Hobbies
You've criticized billryan for enabling the homeless, and you're right. Yet you do the same thing with wildlife. Stop being a hypocrite.
Quote: KevinAAMy hobbies do not include wrecking the local wildlife by feeding them and enabling them to cease having to hunt for themselves.
You've criticized billryan for enabling the homeless, and you're right. Yet you do the same thing with wildlife. Stop being a hypocrite.
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Feeding birds does not alter their natural foraging instincts. Feeding raccoons does not alter their natural foraging instinct, just makes them less fearful of humans and makes them more of a nuisance.
I don't feed the wild birds, nor water my birdbaths, due to avian influenza.
Quote: EvenBobI was filling the feeders this morning and the raccoon walked right by me within two feet like I wasn't even there. She's never done that before. She usually sits 50 or 60 feet away watching what I'm doing. I took these two pictures with my phone This is how close I was to her. Pretty soon I'll be feeding her out of my hand. I put treats for the raccoons in the box and today it was uncooked egg noodles and granola.
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I do not recommend putting your hand near any wild animal, and especially with food in it.
Also note that it is not normal for a coon to be out in the daytime. They are nocturnal and when you see a coon in daylight there is a good chance it is sick, and possibly with rabies.
Good pics anyway!
Quote: AutomaticMonkeyQuote: EvenBobI was filling the feeders this morning and the raccoon walked right by me within two feet like I wasn't even there. She's never done that before. She usually sits 50 or 60 feet away watching what I'm doing. I took these two pictures with my phone This is how close I was to her. Pretty soon I'll be feeding her out of my hand. I put treats for the raccoons in the box and today it was uncooked egg noodles and granola.
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I do not recommend putting your hand near any wild animal, and especially with food in it.
Also note that it is not normal for a coon to be out in the daytime. They are nocturnal and when you see a coon in daylight there is a good chance it is sick, and possibly with rabies.
Good pics anyway!
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This one is out in the daytime because it's a mama and she has babies to feed so she's beating everybody else to the punch by coming out in the daytime. Raccoons are extremely intelligent, and because they have an opposing digit they can pick things up, they can even figure out how to open locks. When we first started experimenting on animals in the 1920s they used raccoons for a while but the raccoon's constantly outsmarted them so they switched it to mice. Human rabies is very rare in the United States with less than 10 cases reported every year. Some years there are no cases reported. Most rabies got by humans come from getting bit by a bat. Less than 10% of raccoons have rabies. This one does not and is totally healthy.\
This is a retired police officer who does this every night. Does he look terrified to you of getting rabies?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s1oy3_98ul8
Quote: EvenBobI have two hobbies roulette and feeding the outdoor animals on my property. I can't talk about roulette so I'll talk about this one. I have 4 trail cameras pointed at the feeding areas and to get just a few good pictures I have to look at thousands of pictures a week from the trail cameras. It's not that they're not good it's just that they're average and I'm looking for the best ones. The chipmunks and the squirrels are the most entertaining because they chase each other around. It's a lot of work doing this but I must get something out of it or I wouldn't be doing it
Quote: KevinAAMy hobbies do not include wrecking the local wildlife by feeding them and enabling them to cease having to hunt for themselves.
You've criticized billryan for enabling the homeless, and you're right. Yet you do the same thing with wildlife. Stop being a hypocrite.
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An estimated 57 million households in the United States feed the wildlife in their yards and property. There are actually more raccoons in suburban neighborhoods and even in the cities than there are in the wild because that's where the food is. I live way out in the country and I have a creek that runs through my property so I get all kinds of wildlife here. This was back in March they don't really hang out like this in big herds in the summer.
Quote: rxwineQuote: EvenBobI have two hobbies roulette and feeding the outdoor animals on my property. I can't talk about roulette so I'll talk about this one. I have 4 trail cameras pointed at the feeding areas and to get just a few good pictures I have to look at thousands of pictures a week from the trail cameras. It's not that they're not good it's just that they're average and I'm looking for the best ones. The chipmunks and the squirrels are the most entertaining because they chase each other around. It's a lot of work doing this but I must get something out of it or I wouldn't be doing it
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Sorry we only see those in Upper Michigan They very seldom come down here. Good job of inserting it though it looks very real
Quote: GenoDRPh
Feeding birds does not alter their natural foraging instincts. Feeding raccoons does not alter their natural foraging instinct, just makes them less fearful of humans and makes them more of a nuisance.
I don't feed the wild birds, nor water my birdbaths, due to avian influenza.
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Bird feeding is the second biggest hobby in the United States right next to gardening. It's a multi billion dollar industry and countless millions of Americans do it.
Most animals are curious when they get past being wary.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: GenoDRPh
Feeding birds does not alter their natural foraging instincts. Feeding raccoons does not alter their natural foraging instinct, just makes them less fearful of humans and makes them more of a nuisance.
I don't feed the wild birds, nor water my birdbaths, due to avian influenza.
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Bird feeding is the second biggest hobby in the United States right next to gardening. It's a multi billion dollar industry and countless millions of Americans do it.
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I get it. But the local Audobon Society and the state wildlife people all recommend against bird feeders due to avian influenza infecting the birds. Otherwise, I'd be right there with you.
I do, however, have a pair of breeding chickadees living and breeding in the lamp atop the lamppost in my front year. They are constantly bringing nest material and food in for their nest and young. In the Spring, I see them, um, co-mingling in the bushes by the front window.
Quote: GenoDRPh
I get it. But the local Audobon Society and the state wildlife people all recommend against bird feeders due to avian influenza infecting the birds. Otherwise, I'd be right there with you.
I do, however, have a pair of breeding chickadees living and breeding in the lamp atop the lamppost in my front year. They are constantly bringing nest material and food in for their nest and young. In the Spring, I see them, um, co-mingling in the bushes by the front window.
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"You do need to give up backyard bird feeding. Major wildlife and
agricultural organizations agree that songbirds are at a low risk
for avian influenza, and there are no official recommendations to
stop feeding them. Native songbirds rarely contract the virus."
Guess what seems extremely wrong about that practice?
Now mosquito attraction traps would make more sense.
Quote: billryanCrushing my enemies and listening to the lamentations of their women.
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A phrase from Conan the Barbarian describing himself, as written by Robert E. Howard! Very good, Bill, I'm impressed.
Quote: billryanI've been feeding a local bobcat. He(she?) comes by every day in the late morning and drinks from my bird bath. I left a plate of food out, and each day I move the plate closer to my porch. By next spring, I expect he'll be eating on my porch with me.
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That is fantastic. Hopefully the bobcat will not be eating you on the porch.
Quote: DRichQuote: billryanI've been feeding a local bobcat. He(she?) comes by every day in the late morning and drinks from my bird bath. I left a plate of food out, and each day I move the plate closer to my porch. By next spring, I expect he'll be eating on my porch with me.
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That is fantastic. Hopefully the bobcat will not be eating you on the porch.
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Or he can share a nice shiny hook where his hand once was.
Quote: KevinAAFeed the bums, feed the wild animals.... I don't know which is worse
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I don't see it as any big deal. Nature feeds the animals and we are part of nature. Evolution is real and is constantly ongoing and we've been around long enough that natural selection has had a measurable effect on those species that interact with us and our habits.
Like dogs. We only have dogs, descended from wolves, because our primitive ancestors fed the wolves in a symbiotic relationship where some wolves were willing to work with us.
Quote: DRichQuote: billryanI've been feeding a local bobcat. He(she?) comes by every day in the late morning and drinks from my bird bath. I left a plate of food out, and each day I move the plate closer to my porch. By next spring, I expect he'll be eating on my porch with me.
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That is fantastic. Hopefully the bobcat will not be eating you on the porch.
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Bobcats are tolerant of people, as long as you don't get too close and they have a clear path of escape. I'd like to get it eating closer to my screened-in porch, but have no desire to pet it. In the desert heat, if you leave water out, you'll get birds, coyotes, javalinas, and a bunch of small animals the bobcats feed on. I leave water out for my delivery guys, as well.
Quote: rxwineIf you're gonna feed, make it a carnival.
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I've got squirrels
Quote: rxwineYou have a regular zoo back there. As far their natural behavior, just underfeed them some days, otherwise they will just expect to eat there every day and not look for food on their own.
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Of course they look for food on their own raccoons are nocturnal and by the time they get here 90% of the food is gone. This one raccoon is a rare event because she's a mother and she needs extra nourishment so she came out early since April to eat before everybody else got there. During the day the birds and the squirrels eat most of the food It's very rare to see a raccoon in the daytime. It would be impossible for me to put out enough food to feed all these creatures so that they did not look for food on their own. It's a treat to them not their main source of nourishment. The birds are a different story, but that's fine.
I would say I am against feeding anything but birds, maybe squirrels, but don't get excited about it unless it definitely includes animals that should not be acclimated to humans. Bears come to mind [we have them in the area and I'm always afraid some idiot will start feeding them] and I have to include bobcats! How would you feel if someone in the area gets attacked due toQuote: AutomaticMonkey
I don't see it as any big deal. Nature feeds the animals and we are part of nature. Evolution is real and is constantly ongoing and we've been around long enough that natural selection has had a measurable effect on those species that interact with us and our habits.
Like dogs. We only have dogs, descended from wolves, because our primitive ancestors fed the wolves in a symbiotic relationship where some wolves were willing to work with us.
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'no more fear of humans' ??
Quote: odiousgambitI would say I am against feeding anything but birds, maybe squirrels, but don't get excited about it unless it definitely includes animals that should not be acclimated to humans. Bears come to mind [we have them in the area and I'm always afraid some idiot will start feeding them] and I have to include bobcats! How would you feel if someone in the area gets attacked due toQuote: AutomaticMonkey
I don't see it as any big deal. Nature feeds the animals and we are part of nature. Evolution is real and is constantly ongoing and we've been around long enough that natural selection has had a measurable effect on those species that interact with us and our habits.
Like dogs. We only have dogs, descended from wolves, because our primitive ancestors fed the wolves in a symbiotic relationship where some wolves were willing to work with us.
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'no more fear of humans' ??
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We've had bobcats in my park for longer than anyone can remember. In fact, there is a den with young ones that the city has taped off, so no one bothers them. A rabid bobcat attacked someone trying to trap him in a nearby park but that seems to be the only human attack in years. You're far more likely to get attacked by a stray dog than a wildcat, and even more likely to be injured by a drunk driver than a wild animal.
An adult female bobcat weighs 15-20 pounds. An adult female domestic cat weighs 10-15 pounds. I suspect domestic cats caused much more harm to humans last year than bobcats.
Quote: billryanQuote: odiousgambitI would say I am against feeding anything but birds, maybe squirrels, but don't get excited about it unless it definitely includes animals that should not be acclimated to humans. Bears come to mind [we have them in the area and I'm always afraid some idiot will start feeding them] and I have to include bobcats! How would you feel if someone in the area gets attacked due toQuote: AutomaticMonkey
I don't see it as any big deal. Nature feeds the animals and we are part of nature. Evolution is real and is constantly ongoing and we've been around long enough that natural selection has had a measurable effect on those species that interact with us and our habits.
Like dogs. We only have dogs, descended from wolves, because our primitive ancestors fed the wolves in a symbiotic relationship where some wolves were willing to work with us.
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'no more fear of humans' ??
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We've had bobcats in my park for longer than anyone can remember. In fact, there is a den with young ones that the city has taped off, so no one bothers them. A rabid bobcat attacked someone trying to trap him in a nearby park but that seems to be the only human attack in years. You're far more likely to get attacked by a stray dog than a wildcat, and even more likely to be injured by a drunk driver than a wild animal.
An adult female bobcat weighs 15-20 pounds. An adult female domestic cat weighs 10-15 pounds. I suspect domestic cats caused much more harm to humans last year than bobcats.
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All that is true, but wild animal attacks are rare precisely because we manage dangerous wild animals, and unless we are fools we do not let them lose their fear of us. Humans are the ultimate predators.
In this video, you will see fools. That bear is so acclimated it might as well be a pet, it seems obvious they have done this before, but its still a wild animal and we don't know what it's thinking or what will make its behavior change.
https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/group-feeds-sandwiches-wild-black-bear
Quote: EvenBobI have been giving the mother raccoon a mixture of chopped up hot dogs mixed with peanut butter, granola, and mini Marshmallows.
That sounds a lot like the lunch I had.
[;Quote: DRichQuote: EvenBobI have been giving the mother raccoon a mixture of chopped up hot dogs mixed with peanut butter, granola, and mini Marshmallows.
That sounds a lot like the lunch I had.
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We've seen your picture put on a black mask and you could pass for a raccoon
Quote: EvenBob[;Quote: DRichQuote: EvenBobI have been giving the mother raccoon a mixture of chopped up hot dogs mixed with peanut butter, granola, and mini Marshmallows.
That sounds a lot like the lunch I had.
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We've seen your picture put on a black mask and you could pass for a raccoon
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Except for the fact that I am in bed by 10pm every night.
Quote: DRichQuote: EvenBob
We've seen your picture put on a black mask and you could pass for a raccoon
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Except for the fact that I am in bed by 10pm every night.
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Hey, I am in bed by 10pm* every night, too!
Quote: DieterQuote: DRichQuote: EvenBob
We've seen your picture put on a black mask and you could pass for a raccoon
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Except for the fact that I am in bed by 10pm every night.
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Hey, I am in bed by 10pm* every night, too!Not always reckoned by the canonical time zone I am in at the time.
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What business would you be in where you would use a word like canonical. A word you seldom see written and almost never spoken. I am beginning to believe that you are more than a corn broom salesman.
Quote: DRichQuote: EvenBob[;Quote: DRichQuote: EvenBobI have been giving the mother raccoon a mixture of chopped up hot dogs mixed with peanut butter, granola, and mini Marshmallows.
That sounds a lot like the lunch I had.
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We've seen your picture put on a black mask and you could pass for a raccoon
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Except for the fact that I am in bed by 10pm every night.
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With two wives to keep happy I'm sure you are in bed by 10:00 PM.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: DieterQuote: DRichQuote: EvenBob
We've seen your picture put on a black mask and you could pass for a raccoon
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Except for the fact that I am in bed by 10pm every night.
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Hey, I am in bed by 10pm* every night, too!Not always reckoned by the canonical time zone I am in at the time.
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What business would you be in where you would use a word like canonical. A word you seldom see written and almost never spoken. I am beginning to believe that you are more than a corn broom salesman.
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I was formerly involved in other lines of business.
