8.9 Billion Dollars in state and local tax revenue was generated in the U.S. by wildlife watching in 2006. Americans take their birding seriously.
I'm amazed that the groundhog ever comes out on Groundhog Day since they are in their active breeding stage. Maybe they don't use bedrooms for breeding. . .enough said.
It is a month where many animals start the breeding process: Raccoons, mink, skunks, screech owls, coyote, and salamanders.
The red-winged blackbirds, mallards, ducks and robins start returning to our landscape. Chickadees sing their first songs of the year. Snow geese and woodcocks move through Illinois going farther north. Wild turkeys start gobbling and the males roost near the hens. Great horned owls start to nest. Pheasant flocks break apart and go their own solitary way.
It's time to make sure the bird houses are cleaned and up for the incoming and breeding birds.
Maple sap starts to flow.
It's the time to burn prairie and woodland. Having said that, keep in mind there are many rules and regulations pertaining to controlled burns. Key word here is "controlled". How many times do we see a harmless little burn turn into acres not meant to be burned or how often is the fire department called because it got out of hand and endangered buildings. If you've never done a burn before, call your local forester, extension office or fire department for information. You may need a permit. A burn that gets out of hand can get you fined, get charges for emergency fire response, and cause insurance problems. "A word to the wise is sufficient!"
Now is an excellent time to spread dry manure compost on your gardens. If you can manage it, put it down on snow cover. This allows you to gauge the coverage.
It's an especially good time to feed the birds (and squirrels if you do this) because natural sources are beginning to be depleted. There are few berries left on any of my bushes.
The squirrels have been a challenge this year. We have more of them and it appears the newbies are not as good at finding all the walnuts buried from last year. In my quest to keep them away from my close-to-the-house bird feeders, I've feed them corn and peanuts out by the woods. I may have inadvertently made them dependent upon being fed by humans. In years past, they would always be high in the walnut trees munching on nut after nut. Huge piles of walnut shells would litter under the trees. This year, even though we had an abundant crop of walnuts, I'm not seeing much action in the trees. My dogs are just not doing their part here. Come really cold weather, the coon hound sticks to sleeping in her bed more than guarding the bird food. The lab is a squirrel terror and has caught a couple every year but his mind is more on defending us from deer and coyote than defending the bird food. AND the final squirrel whine: they are bearing their first litters from mid February to March. Nooooooooooo.
Although I'm not advertising for Preen, they do have a good informative web site: http://www.preen.com/ The garden hints page is a good one.
Prior to the snow last night, I took a walk around my yard. It's always a surprise to see what plants are still green in February. The thick snow cover has insulated many of them from the frigid weather. Unfortunately, the flip side is it is also insulating the pest insects and weeds. The other flip side, it is insulating the good insects, too. Lots of flip sides I guess.
Hope you have voted - informed and confident you are making America a better place for our grandchildren.
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