7:18 PM, May 3, 2009

We just saw 4 deer outside our dining room and office windows! We live @ 655 Overbrook, next to the Sleeper’s. After watching us for a while, they headed down in to the ravine and headed west on Overbrook Drive

Laure Nordholt

Hey Susan,
At 4 AM this morning our dog, Cali, started to bark agressively at our front window. I awoke and looked out the window and a red fox was on our porch ‘leaping’ back and forth. I know we have a rabbit living under our porch and I assume that the fox was trying to scare the rabbit. Cali has barked at the coyotes on our morning walk but I was surprised at the fox on our front porch at 491 Glenmont!
Tony Collinger

Barbara and Tim Lloyd knocked on my door last week about sunset to come see the opossum sitting on neighbor Rick Davis’ front porch. Patty Hoyer was walking Zoe, Grace, and Emma and they stopped to watch, too. I think it might have been Oliver. Oliver is the name we’ve given the opossum that lives under our front porch deck. Barbara and Tim wondered if possibly the opossum was sick since it was out and about and seemed oblivious to our stares, albeit from across the street. I googled and read that opossum rarely get rabies. I think I read that there are only 4 known cases in the USA.

If you want to learn more about opossum and other ravine wildlife, come to the Adena Brook Community potluck on May 15, 6 – 8 PM when Craig Seidel, Ohio Wildlife Center educator will bring a few OWC residents to show us. I know we’ll see a great grey owl, opossum, and kestrel.

Hi from Toni & Marc, National Wildlife Federation Habitat Ambassadors!

Hope you are enjoying signs of spring. We are having our annual ‘Parade of Certified Wildlife Gardens’ on Sunday, June 28. If you have a certified yard in Worthington that you would like to show or if you would like to volunteer to help host a yard (greet people, hand out fliers), please email back. Hours are 10-1 and/or 1-4.

It’s fun and easy to get certified. Requirements are: 3 forms of Food (berries, seeds, etc), 1 form of Water (bird bath counts), 2 forms of Cover (bushy areas, etc), 2 Places to raise young (trees, host plants, etc) and 2 forms of Sustainable Gardening Practices (controlling exotic species, organic practices, conservation, etc). You can download the application as a .pdf to find out more about the requirements or certify online at www.nwf.org/certify.

In 1972, US Foresters from Massachusetts discovered that you could effectively scale down a habitat to a small area. It doesn’t take a large space in your yard to make an effective habitat. If neighbors join together, you can earn a Certified Wildlife Community. The City of Dublin has earned enough points to be qualified for official registration. We hope to see more cities going greener! Ohio website: www.backyardhabitat.info

+ National Wildlife Presentations: – Thurs, 3/7, 7-9pm, Certify Your Backyard! Old Worthington Library, Meeting Room, 820 High St , Worthington, 43085, sponsored by Library – Mon, 3/23, 7-8:30pm Beautify Your Backyard! Grandview Heights Library, Meeting Room, 1685 W. First Ave, Columbus 43212, sponsored by Grandview Garden Club

+ Toni’s latest nature article:

- ‘Buy for Ohio Birds’ (Indicators of our air quality) Click below, then click on February-March, 2009 and go to Page 8 http://www.columbusaudubon.org/newsletter/SS_2009_FebMar.pdf

+ Nature ‘Stuff’

- Sat, 3/14, 10am Attracting Birds to your garden with Native Plants, Tom Sheley, Sharon Wood Spring Hollow Lodge, 1069 W Main St, Westerville, scroll down at http://www.for-wild.org/chapters/columbus/ – Weds, 5/6, 7pm – Dr Jaret Daniels, “Butterflies of Ohio’ guide author, will speak at Cox Arboretum MetroPark, 6733 Springboro Pike, reservations requested, walk-ins welcome, see www.metroparks.org – Fri-Sun, 5/1-5/3 -Paul Knoop, Ian Adams, Guy Denny and Dr. Jaret Daniels, author of Butterflies of Ohio, Shawnee State Park, special discounted lodge and cabin rates, see www.flora-quest.com

Many of our wildlife reports come from Ann Laubach. I’d bet ten dollars most of us have seen her walking in the ravine. She lives with her eyes wide open. Here’s a recent report:

Ann writes:

To answer your question about wildlife, we’ve seen a fox several times the last month, always the same one, I think, its tail looks odd, kind of poodle-like, very skinny in the middle, and then puffy at the end.  It lay down in the sun under a bush in our backyard for a while.  My neighbor two doors down had what she thought was a young buck (she said it had little antler buds) get its leg stuck on her fence.  Another neighbor had to free it with wire cutters and it limped away.  The same neighbor with the deer said she had seen the coyote for the first time, that was perhaps in January.

My family participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count over Presidents’ Day weekend.  Twenty species total, _162_ English sparrows one day, 22 robins another day.  According to the website, robins are the bird with the highest count in the GBBC (it’s supposed to be birds seen within about a mile of the address that you list, which in our case was our home.)

We also had a opossum nosing around the yard after dark recently.  And a beautiful hollow tree along Overbrook Drive near Indianola is home to at least one fat raccoon.

That’s all I can think of right now.

Ann

Lisa Fosco, director of animal care at the Ohio Wildlife Center, wrties:

Unfortunately humans are the primary predator of adult owls (cars, power lines, rodenticides).  As far as natural predators, the Great Horned Owl is the most notable predator.  They most commonly prey on Barred Owls, and will also eat Eastern Screech Owls (both common species in our area).  Other Ohio species that they may predate would include Saw Whet, Long Eared and Short Eared Owls.  I am not sure if any of these less common species inhabit our ravine, but it is possible.

Eggs and owlets are predated by anything that finds them, but the most common predators would probably be the raccoon and the black rat snake.

Also, I just wanted to let you know that there is an injured coyote in the ravine.  He is limping on his front right leg and commonly crosses Cooke Rd by the creek.  I have been trying to keep an eye on him, and have seen him several times in the last few weeks.  I tracked him after the last two heavy snowfalls and plan to look for him tonite (since we have more beautiful snow).  I wanted to make sure that if anyone sees him, they dont panic and do anything to try to intervene.  He looks very healthy and his limp has improved significantly.  His limp is now so minor that the other day  I could hardly distinguish his tracks from others.  Also, please let people know to keep their bird/squirrel feeders full right now.  Wild animals have also been congregating around water sources.  Most wont eat snow since they are working so hard to conserve heat, so putting out shallow bowls of water (tepid or luke warm) near the feeders has been helpful.  The robins and other ground feeding birds are just starting to attract attention, so if you see any that look questionnable, it is a good idea to put out a plate of fruit (cut apples, whole or halved grapes, etc).  

If you see any birds (or any wild animal) that are slow moving and down in the snow, PLEASE get them in to us asap.  If it is after hours, call me directly and I will take them (415-336-6661).  We have lost quite a few birds in the last week and several today that died en route to us, so they likely need helpquick.  The freezing rain last night took its toll on many that were roosting/hiding in the trees/brush, and many froze to chunks of ice.  One goldfinch was actually frozen into an ice block with an air hole, still working on her now.  So, please keep your eyes open.

So at least one good thing came out of the beech tree coming down from Ike–a barred owl seems to be checking out the hollow tree as a potential home! Not even disturbed by roofers pounding and moving around this morning (he was keeping an eye on them and me). Now if only I can keep the crows from scaring him/her away–they (~8 crows) surrounded the tree and shouted at it, and the owl just went farther into the tree.

Merry Christmas Eve Owl!

Derek Hansford

[Derek Hansford lives on Glenmont near the Wynding and Glenmont intersection]

Sent: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 4:22 pm

What do the fox eat in the winter? Should we leave food for the fox?

Lisa Fosco responds:

It is not recommended to feed foxes during a normal winter.  This species is active year round and should have no problem hunting and foraging on their own.  They are so well adapted for winter that they are one of the few Ohio species that have their babies when temperatures are still low (in Canada their whelping dens are commonly iced in).

Another reason that food supplementation is not in their best interest is that they tend to be opportunists.  If they are able to rely on a food source, they will adjust their natural feeding habits and will end up eating an unnatural (and therefore less healthy) diet.  They also commonly develop a habit of approaching people and tend to spend more time in yards and residential areas, which usually leads to trouble.

So, if the foxes looks healthy, PLEASE LEAVE THEM ALONE, and admire them from a distance.  As far as I have seen personally, we have several very healthy families in the ravine.

The exception would be if a fox shows any evidence of fur loss (they are prone to mange) or if they appear ‘slow’ or at all unhealthy.

Hope this helps!
Lisa

Director of Animal Rehabilitation

Ohio Wildlife Center

The Ohio Wildlife Center depends on donations to do their wonderful work. Send your tax deductible donations of any amount to: OWC, 6131 Cook Road, Powell, OH 43065.