Dr. Grow: Avoid the feeding frenzy: Tips for preserving your landscape from wildlife

The demand at retail stores for bird feed during the past month has been at record levels in the area. Even wholesale suppliers are having a hard time keeping up with demand. Many are now only packaging in 40 and 50 pound bags. They have forgotten about trying to supply retailers with small packages of bird feed. There just isn't enough time in the day.

The snow and ice cover of the last month has coaxed many homeowners to join in one of my favorite pastimes, feeding birds in my yard. They are concerned that wild birds will need some help in finding food in order to survive. Although I doubt that many wild birds would meet their demise because of the snow cover, I am sure that these feathery friends are happy that someone is making their life a little easier.

Homeowners who live in the county are not only concerned about feeding birds but are also concerned about other species of wildlife. One friend said, "I got to feed those four-legged critters. Why when I got home last night there was seven of them deer and 10 turkeys in my driveway. I think they are hungry. They wouldn't hardly get out of my way when I wanted to drive into my garage." Not only has there been a demand for bird feed, people are buying cracked corn, whole kernel corn, ear corn and hay for other four-legged and two-legged critters.

Providing food for wildlife at this time, especially for rabbits and deer will help prevent damage to your landscape. When staple food sources are covered with snow and ice they must find alternative sources in order to survive. If plants in your landscape have some nutritional value for wildlife, then these plants may become a snack. And wildlife can certainly cause lots of damage. The damage may simply be munching on a few evergreen leaves or nipping on the ends of a few twigs. Unfortunately, damage can become much worse. I have seen small trees stripped of bark and entire shrubs munched down to the nubbins. This kind of damage usually results in plant mortality. If you have expensive shrubs in your landscape, the monetary loss can mount up rapidly.

It may be na*ve of you to think that after our weather clears up and you quit feeding the local wildlife, that your life may return to normal. As urban sprawl continues and wildlife habitat is reduced, along with increasing populations of some species of wildlife, you may find that your interaction with wildlife may be more frequent. I hear wildlife vs. man war stories every week. Quite often they are very comical to the listeners, but not to the storytellers. The escapades of squirrels that have destroyed the back yard birdfeeder, rabbits that nip off each bean sprout as it emerges from the soil in the spring and the deer that enjoy the delicacies of spring pansies can evoke language that would make a sailor blush.

Articles in nursery trade journals regularly report problems between homeowners and wildlife, especially on the east coast. Coexistence between man and beast, or the lack of it, often becomes confrontational and expensive. In addition many social, moral, ethical and environmental concerns come to the forefront.

There are a few things that you can do if you have wildlife populations around your landscape that are getting out of hand. You could eliminate any feeding stations that you have in your yard. Unfortunately, your neighbors may continue to feed so this may not do you any good.

You can protect plants with commercially prepared repellents such as Ro-pel or Fertilome's Deer and Rabbit Repellent. There are many more on the market. I am sure that you can find several recipes for homemade repellents in garden magazines, on the Internet or from the Missouri Conservation Commission. Be sure to read labels before making applications. These products will prevent browsing but must be reapplied depending upon rainfall.

You can protect stems of small trees with plastic tree guards or with tree wrap. These products will eliminate stripping of bark and the resulting girdling.

Decoy owls and snakes can be bought and placed in the landscape. Their presence can discourage forays into your landscape by unwanted furbearers and feathered fauna.

If a particular critter continually frequents your landscape and causes damage, you can purchase traps. If you are successful in capturing your perpetrator, then you can take him out to one of your farmer friends and let him loose. One friend of mine suggested that I trap several of the culprits that ate all of my shrubs. What he suggested after that can't be written in this column, but I am going to ask Dr. Tom Harte if he has any good recipes for rabbit stew.