I too enjoy a natural approach to landscaping and watching wildlife having grown up in the rural mountains, but the downside of this trend of "wild" animals and humans living close together is zoonosis, the bird flu being only one. Humans are moving into the animal's territory and the animals, as has been pointed out are adapting to ours. Zoonosis is a big problem in areas of the world with deforestation for plantations, ranching/farming, and housing developments as the displaced animals still return to their traditional areas and the humans have no resistance to the diseases they carry. Populations of any type do not thrive in dense situations. Colleen NE Calif., USA -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Giant Coreopsis Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 9:10 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: Re: [pbs] a new pest There has been a resurgence in recent years of wild life returning not just to urban interface zones, but to metropolitan areas in North America. There is a small community of mountain lions in the hills visible from my house in central Los Angeles (see http://www.urbancarnivores.com/); coyotes and bears come through my parents' property spitting distance from Washington, DC and someone mentioned turkeys in view of Manhattan. I personally find it inspiring and hopeful - despite sprawl, highways and climate change, we still get to experience some of the natural world without a camping trip to Yellowstone. Over the years I have had plenty of animals have their way with my plants and projects. It can be a challenge to outsmart them, or deter them, and I aim to treat this as a challenge and part of the adventure. I garden (nowadays with natives) primarily to experience a connection with the natural rhythms of my area. That brings birds, pollinators, soil fungi and some 'pests'. It's all part of the game. I put my precious free time, my money and my creativity into my garden projects. So I guess I rationalize shooting an pesky animal, and it would die, and perhaps the babies it's nursing would slowly starve somewhere out of sight, and at some point (because this is the way nature works), another of its species will take its place and eat my plants again. But I won't. Because the way I see it, that would be cruel and futile, and worst of all, it would miss the point of why I garden. On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 5:10 PM, Kelly Irvin <kellso@irvincentral.com>wrote: > Would make even a PETA member want to become a hunter! Aaargh!! Until > I got a crossbow, the deer were ruining me. No, I'm not a member of > PETA, and I was already a closet hunter. > > Mr. Kelly M. Irvin > 10850 Hodge Ln > Gravette, AR 72736 > USA > 479-787-9958 > USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6a/b > > On 10/30/13 4:06 PM, Dennis Kramb wrote: > > I came home from work yesterday to discover the flower pots on my > > back porch were all knocked down, smashed, with plants uprooted, and > > disheveled. The culprit? A wild turkey. :-) > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >