A zoo in your own backyard

You don’t have to hike deep into a secluded forest to learn about wildlife. One of the best ways to get to know birds and animals is to observe them in your own back yard. Some people are fortunate and live on the edge of a forest or on a farm and see lots of wildlife.

I happen to live in a subdivision backing up to a schoolyard and I see lots of wildlife, too. In the past, I have observed everything from a flying squirrel to a black bear, or at least signs of the bear’s previous evening’s visit. This summer has been another learning experience in the school of wildlife.

For starters, our resident pair of bluebirds is working on their second clutch. The first hatch was a near disaster as two of the tiny birds abandoned the nest before they could fly, while one bird remained in the birdhouse as instructed. Mom and dad bluebird had their work cut out for them chasing after two scrambling babies while feeding the third in the nest. I learned that if the babies in the birdhouse are frightened or are threatened, they will jump out rather than be eaten, by a raccoon, for example. I didn’t see signs of a coon, but it’s possible that one reached in the box, snatched one of the chicks and caused the bedlam, which ensued.

A baby bunny, a cottontail rabbit, also took up residence in my wife’s flowerbed. When we first saw him about a month ago, you could have, put him in your shirt pocket. Mother rabbits are good at having little bunnies, but they are not great caregivers. They abandon their nests within a few days of birth, then it’s every bunny for himself.

Since my backyard is free of cats (I make sure it’s free of cats), the little bunny has prospered. One thing that attracted the rabbit is clover. Recently, I have been planting clover in spots where the grass is thinning. Clover grows quickly, makes good ground cover and attracts honeybees as well as wildlife.

In observing the little rabbit, I noticed that during the first few weeks if you approached him, he would freeze and use camouflage as his main defense. In the past few days, however, the little fellow has discovered the power of his hind legs. Now, he just runs away, and at a very high speed at that.

But the rabbit may only be the second fastest animal in our back yard. Chipper, one of our several chipmunks, is one of the fastest creatures I’ve ever seen. I think he would give a bolt of lightning a run for the money for the first 30 or 40 feet. The chipmunk has recently learned to shimmy up the birdfeeder (supposedly squirrel proof) and stuff his cheeks with sunflower seeds. He must have a stash the size of Fort Knox in his burrow. He won’t have to scrounge for food this winter, that’s for sure.

A strange plant has also sprung up in our yard. I first saw it in my vegetable garden this spring. It was a cluster of plants that looked like corn shoots, maybe 15 within the area the size of a softball. I watched it grow for a few weeks, decided it wasn’t a vegetable and pulled it up.

But a couple of these clusters also sprouted in our garden bed. We let these grow. Now about waist high, the leaves look like corn but the cluster is flowering with tiny, bead-like seeds - a little like sumac. I suppose this is just a weed of some sort, but I’ve never seen such a plant before.

Then, there are the deer. This is one animal I wish I would only observe from my deer stand. But, alas, the beasts have taken over every subdivision in North America. They are particularly drawn to my meager vegetable garden and my wife’s impatiens. Last year, the thieving pests destroyed my okra, tomatoes and green beans. This year I have sprayed multiple bottles of deer repellant on my crops and it seems to be working.

A staple repellent is a product called Deer Fence. The drawback is that is stinks so bad buzzards will circle your yard for a few days after each application. A new product, Deer Off, has little or no odor and works just as well while keeping deer, rabbits and squirrels away from your prized vegetables or flowers.

Recently, I picked up another deer repellent called All Season. It’s scent-based, expelled from small cartridges, and triggers the flight-response in deer. It’s an odor that says to deer, “Run away, something’s wrong.”

I staked the units across the entrance to my back yard in hopes it would work like a protective fence. If it does, I’ll let you know.

It sure would be a dirty trick to put one of these gizmos at the base of your buddy’s tree stand. Then all the deer would run away from him and towards you.

Don't even think about it.

Jim Brewer is an outdoors columnist for the News & Messenger. Reach him at jbrewer44@earthlink.net.