Several people have emailed wildlife sightings:

On December 31, Jeanne Desy wrote:

We had a full-size but immature red-tailed hawk in our back yard today for a long time, and Mu (black cat belonging to Carters) crouched under our back deck for a long, long time, and a squirrel clung upside down and motionless on an oak. Otherwise, nothing moved until . . .

eventually the hawk plummeted down and came up with a mouse. Three blue jays bombed him, trying to save it, perhaps recognizing the squeaks as similar to their own babies’ cries, but the hawk ignored them. Clearly though, he is going to need more than a mouse a day to make it through, though right now he was nice and plump, so he resumed his watchful scanning. Nature is.

On January 2, Laure Nordholt  of Overbrook near Indianola wrote:

I wanted to let you know that my son and I saw a fox in our back yard near the ravine about 5 nights ago.

Very amazing and most excellent.

On January 14, Georgia Blum Herminghausen wrote that she looked out her second story window and saw a Cooper’s Hawk a few feet away holding a house sparrow.

Sandy Ricardo writes: I have a woodpecker who is slowly pecking one spot on our wood siding. What can I do? 

Hi Sandy–Unfortunately, structures covered in wood siding are a paradise for all 5 species of woodpeckers in Ohio, and cedar is especially desirable.  There are several ways to cover areas if there are only small spots of exposed wood, otherwise, shiny (scary) deterrents may be helpful. If you need help, contact me. There are many variables to consider when trying to deter / exclude woodpeckers. 

Lisa Fosco

Director of Animal Care 

Ohio Wildlife Center 

614-761-0134

Michael Ayers writes:  

The house I purchased 3.5 years ago had wood peckers nesting in the redwood siding.  There was evidence that previous owners had tried to simply cover the hole which of course led to several additional adjacent holes. I read an article that suggested hanging something shiny in the immediate area so I taped several strips of aluminum foil to a piece of plywood which I nailed to the siding and IT WORKED!  I continue to leave this in place because I do not know how long wood peckers live or how good there memory might be. Wind-blown strips occasionally need to be replaced.  :-P