Does your roof look like this?
Then you need a little help in clearing them off and away from your home. Hardly a house in this neighborhood had a single pigeon on it.
Liberty Wildlife is committed to nurturing the nature of Arizona by providing quality wildlife rehabilitation, environmental education, and conservation services for the community.
From time to time even the smallest need a helping hand, we assist Liberty with an ongoing rodent issue and fly control. How about making a donation to Liberty to help the cause.
If you are out and about driving you will see Geese in in v formation, why you ask? First lets discuss why geese migrate – usually they fly south for the winter, I would oh wait I did. Geese like to take advantage of circumstances, warmer weather generally means more food and optimal environments for their off spring. The reason they fly in that v formation is that this affords them the opportunity to waste less work on flying it actually breaks the wall of air that they fly into. The swirling air also helps push the birds behind the other and it allows them to watch and communicate with each other.
Geese are great looking birds but if they become to numerous they can be a hazard, they will attack if you get to close and they will defecate anywhere. This defecating on cement or parking lots areas is really, really slippery so please be careful walking. This morning on the way into work along the 101 they were in a field eating and there were probably over 100.
So yesterday I mentioned that you needed to understand your enemy, often times I think I do and then this happens. See these pictures below, I just don’t understand why rodents like to gather cactus, I would think it would be harmful.
The “jumping cholla” name comes from the ease with which the stems detach when brushed, giving the impression that the stem jumped. Often the merest touch will leave a person with bits of cactus hanging on their clothes or imbedding itself into your skin or to be discovered later when either sitting or leaning on them. The ground around a mature plant will often be covered with dead stems, and young plants are started from stems that have fallen from the adult. They attach themselves to desert animals and are dispersed for short distances. (Wikepedia)
I’m not talking about uninvited people showing up at Christmas time and/or those over staying their welcome. Let’s talk about bringing in Christmas trees and the creatures we may be bringing in as well.
- Always check your Christmas tree for things like squirrels, remember the “Christmas Vacation” movie (I really love that movie) hilarious.
- Use caution when bringing things down from the attic, go through and make sure there are no rodents, bats or wildlife living in the boxes.
- While you are in the attic, do a little inspection – check for termites (mud or dirt and damaged wood), do you see feces from rodents or bird nests.
- Use caution when putting up Christmas decorations outside, you might disturb wildlife and you may accidentally fall.
- Use caution putting decorations into trees or bushes, critters may live there.
- On the highway of your life are you the bug or the windshield?
- Every kid has a bug period… I never grew out of mine. E.O. Wilson
- Have you ever had butterflies in your stomach?
- A flea can trouble a lion more than the lion can harm a flea.
- If you sleep with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.
- A closed mouth catches no flies.
- Even the hand of compassion is stung when it strokes a scorpion.
- The early bird catches the early worm.
Have you heard any others?
South Mountain, Phoenix, AZ
At more than 16,000 acres, South Mountain Park/Preserve is the largest municipal park in the country, according to the Trust for Public Land. It boasts 51 miles of primary trails for horseback riding, hiking and mountain biking for all ability levels. The history of South Mountain Park/Preserve as a city park dates back to 1924. Prominent local citizens, with the help of Sen. Carl Hayden, bought 13,000 acres from the federal government for $17,000. In 1935 the National Park Service developed a master plan for the park with riding and hiking trails, picnic areas and overlooks, all in rustic regional character. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built many of the facilities in the park, based on this master plan.
One of my favorite things to do when I have guests coming into town is to pick them up from Sky Harbor airport and have lunch at the top of South Mountain. Lizards a plenty and sometimes tarantula’s and if your really lucky maybe some wildlife including ground squirrels.
According to CDC surveillance statistics, only 52 cases of Lyme disease have been reported in Arizona in the past 10 years. These statistics may be misleading. Reported cases reflect the “tip of the iceberg,” or only a fraction of the true cases. The CDC states there are approximately 30,000 reported cases of Lyme in the US, and acknowledges that it is under-reported by 10 fold. This means that there are a minimum of 200,000 cases in the US that meet the CDC standard of diagnosis.
There are over 25 species of ticks in Arizona that may carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Tularemia, Babesia and tick fever, as well as Lyme disease. If the tick that bites you is infected, it can inject Lyme bacteria into your bloodstream within hours of attachment. The bacteria can also invade your brain and nervous system in less than 24 hours.
There is a Arizona Lyme Disease Association and is there an answer – YES. As with any wildlife issue, there will almost always be a bug problem. Wildlife can be cute and can also carry diseases and parasites. So why not prevent the issue without harming the wildlife. How is this possible you say? Brochure Tick Control
The mice or ground squirrels enter the box, feed on the non-toxic food and get a combing of fipronil on their fur. They can then carry this back to nest-mates and it absorbs into their skin, killing ticks or fleas that bite and suck their blood.
Here is another article “Lyme Disease in the U.S. is 10-times underreported.”
Many types of plants, including fruit and vegetable crops, depend on animals for pollination. Although honey bees are often first thought of as pollinators, many other types of animals pollinate crops and wildflowers, including wild bees, ants, beetles, wasps, lizards, birds, and bats. The EPA is concerned about declines in pollinator health, and is working to protect bees and other pollinators from pesticide risks through regulatory actions, voluntary changes to pesticide use by registrants and research programs aimed at increasing the understanding of factors associated with declining pollinator health.
ProBest Pest Management and the National Pest Management Association are continuing to watch as this story developes.
Petrified Forest National Park
Just for the record the trees are not standing up, they are petrified (you know who you are). Petrified Forest National Park is the only national park unit to protect a section of Historic Route 66! Animal life at Petrified Forest includes amphibians, birds, insects, spiders, mammals, and reptiles. Over sixteen varieties of lizards and snakes make Petrified Forest their home.
