Research Wildlife

Setting up a goldfish or Koi pond can attract many forms of nature to your backyard. The primary thing to remember when setting up your pond is to take your time and plan the pond out so it doesn't become more of a headache than an enjoyable experience for you. Think about what you want to keep in your pond, such as koi, goldfish, plants, snails, etc. If you want to keep plants then keeping Koi will most often prove to make this more difficult as Koi like to dig in dirt and often eat plants. Goldfish, however, seldom bother plants.

Plants in your pond

First and most important, if you find a baby fawn do NOT take it across state lines. This will seal this animal's fate because the Department of Natural Resources will want to euthanize the animal for testing of transmittable disease! Please visit the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association to locate rehabilitators in your state.

Making your own hummingbird food is easy to do and costs a lot less than store bought mixtures.  Be sure when making the food that you don't make too much because after it sits for a while it will grow mold, even if refrigerated.  Also, every time you add more sugar water to your feeder be sure to clean it out with a little bit of bleach.  This will ensure that it is free of any mold that may be forming in the feeder.  It is equally important that you be sure to rinse out all the bleach.  Keep rinsing the feeder until you can no longer smell the bleach.

If you are looking for information on Sunny the fawn that is in risk of being killed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources please see our post on Sunny.

Many people who set up freshwater, brackish, or saltwater tanks start without truly knowing anything about the nitrogen cycle.  This is one of the most overlooked things and is probably the single most important thing to know and understand when dealing with fish of any kind.  I hope this blog post helps shed a little light on the subject so you can make informed decisions and don't cost many animals their lives in the process of setting up your new aquatic system.

Do you have bird feeders that are often sought after by squirrels?  We have often had the same problem.  We don't dislike the squirrels, we actually enjoy them just as much as watching birds, but we would rather them leave the bird feeders alone.

Mourning Doves are very lazy nest builders.  They often will find an abandoned nest that was created by another type of bird or they build their own very poorly constructed nest.  Often they will reuse their nest for 4 to 5 sets of eggs.  With the large size of their hatchlings, the nest often gives out causing the baby birds to tumble to the ground.  If you ever see young doves on the ground don't pick them up!  Their mother and father are sure to be close by watching and feeding them.