Do you feed animals living in the wild?

[NNN0LHI]

Is doing so a good or bad idea?

This goes for feral cats and wild birds.

Whats the right answer on this?

Don

[rucky]

1. Birds

and laid out a deer lick one year, but no luck

[niceypoo]

58. Renegade chicken

One of my up the street neighbors (Vietnamese gentleman) went and bought 6 live chickens to butcher. One of the chickens was too out of control to behead, and made a mad dash for freedom. Of course the chicken fled to my yard. We tried to corral the hen to no avail, she was just too high strung to catch, so we gave up. I went in and made a peanut butter and jam sandwich for the renegade chicken which she devoured before disappearing into my bushes.

Well, she has lived in my blackberry bushes for a month now. When I go out into the yard she emerges seeking her morning PB&J sandwich. Bought some chicken feed the other day, she and the squirrels all love it. She is one spoiled rotten renegade chicken.

She grew up on a factory farm, so the renegade chicken is tasting freedom for the first time and lovin' it. At least one of my other neighbors is feeding her also, saw her across the street eating something in the yard. Not sure how this story will end, but for now it is a source of amusement for my neighbors and I.

We all feel a little inspired by the spirited renegade squatting in my blackberry bushes.

[Buzz Clik]

61. The word will spread among the neighborhood dogs.

Miss Chicken's days are numbered.

[niceypoo]

62. Perhaps, yes

She may go down in a hail of fangs, but will die a free chicken.

Mostly racoons around here, The one dog in the neighborhood is chained up.

[FloridaJudy]

91. Great!

My son has a pet chicken named Camilla. She's very tame, and loves to be petted and to eat from your hand. Who knew that chickens could have so much personality?

If I had a chicken, I'd probably call it General Tso, but then I'm warped like that.

[Lorien]

102. A friend of mine has two pet Bantams named Sam and Nilla

Sam is crazy about me. He follows me everywhere when I come for a visit, and will beat himself against the widows of the house if I go inside. Last time I was there they finally had to let him indoors during dinner because he was getting so crazed outside the window near where I was sitting. He ran inside and jumped onto my lap, then curled up, closed his eyes, and made happy contented sounds. I sure wish that my friends had not been serving chicken that evening! It was pretty uncomfortable eating my meal while Sam was looking at me so lovingly. I have since tried to keep meat off the menu as much as possible!

[Edweird]

81. Two peahens. (they are both gone now, thanks to scumbag neighbors)

They just showed up one day (maybe 5 years ago) and we starting feeding them. My wife was crazy about them. They hung around for years. They slept in a tree in our front yard. One was shot and a couple of years later (earlier this year) the other was run over. They are both buried in my back yard. My next door neighbors daughter just asked me about them.....
:(

[tuckessee]

109. That's horrible! I have some peafowl.

They came with the land I bought some years ago.

I shudder when I think about what I'd do if I caught someone redhanded intentionally harming one of them.

[Edweird]

112. I did not catch them doing it. If I had I would probably be in prison....

I would 'cluck' at them when I put food out.
BTW, peahens LOVE blueberries. You probably already know that, tho.

The first one was the saddest. My wife came home and found her in the road, still warm, with the other hen standing over her (confused I guess). My wife went into hysterics She cried for days over that. I cried, too.

They don't hurt anybody, they don't tear stuff up, they're just big stupid birds. Why anyone would do that is incomprehensible.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I put food out for the birds.

This also serves as entertainment for my indoor cats.

[NNN0LHI]

11. Doing that only ends up turning the song birds into cat food in my neighbors back yard

She feeds them all year long and there are always feral and domesticated cats cruising the area for a free bird meal. Its a real horror show sometimes.

Don

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. I've never seen any neighbor cats go after the birds on my feeder.

Here in Minnesota the neighbor cats mostly stay inside in the winter, but the birds need food. So I feed them. I also return shopping carts.

[OnyxCollie]

98. LOL! I was going to mention the carts...

[niceypoo]

67. We jokingly call my mothers bird feeder...

...'The bird and cat feeder.'

[Buzz Clik]

3. I hang raw meat from tree branches for lions and wolverines.

Doing so keeps the stray dog population under control.

[slackmaster]

7. I want to go to your house some time

Sounds like fun!

[BrklynLiberal]

21. Tough neighborhood, huh?

[alphafemale]

22. How high can they jump?

I like you. Youz kewl.

[Buzz Clik]

The cougars jump pretty well...

The wolverines, well, not so much.

[slackmaster]

55. Ooooo, nice kitteh!

Great photos.

[AsahinaKimi]

95. oooooOmg!! Kitty!!

Soooooooo pretty!!!

I love all kinds of kitties..

[Lifetimedem]

45. LOL n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

87. lol, good for the buzzard population, too.

[slackmaster]

4. Not intentionally

Sometimes the little fuckers steal my food when I go camping.

I would like to maintain a bird feeder, but because I have two healthy cats it would just turn into a cat feeder. So what I do is maintain a few trees and shrubs that provide decent nesting sites, and some flowers for the many hummingbirds we have here.

San Diego County is one of the best areas for birdwatching.

I say feeding feral cats is a very bad idea unless they have been neutered and vaccinated. (A group called Friends of Cats captures them, treats, and releases them to live out their lives.)

[TahitiNut]

5. Regularly threw bread out for the birds ... until rats started feeding on it.

Unfortunately, intentions don't always match the result.

[liberalmuse]

6. Birds.

My daughter gets after me. She says I shouldn't feed them, because they'll become dependent on it and it will hurt them in the long run.

[Jackpine Radical]

54. There's nothing worse than a

Welfare Warbler.

[lukasahero]

89. Actually, birds only get about 25% of their food needs from feeders

so tell your daughter to leave you alone. :)

[peace13]

8. We feed they birds in the winter.

When things are snow and ice covered those creatures need a little help. Fun to watch too. We have outdoor cats and every once in a while a stray will belly up to the bar. I worry about diseases but you can't stop a hungry cat! The deer get my old apples once in a while. That is it for me in the wilds of Ohio. Happy Thanksgiving. Peace, Kim

[janx]

9. Birds--bird seed in the winter, and hummingbird

feeders in the spring and summer.

[KittyWampus]

10. Do not EVER feed feral cats without the intent of trapping, spaying and releasing

public service announcement.

[alphafemale]

20. Otherwise you run the risk of being one of those people on Animal Cops

egads

[KittyWampus]

40. Don't know what Animal Cops is, but to clarify... encouraging feral cats to breed

by simply feeding them helps perpetuates a hideous, disease filled short life for the beasties.

Feral cats lead a horrible life.

If you aren't going to trap, spay and release it's more humane to just shoot them and put them out of their procreating misery.

Just so it's clear, I have been involved with trapping, spaying and releasing and THEN feeding feral cats in my community.

[Mz Pip]

48. I'm involved in

a similar group here. We trap, spay, vaccinate and release feral cats, then feed the colonies. Letting them breed is cruel. Feral kitten mortality is around 70%.

If there are kittens and we can catch them early enough we have people who are trained in socialization. Once the kittens are socialized then they can be adopted out. Two of my cats were feral kittens when rescued. I bottle fed them and socialized them. They turned out to be wonderful pets.

[alphafemale]

57. Animal Cops is a show primarily about animal abuse

And cities that have police officers dedicated to persecution of cruelty to animals.

It can break your heart. As far as the feral cats go there are all the time on that show people having like 200 or more cats in and around their place. And they are purely wild things.

[navarth]

25. that makes total sense

it's humane in more ways than one

[Edweird]

82. one of my neighbors is 'the crazy cat guy'.

He throws cat food out in the street (PILES of it) and stray cats and pigeons feed on it. I also hold him mostly responsible for the death of my bird because she was eating the cat food in the street when she got run over. She was full of eggs and couldn't move quickly......

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. I would, but when I went out to buy some food

I couldn't find a damn shopping cart.
;-)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

13. I feed the birds

If we had feral cats here, I'd feed them, too. I'd also try to trap them, so I could get them fixed.

[MineralMan]

14. We feed the birds and squirrels...

especially during Winter. The birds get seeds and suet blocks, and the squirrels get roasted, unsalted peanuts in the shell.

It's a daily thing for us, and we get to watch the birds out our big living room window all winter long. The squirrels are hilarious, and will even come up and take peanuts out of our hands.

Just this week, a pileated woodpecker visited our suet holder and gobbled up a bunch of it. Beautiful, huge woodpecker, and rarely seen in residential areas of the city.

When we lived in California, we also fed a large family of racoons with cheap bagged catfood. They also like peanuts in the shell, and a couple of them would take them from my hand. The jays there would fly to my hand to eat nuts, as well.

Fun times.

[NV Whino]

79. Please return to California and collect your raccoon

He's eating my catfood. Thanks in advance.

[MineralMan]

84. That's OK. No, thanks.

I like it in Minnesota. However, you can buy the cheapest dry catfood you can find, maybe at the feed store. The raccoons love it, but your can won't eat it. You'll get a chance to get to know the raccoons. They're interesting critters.

We used to have a cat flap, too. We took it out after my favorite family of raccoons turned up one winter night sleeping on the couch in the living room. That was a bit too much. They left peacefully, though, and didn't do any damage.

[pengillian101]

90. Hia MineralMan

"We used to have a cat flap, too. We took it out after my favorite family of raccoons turned up one winter night sleeping on the couch in the living room. That was a bit too much. They left peacefully, though, and didn't do any damage."

That must have been something else! Did you get pictures?

That's the reason why we never had a pet entrance flap door living in the country. I was always too afraid of what animal would come in on its own. One of our mouser cats brought in enough live 'things' over the years. She'd sneak in chipmunks under cover or catch mice and put them in the bathtub so they couldn't escape. They would scamper around and entertain her all night. EEK! - me freakout in the morning. :silly:

Both cats are now about 20 years old and they have been indoor outdoor all that time. It's surprising they have lived so long. One is still a great outdoor hunter (in her mind) and the other one sleeps and snores indoors all day.

It's fun when 'our' deer visit. The cats think they are monster mice, LOL. One exceptionally cold MN winter, a deer family slept under the deck next to the house for warmth. We don't feed the deer, but they browse on our cut grass/moss yard that is in the middle of thick woods. Water is nearby. I told them (seriously) and they understand that our property is a safe zone from hunters. ;-)

[MineralMan]

106. I didn't have my camera...

the 'coons woke up as soon as I walked in, then ambled over to the cat flap and exited, one at a time. They didn't seem to be in much of a hurry, but they were used to seeing me. Funny stuff.

[pengillian101]

93. Lucky you!

"Just this week, a pileated woodpecker visited our suet holder and gobbled up a bunch of it. Beautiful, huge woodpecker, and rarely seen in residential areas of the city."

When we lived in Sherburne County 10+ years ago, we had a family of pileated woodpeckers who lived on the property as long as we lived there. Sherburne County is prime habitat for them. Some woods, but also lots of open fields.

Suet balls were the trick in the winter. Hung off shepard's poles from the deck will lure them in close. They are EXTREMELY skittish birds. One will come in to eat and the mate will keep guard and warn the other of danger. We also hung a suet ball outside the kitchen window, 6 inches away. Wow, that was some extremely great closeups. One time, one of them got his foot tangled up in the suet ball's netting and he could not fly away. Thank goodness it was the one just outside the kitchen window and we were able to open the window get it untangled. Wow, what powerful talons it had. It must have sensed not to fight, thank goodness.

No more netting!

[MineralMan]

107. Wow! You're the lucky one...

having a family of pileated woodpeckers on your property for years. Cool!

[IDemo]

15. We have several birdfeeders

and the hawks have come to view our yard as their own 'birdfeeder' as a result.

[azmouse]

17. Just hummingbird feeders.

We have the little birds here all winter and they are such a joy to watch.

[EFerrari]

18. I've helped trap ferals before but just feeding? Nope, not unless there is a plan

to bait a trap.

[Liberal_in_LA]

59. I volunteer with a group to feeds ferals with the plan of trapping & adopting or releasing

[EFerrari]

80. There's a catch and release program out in this corner of Golden Gate Park.

But the food chain is the food chain and I bet there are some fat coyotes somewhere around here, too. :(

[BrklynLiberal]

19. I feed the birds and cats that may be around my house.

Don't know if it is "right or wrong", but I cannot see that cats going hungry. I have caught a few of the cats, had them spayed/neutered and found homes for them. The Humane Society here will do it for free for feral cats. you just have to call and make an appt. In the winter particularly, I feel sorry for them being outside.
Te birds flock to my kitchen window, which is where the feeder is hanging, and it is out of the reach of any of the cats. My indoor cats think it is CAT-TV!

[KittyWampus]

43. Thank You, for trapping/spaying cats. It can be very rewarding.

[emilyg]

76. That's what I do.

Feed what comes to my yard. We trap and spay, too.

[Highway61]

23. A big yes

birds, the groundhog that lives under the shed and "momma" deer. She comes to my front steps every morning and evening. I give her bread and apples. She eats from my hand and lets me give her hugs. She travels with a herd and has become a friend.
I have a chipmunk that comes by every summer and sits on the front porch until I arrive with the peanuts. Animals are awesome...

[MineralMan]

29. Lucky you!

I wish I had a groundhog in my yard. There are a few rabbits around, but no groundhogs in my neighborhood.

[Inkyfuzzbottom]

69. You do NOT want groundhogs

They are destructive little buggers. We had them and they ruined our barn with their burrows. If your horses or donkeys step in one of their burrows it can break their legs. Not to mention it can also break a human's leg. I stepped in one and nearly snapped my leg in two. They can ruin the structural integrity of a building by compromising the ground under the foundation. We trapped them and moved them several times before the foxes took over their burrow and made it a fox den. Suddenly the groundhogs were gone...much to our relief.

[Highway61]

105. I grew up on a farm

I am used to them...just gotta be careful, I guess

[Omaha Steve]

24. We do

We stopped feeding deer a year ago. There were several articles on why not to feed them in the winter. Just behind our fence is Fontenelle Forest.

The water bowl has a heater to keep it from freezing. We feed, birds, squirrels, raccoons, possums, etc...

[CoffeeCat]

26. There was a possum that used to show up on our...

...backyard deck every night between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

We left him Cheerios on the deck. My kids named him Cupcake.

He eventually moved on--I'm sure with a much lower cholesterol number.

Also, when my kids were 2 and 3, they spied a little chipmunk by our front door.

My 3 year old exclaimed, "I shall call him....Clavindough!" I have no idea what that
word means or where she got that word, but we agreed to leave Cheerios for him too.

He came around for months and he always had a steady supply of Cheerios.

[truedelphi]

75. Here's a strange tale:

Back when I lived in Sausalito - I was watching TV and it was dusk.

There was a knock at the front door. I was slow in getting to the door, and a bit perplexed, because the knock seemed to emanate from about where a small child would knock, rather than an adult. (Little kids were priced out of Sausalito - so this was a puzzle.)

I opened the door and there stood an adolescent raccoon. Shiny eyes and fur, and a grim, determined smile on his face.

He sat down and waited patiently at the door while I ran to the kitchen and got a bag of cat food. Then he followed me out to the middle of the adjacent field while I poured him about a third of the bag.

He looked at me with "thanks" and then proceeded to dig in.
I never saw him again.

A friend of mine who lived in Mill Valley and who is a doctor had a similar tale. One night she heard a knock at her door. She opened her door and saw a deer with a moderate rack of antlers on his head. He had used the antlers to knock. He had a wound over one eye, and he let her treat him. Then he took off for the woods around her home.

[Deep13]

27. Birds, rabbits, squirrels in the winter.

We like rabbits and want them to last the winter. We feed squirrels to keep them out of our bird feeders. Plus they eat the same stuff as rabbits. We feed the birds partly because we like watching them but also so they will hang around in summer to eat bugs.

[jobycom]

28. Only when rewarding them for bringing shopping carts in from the parking lot.

It's training, you see.

[NNN0LHI]

47. Really like that cart returning business don't you?

Don't want anyone to take that important job from you when you go shopping I bet.

Or perhaps you don't want to have people laughing at you when you do it? Or maybe you realize how stupid you looked doing it in the past and that pisses you off?

Whatever, have a good day.

Don

[jobycom]

49. Wow, you're an ass. If I'd known that, I wouldn't have tried an amused jest

to kick your thread.

[Vinca]

30. I used to feed the birds until there was an epidemic of sick birds

that were picking up something at the feeders. Now I throw bread out for them when I have it and don't use a feeder. We throw our vegetable and fruit scraps out on top of the garden over the winter and the crows scavenge for seeds. Last winter we had an opossum dine on fruit scraps. The deer and wild turkeys seem to go into hiding at this time of year, a good idea since hunters are around. I always leave the tail end of the summer garden for them to finish off.

[Jamastiene]

31. Not now, but I used to have a couple hummingbird feeders and regular bird feeders

at the old place. The squirrels and the birds ate together and had themselves a picnic every day for years. We had one squirrel we named Cyclops who was a regular. She stayed around for about 6 solid years every single day. My cats watched them out the window (up or down, depending on the weather) every day too. They enjoyed it like TV or something. Cyclops knew to run from stray cats, but not mine, somehow.

My cats don't seem to bother anything except crickets, though, which doesn't bother me. Crickets get on my nerves with all their squawking and squealing anyhow. I'm not THAT cruel though. I normally don't go after the crickets or anything, but if my cats find one, I'm not going to scold the cats for it.

I wouldn't feed bears or anything predatory though. I think that's against the law anyhow, but bird/squirrel feeding is fine.

[ellenfl]

32. are you thinking of banning bird feeders?

i had someone tell me recently that it is illegal to feed wild animals. i guess that means that bird feeders will be outlawed soon.

i feed the critters that live at the town 'pond'. most are semi-wild and eat from my hand. the wild ones will come get seeds after i have backed away. we have a lot of mallards that showed up last year and decided to stay . . . probably because of the regular feedings they get. btw, the town has put out free bird feed dispensers so that most people will feed the birds seeds instead of bread.

ellen fl

[frebrd]

33. Only hummingbirds......

the cats don't even try to get them - they know they can't catch them.

[Marr]

34. I almost fed a wild bear once.

Luckily, I had an escape route.

[BrklynLiberal]

68. LOL n/t

[ashling]

35. I put birdseed out

but I don't stand there and feed them - if theyeat it fine.


:rofl:

[HysteryDiagnosis]

36. Feeding wild animals is strictly for the birds... so I do. n/t

[xchrom]

37. yes -- hummingbirds -- birds --

and the squirels.

feeding the squirels means i also feed a whole bunch of crows.

[roseBudd]

38. I put leftovers that would otherwise end up being pitched out at dusk...

I can only get hubby to eat the same thing 2 maybe 3 times and he refuses to eat bread that has been frozen or pretty much anything frozen that did not start out frozen.

So raccoons & opossums enjoy the occasional chicken carcass, meat scraps,crockpot stews, pizza, breads & rolls.

But these are very urban raccoons who already feast on cat food and college student pizza crusts.

[izquierdista]

39. Mankind has always fed the wild animals

Man has the longest list of commensal followers and scavengers of any animal species. From dogs and cats to rats, pigeons, and cockroaches, hordes of wild animals look to humans as a source of discarded food to scavenge. I used to set a dish of cat food by the back door for my outdoor cats, but soon learned to take it in at night to discourage the raccoons and possums.

Even when man decides that something is unfit and throws it away, he is providing a bounty. Landfills are always teeming with seagulls and other scavengers who are looking for a tasty morsel before it gets covered over by the bulldozer.

Part of living with nature is realizing that wild animals are going to check and see what you have left for them. Golf courses are a veritable oasis for wild animals like deer and bighorn sheep, with lots of graze and browse plants and plenty of relatively clean, fresh water. If the golf course is in a harsh environment, it may help tide over a much larger population of herbivores through the rough times. The question is not are you going to feed wild animals, but how much. Populations of wild animals will fluctuate (Google the Lotka-Volterra equation to find out how), and the most man can do is smoothe out or amplify the fluctuations.

Given the pain that the fluctuating financial markets have caused over the past few weeks, I would say that the best thing to do is to do is to smooth out the fluctuations in nature: feed birds in the winter, let the bighorn sheep graze on the golf course, and let the occasional raccoon hit the jackpot in your garbage can.

[BrklynLiberal]

70. Man has even fed aliens...

"To Serve Man"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man_(The_Twilight_Zone)

[Paladin]

41. Seed For The Birds, Carrots For The Rabbits...No Guilt About It (n/t)

[Lifetimedem]

46. Good thought

We live in a wooded area and I never though about the bunnies in the winter.. I am going to start to toss out some carrots

[Paladin]

83. My Bird Feeder Also Nourishes The Squirrels---The Little Bastards.

Nice thought about carrots for the rabbits in winter.

[tularetom]

42. Many years ago when we had sheep I used to feed coyotes

Unintentionally. One year we lost probably a quarter of our lambs.

[Lifetimedem]

44. Birds

I make sure there is food for my winter feathered friends..So I end up also feeding squirrels ( as every bird feeder knows )

[Two Americas]

50. we do - by the thousands

Just run a farm if you want to feed wildlife lol.

We do try to discourage it, though, in various ways.

[gollygee]

51. I put out bird seed

It is intended for birds, but squirrels, chipmunks, and deer also seem interested.

If my daughter only eats part of an apple, I put the rest out by the bird feeder for the deer.

[Mz Pip]

52. Feeding wild deer

can create a huge problem. We have a vacation cabin at about 4500 ft. In the summer the community is populated with many deer. The summer people think it's cute to feed them. The deer get used to being fed and refuse to go to lower altitudes for the winter.

The summer people leave. The snows come and the deer end up dying of starvation because they have grown accustomed to being given handouts. People aren't doing the animals any favors by feeding them.

[NNN0LHI]

65. Kind of the same thing happens here

People think it is nice to feed the Canadian geese here when on their trip south. But then when the birds don't go south and nest in right here the same people start complaining about all the goose poop in their yards. Then I start seeing little yellow goslings which have been purposely ran over in the road and I know who did that.

Its unbelievable.

Don

[Muttocracy]

88. Feeding deer in NYS is illegal due to risk of chronic wasting disease

which is spread when they congregate. Of course, the deer here are multiplying out of control and the only thing keeping them in check is collisions with cars, which don't end well for anyone involved. They don't need human food, and you don't need to put out food to see them all the time. They're particularly out of control in small cities and villages where hunting isn't allowed. Last summer I watched a mama deer with a set of triplets in my neighborhood, no fear of humans, cars, or dogs. I see far fewer of them out in the more rural areas.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7197.html

[kas125]

53. I feed the birds, give treats to the neighbors' dogs, and nuts to the

squirrels. There is one who takes them from my hand and if I'm not out there when she's hungry she comes looking for me. Here she is looking in the back door -

[pengillian101]

85. What an adorable friend you have!

You can see it in her eyes. Hey, come on, it's time to EAT!



:-)

[kas125]

94. She IS adorable, but sometimes I forget and open the door

to put something in the recycling or look to see where the dog is and she's right there. I'm afraid that one of these days she is going to sneak inside. I don't think she'd seem quite so cute if she got in...

[Lorien]

101. There was a squirrel in Winter Park, FL that would scratch on the door

of a local ice cream shop every day. I saw her doing it and remarked to the kid behind the counter that the squirrel seemed to want to come in. He said "That's OK, she can come inside". so I opened the door, she hopped inside and over to the counter where the young man handed her a tiny paper cup filled with chopped nuts. She carefully carried her cup to the front door and I let her out again. When I went outside later there she was, perched in a small tree with her cup wedged between her feet eating the chopped nuts. That was one smart squirrel!

[Warpy]

56. I feed hummingbirds March-May

and again August-September. They need to switch to protein foods like insects in midsummer to feed their young.

If I don't need croutons or breadcrumbs, I toss stale bread out for the winter birds.

My yard is a gathering place for the area cats--no dogs. They all look well fed and most are collared. Since I don't want a houseful of cats, I don't feed them.

[uppityperson]

60. Not feeding them takes away jobs from people who make Wild Animal Food.

I depends. I throw out old seed from my doves for the juncos to eat, but can't put up bird feeders since the rats eat that. I don't have feral cats, but my cats and chickens have fed coyotes by accident.

[trashcanistanista]

63. Yes

I leave any excess food out on my property. This is anything that may go bad, bread, chips, cheese, vegetables and fruit. I feed feral cats and racoons when I see them. I have a compost pile where skunks and other critters tend to root through every now and then. I have a bird feeder I keep filled with bird seed. Most of my garden gets eaten at some point by deer, after harvest I open it up to them. I compost whatever is left. I have a large property in the woods so I don't have any problems. The racoons come to the door and I usually have leftover bagels, bread for them. Sometimes I provide dog bisquits for nutrition. I leave bowls of water outside. I adopted a feral kitten and made her part of my family. I put out leftover alfalfa that I use for composting for deer, spread it around the property so they don't eat everthing in site. The animals are hungry too.

[Blue_In_AK]

64. We put out birdseed

because we live in a part of town that's not prone to bears, but our wildlife officials here are pretty adamant about not feeding the critters. Every year bears have to be killed because they get too used to people food left out in garbage cans or even bird feeders maintained by the people on the east side.

[Retrograde]

66. Not deliberately, but

they have no problems helping themselves to my garden. Between the squirrels, raccoons, possums and gophers I'm lucky to get anything left for us, and Retrokitty is too lazy to do anything about them.

No, I don't leave out food for the wildlife. First, you never know what you'll end up feeding - most likely rodents. A co-worker used to leave out cat food for some feral cats: we ended up attracting skunks. Second, when wildlife start associated food with people they become less afraid and more aggressive when they're not fed: squirrels in this area have been known to attack small children. Foraging among my plants is one thing - it's what they'd do on their own - but deliberately attracting them doesn't help them in the long run.

Almost forgot the jays, who are particularly fond of cherries.

[NNN0LHI]

74. The jays can be some vicious sumbitches can't they?

I see them taking on one or two squirrels at a time just for the fun of it. They kick those squirrels ass real good too.

I never seen anything like it.

Don

[mr1956]

71. I feed feral cats

I work on an Army post that collaborates with the local humane society to catch and spay/neuter the stray cats. We get an occasional newcomer to the group but the population remains pretty stable.

As far as cats go, the right answer is to feed them while being responsible and humane.

[emilyg]

77. Thank you.

[enigmatic]

72. I put them to work bringing shopping carts from store parking lots back to the store n/t

[mitchum]

73. yes

[NV Whino]

78. I try not to, but

the raccoon has discovered the cat door.

[McCamy Taylor]

86. Squirrels (one I raised when it fell from a tree), birds, racoons (they eat the cat food) and possum

(ditto). They are all urban animals just like me.

[Subdivisions]

96. I put out some peanuts for the squirrels. But, curiously, they

don't seem to be impressed. They simply knocked the peanuts off the fence posts, either knocking them off as they scamper along the top of the fence or purposely ficking them to the ground in order to perch atop the post and eat the pecans they were already carrying.

[FloridaJudy]

92. I feed stray cats.

But I've also taken them to the vet to be neutered. Not their fault that some thoughtless excuse for a human abandoned them, and I'm too much of a bleeding heart softy to allow them to starve.

[madeline_con]

97. I feed birds and stray/feral ctas. n/t

[Lorien]

99. I used to feed the raccoons and possums

our city wouldn't pick up trash in trash cans, only trash BAGS-and I'm not an early riser. So, if I put any trash out with food in it it would be all over the street come morning. I solved the problem by separating the food from the rest of the trash and setting it out in the far corner of my backyard. I would have up to 20 raccoons in my backyard some nights-especially Thanksgiving night! Our urban raccoons are all pretty tame and well behaved. I've never had a bad experience with them after twelve years of living with them. Possums too. I've since raised a couple of orphan raccoon cubs and learned how incredibly intelligent, sensitive and loving they are from that experience.

Now the city has given us huge roll away trash bins, so there are far less critters and no need to separate the trash. I still toss a tasty food item in the backyard every once in a while, just for old times sake.

[OnyxCollie]

100. Hummingbirds in the summer.

Jays, juncos, sparrows, finches, cardinals, grackles, titmice, chickadees, wrens, starlings, nuthatches, finches, and downy woodpeckers in the winter. They get seed and suet. The squirrels get ear corn and peanuts (and whatever they can pilfer out of the bird feeder.) The peanuts I used to get were rejects from a candy company. Once, the peanuts I got were shiny yellow. The starlings LOVED them. I soon as I put them down, they swarmed all over them. Turned out they were sugar coated.

I make a clicking sound when I put out the corn. The squirrels come running when I do that. When all I had were some crappy ears of corn, I would put peanut butter on them. The squirrels liked that. One came up to the door and ate the peanut butter off the spoon.

[sohndrsmith]

103. like chickadees and juncos? Of course!

I've adopted/fostered kittens that were stray and/or feral, and all were fed so that would be a "yes" as well.

I avoid feeding bears and take precautions against their hungry selves coming too close to home and hearth, but they are adept at getting into the garbage or accessible bird feeder of unwitting neighbors...

there is no absolute answer here. Bears get one answer, chickadees another (for me). Depends on the animal, the reason, the environment, and the individual situation. Common sense and some research could offer clues as to what might be dangerous to either animal, human feeder or both. It all depends.... no?

[Recursion]

104. In general it's dangerous to get animals accustomed to human presence

Animals for the most part have a pretty good instinct for avoiding humans, which is a good thing because it keeps them from getting shot, run over, trod upon, infected with some disease, etc.

Feeding feral animals clouds that instinct and puts them in danger.

[datasuspect]

108. i eat them

[tuckessee]

110. I feed my peafowl by distributing seeds on the ground daily.

So I also end up feeding wild birds (incl. crows), wild turkeys, raccoons, skunks, possums, chipmunks, moles, voles, rabbits, squirrels & deer. It's not unusual to see six more species feeding at the same place at the same time.

Cooper's hawks and other birds of prey hang around to snag an odd songbird from time to time.

I've been doing it for almost 15 years without any problems.

[Blue-Jay]

111. Only Union animals.

[L0oniX]

113. No ...I refuse to give food to Clinton worshippers.

[Sub Atomic]

114. My neighbor feeds 4 feral cats.

3 kittens and an adult.

Thankfully there is the Feral Cat Society in San Diego. They have spay/neuter clinics every month in addition to several vets in the county that spay/neuter 1 feral cat per week for free.

I've got an appointment for the next 3 weeks to take care of the kittens. The adult is going to need to be trapped. Thankfully, the FC Society also provides traps for you to use.

[blondeatlast]

115. Only geese flying south for the winter in shopping carts. nt