Country Living: Invaders - them or us?

Editor's note: Part one Ever wonder how to deal with nuisances, unwanted critters and non-native invaders on your country property? I've had my share while living in the country. When I bought my first rural property in Placer County, I discovered we inherited dozens of fowl comfortably nesting around our two lovely backyard ponds and who assumed title to our large deck and surrounding landscaping. Geese and ducks of all sorts and colors strutted, waddled and pooped (!) wherever they liked, nesting comfortably in garden niches and adding to the population exponentially over time. After time, I knew we couldn't continue this pattern and I had to declare "enough already!" So, my teenage son and I began rounding up the feckless fowl we could catch and loaded them into my small Honda station wagon amid the constant honking, shrieking and quacking of these feathered squatters! Destination, Folsom Lake, just a few miles away. I'm not sure how I managed the short drive but alas, we arrived and opened the rear door of my wagon to an explosion of wings, webbed feet and flying feathers from the heckling fowl who I'm sure were cussing at me in their "fowl" language! I'm a passionate animal lover – domestic and wild – and I will always err on the side of forgiveness of the annoyances that sometimes come with them. But, I realize there may be limits like living with gophers, voles, ground squirrels, etc. who can undermine one's property. We've tried many "solutions" to reduce their presence without much success. There is no question I will not use poisons for a permanent solution, as tempting as it may sound, because the poison travels up the "food chain" when predators eat the poisoned animal. For instance, I'm pretty sure the dead fox who expired in our barn years ago had eaten a poisoned gopher from a neighbor's yard because it was otherwise very healthy looking and I had seen it just days before skittering across the ceiling rafters in our barn. In some minds, other "nuisance" wildlife may include deer whose appetites include many of the lovely plants we chose to put in our landscaping. I, however, would gladly trade a few of my hostas for a glimpse at these gentle wild beings – especially knowing how hard we humans have made life for them. I liken their existence to living in a pinball machine – constantly confronting obstacles and diverting them from point to point. The effect of our human obstacles makes it a challenge for them to find food, mates and shelter. Also, humans unknowingly or uncaringly erase much of their habitat without realizing it's home to many lives, from the smallest insects to birds and mammals, which disrupts the predator-prey balance that's necessary in a healthy ecosystem. Our rural home is surrounded by a perimeter of blackberries which house an infinite number of quail and other birds in addition to occasional fox, deer, raccoons, etc. But we count this as a blessing and cherish having our own wildlife parade. Snakes are another critter humans invariably want to remove from their land. We once lived on a hilltop that backed up to 320 acres of pristine oak woodland and we had our share of snakes and every other wild animal native to our area. I learned a few things about snakes. King snakes eat rattlesnake young. Also, in most cases, the much-feared rattlesnakes are not aggressive unless surprised – in fact, they give you a warning when encountered. They just want you to leave them alone so they can escape. I witnessed this so many times I'm ashamed of myself for the times I was the aggressor and disposed of them. These days, some landowners use fine-celled "snake fencing" to keep snakes out. (Or fence them in – I've never quite figured that one out!) We once had a loud squawking pheasant outside our bedroom window which was, at first, annoying. But when I looked out the window and saw this gorgeous plumed animal, I forgave him – for the privilege of being able to witness his extraordinary beauty. This story, however, had a sad ending, I'm afraid. His constant loud calls were apparently calls for a mate. One morning, I walked out onto our front porch and saw something unusual laying on our lush green lawn. As I got closer, I realized it was probably the mate our male bird had been looking for, yet ... she was dead! Healthy, fat and lovely, her fresh body lay there on our lawn. I deduced that she paid the price for us having a lush and green lawn. My conclusion is the granular chemicals used for this were mistaken for food and they had taken the life of this innocent wild animal. I felt so guilty and immediately cancelled our lawn service. We never heard the male pheasant again. I have many more anecdotes to share in my next column but, I'm left to wonder – who, in fact, is the intruder? Irene Smith has enjoyed rural living for more than 30 years and wants to share experiences and lessons learned from this lifestyle for the benefit of others. You can share your comments and experiences with Irene at n8rlvr2009@gmail.com.