Changing Wildlife Patterns

[CloverKnollFarms]

We build homes, drive cars, send off bags of trash...

Yep, the environment suffers for just existing

 

[jyoutz]

I read that about the rabbits but it's not killing them off enough for me... they destroyed my lawn last winter. Ate it down to the dirt and then dug up the roots to eat.
Good riddance to the furry little bast*rds...

When I moved to our current place 20 years ago I had to install a yard fence to keep the rabbits out. Now there are so few that it’s surprising.

 

[big bubba]

How much has the make up of your landscape changed over the years? Any fields turning back to forests, for example? That has changed the habitat in Vermont and many other places quite a bit over the past 100+ years. hayden

25 acres cleared w/4 ponds, 100+ in timber. no changes in habitat, built 2 additional ponds along the way, basically unchanged habitat for 48 yrs.

 

[deserteagle71]

And a huge increase in those damn destructive ground squirrels.

For the first 20 years I lived on this place of mine in Nevada the ground squirrels were very abundant. I found it unique that, unlike the groundhogs in Pennsylvania who came out of hibernation when it warmed up and the snow melted and then disappeared again in late fall, the ground squirrels would come out of hibernation right around the first of the year - made easy targets because they stood out so well against the snow. Then about the first of July when the weather really turned hot, they would disappear until the next January. Then about 10 years ago badgers began moving in. They dig up the ground squirrels and eat them. Now before I mow every year I have to go out with a blade and level out those huge mounds of earth the badgers create. And I don't see many ground squirrels at all since the badgers moved in.

Darned badger mounds can be anywhere from 1 to 2' high...and have some really big rocks buried in that dirt!

Three half-grown badgers running around:

 

[jyoutz]

For the first 20 years I lived on this place of mine in Nevada the ground squirrels were very abundant. I found it unique that, unlike the groundhogs in Pennsylvania who came out of hibernation when it warmed up and the snow melted and then disappeared again in late fall, the ground squirrels would come out of hibernation right around the first of the year - made easy targets because they stood out so well against the snow. Then about the first of July when the weather really turned hot, they would disappear until the next January. Then about 10 years ago badgers began moving in. They dig up the ground squirrels and eat them. Now before I mow every year I have to go out with a blade and level out those huge mounds of earth the badgers create. And I don't see many ground squirrels at all since the badgers moved in.

Darned badger mounds can be anywhere from 1 to 2' high...and have some really big rocks buried in that dirt!
View attachment 2992180

Three half-grown badgers running around:
View attachment 2992181

Wow, that’s quite the population of badgers you have. We have had one or two badgers and mounds that I’m aware of and I have seen one on our road at dusk. Unfortunately they are at the opposite end of the property than those damn ground squirrels. I just keep live trapping the squirrels with peanut butter bait and removing them.

 

[oldballs]

Habitat is part of the equation as others have mentioned. 50 years ago there were Meadow Larks on my 3 acres of a house and open fields. After getting a Case 448 L&G tractor, there's no place for them to nest. Have many other birds however, from little Wrens to many Crows and Turkey Vultures.. Bluebirds are plentiful..Owls and hawks of a variety. Oh...and some Eagles nesting by the creek.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[gsganzer]

Here in Texas, I've witnessed the range of the Caracara bird move north. They're now routinely found in Central TX.

Caracara Bird

 

[ruffdog]

A program on PBS said the temperature of a turtle's nest (eggs) will decide the sex of the offspring. A cold nest will make more males while a warm nest makes more females. Lately, almost all little turtles are born female because the nests are warmer.

 

[Bearsixty7]

Guess this is my "wildlife" project. I've had the good fortune to be involved with my mt top farm in the Boston Ozark mountains since purchase in '77 within the national forest. Over the decades, esp in past 25-40 yrs i've noticed big changes in the following wildlife patterns...
This is NOT intended for a "climate change debate", only my wildlife observations through the years. Am interested in your own thoughts re: the subject. So the following is what i've seen disappear almost completely, and the changes i now see. My place has abundant water, 4 spring fed ponds.

Almost gone:
1) amphibians, frogs, bull frogs, toads, salamanders they're still around but scarce
2) snakes are scarce. not so many snapping turtles compared to the past as well.
3) Whip 'or Whills are gone. Bats & Martins around the ponds are gone.
4) lighting bugs are very scarce, they used to put on a show.
5) Quail are gone (partially due to the fescue takeover) road runners are almost gone.
am sure there are more, what are your examples? i miss the above very much
the deer & turkey populations remain stable.

! all the ponds are brimming, but sometimes they seem like a desert.
in addition, the Polar Vortex, flooding, droughts, & excessive heat have decimated many of my landscape trees (mostly native species) rated Zone 5 in our Zone 6-7 rated area. given these extremes, i feel the entire Zone system needs to be rewritten.

I think you answered your own question!
Wild hogs decimate directly or the habitat of all those listed except #4 I can't explain.

 

[1 Old Man]

Here in Texas, I've witnessed the range of the Caracara bird move north. They're now routinely found in Central TX.

Caracara Bird

In previous years we've had them here in E. Tx. They'll scare off buzzards to get at carrion.
We call them Mexican Eagles but caracara sounds more exotic.....I don't think they hurt anything by being here, but I'm not sure.
We got frogs, turtles and snakes etc. I think our pond fish keep the mosquito population in check. We have deer but unless it's a HUGE " once-in-a-lifetime buck" (haven't seen one so far) we just enjoy watching
them. Feral hogs are a different story, shoot every single one of those destructive little b' tards you can
24/7.