An unpleasant problem not covered under the waranty

   / An unpleasant problem not covered under the waranty #51  
No one said driver ants. Good old US ants and beetles can be found in your backyard. I don't use ants but I have a good population of native beetles that will clean skulls just a few feet in my woods. They are not the exotic variety that museums and professional taxidermists use, but they get the job done. I was thinking about setting up a colony in my barn, but I don't want to deal with them in the winter. They require constant feeding. The beetles do not eat flesh, its the larva that do. They don't fly until its over a certain temp 80 something, I cant remember the exact temp, so you can keep them in plastic containers. You need to skin the "parts" before you let the beetles get at them. They do not eat skin. You should also put a screen on top of the container, if you keep them inside. You do not want flies getting in because it will stink.

One of the worst killers of native songbirds is invasive bird species. The European house sparrow kills blue birds at an alarming rate. I have found more headless blue birds on my property than I can count. I have researched it, and found that the invasive sparrow from Europe will destroy entire populations of native songbirds. The sparrow pecks the heads of the native blue bird, that instinctively protects its young by shieling them with its wings, until its dead, then the sparrow makes a nest on top of the dead blue bird family. Both the male and female invasive European house sparrow will kill the native birds. This happens in bird boxes across the country. It happens at such an alarming rate that it was recommended to reduce the opening size of your birdbox so the bigger invasive species won't kill the native species for the nest.

The Starling is equally guilty of killing native birds. They are much more easily identified as they are the only black bird with a yellow beak in North America. Juveniles are greyish brown with black beaks. Unfortunately the house sparrow looks like several native bird species, so identification if difficult at a distance.

I am not a birder or granola cruncher, I was just trying to figure out what was killing the native birds around my house. My declawed indoor cat doesn't eat the heads off of birds, nor does my Rottweiler care about birds. The Rott will unstack a cord of wood in ten minutes to get at a mouse nest though.

The main point of this post. If your cat isn't killing invasive European bird species, you should be doing that. Native bird species will love you for that.

Now that the stinky seat problem is solved, I'll second your conclusion about the invasive house sparrows. I have a bluebird nesting box about 20 feet from my back porch. I have great fun shooting sparrows (English/European) all summer long. I even have a sparrow "abortion mill" set up in one corner of my yard where I let the sparrows establish a working nest, then harvest the eggs regularly and throw them in the road. One time I caught them a little too late and they hatched but alas, they met their fate the same way.

I too found a nest of Eastern Bluebirds that were killed by the house sparrows and since then it has been my passion to kill all that I can. I made a really slick live trap and a nesting box trap as well. The internet is a great resource.
 
   / An unpleasant problem not covered under the waranty #52  
mcfarmall,
if you take the eggs they will just produce more eggs. If you let them hatch you have a chance and stopping the next generation of "assassins"
 
   / An unpleasant problem not covered under the waranty #53  
You're extremely misinformed...sure they kill some mice and rats...but it's way more than just a few songbirds...way more...like billions!
Cats that are left outside are more destructive to native wildlife than ANY other non native species of predator...

A roaming cat kills rabbits and anything else that moves. Keep your cat in the house and set traps for the pests. A simple 5 gallon pail with water and a layer of sunflower seeds will kill off all of your mice. Put a ramp up the side of the bucket for the mice to get into it. Fill the bucket up to about 4 inches from the top. The mice will drown and all you need to do is scoop them out and dispose of the little pests.
 
   / An unpleasant problem not covered under the waranty #54  
A few interesting points:
Here in the great state of Pennsylvania, "Wood Rats" are a protected animal and an endangered species.
The cat thing got me going. They defecate in my flower beds. Neighbors let them run lose. They've torn up all the cushions on the wife's wicker furniture. Now wife wants money for new cushions !!
PA farmers place "black snakes" in their barns to control mice and rats. The Owls work the night shift.
 

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