Hi Kyle,

      My housing development back-up to the wildlife preserve Betty is
speaking off - lots of "wildlife" hang out in my yard and help prune the
garden - bunnies, deer, raccons, oppsums, snakes frogs, and tons of birds!!
I am never sure who is more startled when - when we mutaully starle each
other in the backyard - me or the animals!!

                                Brightest Blessings
                                     Trisha

> My biggest problem is that my house is in a new (<10 years) neighborhood
and
> we don't have large stands of trees nearby.  There are farm fields close,
> but the farmers ripped out most of the fencerows.  This translates into
few
> reasons why songbirds would want to come around.  I keep some gourds
hanging
> around for the purple martins and barn swallows (great for keeping
mosquitos
> at bay), suet feeders and a bath by the kitchen window.  I can get
> hummingbirds because we have a lot of flowers around and it's pretty easy
to
> make "nectar".
>
> Cats are a big problem too.  We don't have an animal shelter in our
county,
> and a lot of city folks bring their unwanted kittens out to the country
and
> "dump" them.  They've really gotten out of hand--killing the birds, baby
> rabbits in the woodpiles, etc.  The Toms are a particular problem with
their
> spraying.  That smell lasts forever!  I have an old truck that I bang
around
> in in the wintertime and the cats love to get under the hood on the warm
> engine.  It's not a problem with the front-wheel drive cars in the hood
> because the fan is temperature actuated, but I've fur-lined the hood of
that
> truck a couple times, if you know what I mean.  It just makes me
> sick-hearted if one gets caught up in there and then runs away before I
can
> put it out of its pain.  I've learned to whack on the hood if I go
somewhere
> in the truck and it's already warmed up.  I did that one time and seven
cats
> ran out!  Scary.
>
> Because I'm a hunter, and kind of have a stomach for such things, the
> township has sort-of deemed me in charge of taking care of the problem in
> our group of houses (about 60).  I live-trap the ferals (I know all the
> neighborhood kitties, so there's never been a problem) and take them to a
> woodlot I own a few miles away, dispatch and bury them there.
> Heartbreaking, really.  If people would only spay and neuter their darn
cats
> we wouldn't have the problem.
>
> Sounds like you have a great set of optics, Betty.  I have a bracket that
> clamps to my car window and I can mount a scope/camera on that.  Have you
> thought of something like that for your chair?  I can send you details, if
> you want.  As far as the photography is concerned, I would think about
> investing in a good, used, manual 35mm SLR (e.g. Nikon F series, Canon
AE-1
> or AE-1P, etc.) and get an adapter for the Leica instead of investing in a
> telephoto lens.  You just can't beat German optics, IMO.  The Leica might
be
> "slow", light-wise, but the new film technology has developed (no pun
> intended) to the point that you can get very fast 35mm film with almost no
> grain.  Fuji makes outstanding film for just this purpose.
>
> So, how many entries in your logbook?  Do you do sketches/watercolors?
>
> -Kyle
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Barber, Kenneth L. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 10:12 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: north/south
>
>
> i like birds but they have to come to me. after years of trying i have a
> pair of southern bluebirds that nest outside my bedroom window in a house
> that is not a normal bluebird house. the hole is too big and bluebirds do
> not normally like that.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Betty Alfred [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 9:24 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: north/south
>
>
> In a message dated 02/10/2000 9:14:24 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> << We do hunt a bird in Ohio called Wilson's snipe.  Looks like a woodcock
> or
> a
>  quail with a really long, flexible beak.  >>
>
> Is anyone on the list into birdwatching, by any chance?  Or am I the only
> Jane Hathaway in the group?