For every action there is a reaction. It’s a never ending process. Life moves continuously from organization to disorganization and back again. Nothing stays the same. Humans arrogantly think they can mess with nature, even control it, but nature wins in the end. Here’s what I’m seeing as a consequence of one of my favourite nature activities - bird feeding. I just love watching birds, trying to identify them, listening to them sing, watching how they fly and interact with one another… Seems like an idyllic picture, yes?
They say once you start feeding the birds you need to continue. You have made them dependant on this food source and withdrawing it could cause…what?…would they go hungry? Perhaps they’d get so fat and happy they’d neglect to teach their little birdlets how to forage. Some days I forget to feed them, on purpose, teach them the harsh realities of being a bird.
I’ve heard they make bird feeders that squirrels cannot access. Maybe. We have very intelligent squirrels North of 54. Too often I see a squirrel lounging in the feeder while she fills her cheeks full and chitter chatters at any bird who dares to question her right to be there. I have accepted this but our Border Collie puppy, Scout, is not so amiable. He is, in fact, downright upset about it. The feeder is just outside our kitchen window and the presence of a squirrel causes Scout to escalate his puppy cuteness to a state of frenzy. Window hangings fall; the window itself is in jeopardy. His natural killing instinct is aroused. What to do…? I can’t let him out to chase the squirrel away. His herding instincts would soon kick in and he’d wander away from squirrels and fixate on sheep. A yet to be trained Border Collie can cause major chaos in a flock of sheep. I could move the feeder away from the house but don’t want to. I’d lose the pleasure it provides.
We put up with Scout’s frenzied behaviour for quite awhile but eventually we began to convince ourselves that it was time to take drastic measures. The squirrel has no right to be there! It’s a bird feeder after all! (Disney style animal lovers beware - I could write a thesis on the damage these cute rats have caused on our farm.) Out came the 22 and one squirrel was eliminated. But all squirrels look alike, turns out there was more than one and she was teaching her children about this cornucopia of abundance. So far 3 have bit the dust - hopefully that’s the end of it. Scout guards his “kills” faithfully, tries to bring them into the house but is strongly discouraged. Last night though, when heading to bed, I felt a sock on the floor with my bare foot only to discover the sock had a fuzzy tail! Puppies can be trusted to test your patience while teaching them their household manners.
A few days ago while getting a book off the shelf I noticed there were sunflower seeds stashed behind it, lots of sunflower seeds! Seems I’m feeding birds, squirrels, and mice! And perhaps I’m inadvertently feeding another of nature’s children - ravens. This year I’ve noticed a much larger presence of ravens on our farm. They’re very noisy neighbours, screeching and squawking while they dive about looking for food.
“Common ravens have coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas have been so numerous that people have regarded them as pests. Part of their success as a species is due to their omnivorous diet: they are extremely versatile and opportunistic in finding sources of nutrition, feeding on carrion, insects, cereal grains, berries, fruit, small animals, nesting birds, and food waste.” (Wikipedia).
I would add dog food to that list. I think they get at least 50% of what we leave out for our guardian dogs when we go away for a couple of days. Also, in the 40+ years we’ve raised lambs this is the first year I’ve seen a huge raven hopping his way toward a weak and tiny new born lamb with obvious bad intentions. Are the ravens here because the birds, squirrels and mice are so plentiful? Would these critters be as plentiful if I weren’t feeding them? What about the sunflower seed growers? They have to eat too! Am I overthinking all of this? Probably.
We’re humans, top of the food chain, use or change whatever we want to make our existence more pleasant and comfortable. Some say God gave us the natural world for our use. But in our arrogance we forget there’s an attachment to that thinking - we have a responsibility to be caretakers as well.
Nature out of balance teeters awhile until it rights itself.
Such a simple thing - feeding birds….
Three days later…
I just saw a red winged black bird chase a raven clear across the yard.
Gotta love life!
