Subject: [Tweeters] HOA's
Date: Jul 23 11:01:11 2010
From: rccarl at pacbell.net - rccarl at pacbell.net


Selective feeding will? avoid encouraging avian and mammalian pests.? Thistle seed feeders will be untouched by starlings or rats, as will be hummingbird feeders.? Suet blocks inside protective cages will exclude starlings.? It's open seed feeders that cause the problem.

I just spent 2 months stuck at home recovering from hip surgery, and would have been crushed without my feeders to watch.?

RCC

Richard Carlson

Full-time Birder, Biker and Rotarian

Part-time Economist

Tucson, AZ, Lake Tahoe, CA, & Kirkland, WA

rccarl at pacbell.net

Tucson 520-760-4935

Tahoe 530-581-0624

Kirkland 425-828-3819

Cell 650-280-2965

--- On Fri, 7/23/10, Teresa Michelsen <teresa at avocetconsulting.com> wrote:

From: Teresa Michelsen <teresa at avocetconsulting.com>
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] HOA's
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Date: Friday, July 23, 2010, 12:13 PM












I understand the desire and fun of birdfeeding, but also the
reason for banning it ? houses in urban areas are frequently overrun by
mice and rats as a result of birdfeeders (and people that leave pet food
outdoors, etc.). The decline in operating budgets for most cities over the last
few years has led most of them to discontinue their rodent control programs,
meaning that homeowners are left on their own to deal with this problem, and
the HOA may have felt they had no choice. Among other problems, the seeds that
fall to the ground are taken by mice and stored in insulation for the winter,
which creates an unholy mess. I realize this won?t be a popular position
among birdwatchers, but being one myself and also having had to rip out my
insulation ($3000+) and deal with mice and seed caches in my house year after
year as a result of my neighbor feeding birds, I understand the downside.

?

On another level, we all know the problems associated with
feeding ducks and geese at the park. Neighborhood bird-feeding is not really
all that different; it tends to benefit invasive species (including squirrels,
rodents, starlings, etc.) and those comfortable in urban environments more than
it does native species. The most ecologically sound approach to attracting birds
to your yard is to plant an abundance of native plants that the birds would
naturally eat and which do not create an attractive nuisance for rodents. I know
how much enjoyable it is, and I?d like to do it myself, but I don?t
for these reasons.

?

Teresa Michelsen

Olympia, WA

?



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of nightwings406 at aol.com

Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 8:27 AM

To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu

Subject: [Tweeters] HOA's



?



The board of my homeowner's association just banned birdfeeding in
our neighborhood. If anyone has some help for me to fight this I would
appreciate them contacting me on my e-mail.





Thank you, Donna Ferrill





Mill Creek








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