray to kill the spiders because there are children around and they might get bitten.

mellielong said:What people don't know about science scares me sometimes.

wildflowers said: Nature takes care of itself. If only people would let it.

beckygardener said:I provide a habitat in my small yard. Nothing dies from chemicals unless I say so, which is typically only the fire ants. I have so many bugs and wildlife in my yard it is amazing. I live in a typical neighborhood and most residents round me don't have any such habitat. I have had raccoons, opossums, armadillos, rats (yeah, not my favorite), huge populations of lizards, lots of squirrels, all kinds of birds (including birds of prey), bobcat, fox, wild rabbits, gopher turtles, snakes, lots of butterflies and caterpillars, bees, etc. in my yard that show up from time to time. So even 1 single small yard CAN make a difference for some wildlife. And I share my experience with the neighbors hoping to get them interested too. I think many around me are most fascinated by the hummers I get in Winter, so I suggest to them plants for their yard and tell them that they eat bugs so not to use pesticides. Even 1 other yard becoming wildlife friendly is my goal in my neighborhood.

And that's my goal, too.

About the retirement communities: People tend to go with whatever was thought best in their generation - If SCIENCE said it was good, it MUST be good. phooey. NEVER STOP LEARNING! "science" learns new things every day.

flaflwrgrl said:Sometimes I'd like to kill them but I am a realist & know there's more where they came from.

This is why I let the young groundhog couple set up housekeeping this spring.....

I love the sound of coyotes - my companion animals are all kept indoors. And there is no coyote serenade here in the city.