How Much Do You Spend On Wild Bird Seed?

[journey11]

We feed the birds throughout the colder months simply because we enjoy watching them. Makes winter a little less depressing when you're cooped up. I've got viburnum and a few other things planted that they like to glean from as well. Time they make their rounds of the neighborhood feeders, if mine runs out upon occasion, they are certain not to miss a meal. It helps bring in breeding pairs in the spring as well.

@Nyboy , what I do is buy a 50 lb. bag of chicken scratch grains (~$8) and a 25 lb. of BOSS (~$18) and mix them together in a large container. This feeds my chickens AND the birds all winter long with some left over. Most birds enjoy that mix, then I also provide thistle seed for the finches and suet for the woodpeckers (and others). I end up with a pretty good mix of species coming to visit.

 

[seedcorn]

I feed cheap grains-corn and wheat in cold months along with BOSS on a limited way. They won't starve but they will hunt out seeds they like better.

God does take care of birds, but he may be using me to do it.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I tend to look at any feeding I do as bribery; the vague hope that, if I keep the birds and critters sufficiently glutted on seed and foods I don't mind them devouring, maybe, just maybe they'll be too full to go after the seed I DON'T want them devouring (i.e. the seed I actually planted). So far, it hasn't worked very well.

There is also the fact that, since nearly everything I give them is leftovers (either from my table or from my seed sorting) what else am I going to do with it? Tossing it in the trash makes for agonizingly heavy trash bags. using them as advance ground cover means trying to wade through a matted hedge come planting time (and a very real risk of contaminating the genes of whatever I plant if I miss turning over any "waste" plants and they flower too). Beans and other high nitrogen things do not mulch well en masse, you wind up with something that smells like dog s**t and will actually kill anything you put it on (it's the only thing I know of Japanese wineberries CAN'T survive growing through.) Local food banks wont take donations of beans and such if they are no longer sealed in the original manufacturer bags (if they'll accept them at all) Leaving them for the critters to take care of seems the least of all possible evils.

What they get depends greatly on the season. At this point in the year, there's a lot of corn, since I'm accumulating and sorting my ornamental/ indian corn for next springs planting, and they, of course, get the rejects. During the rest of the year, it's mostly beans of various kinds, since that I what I am working with. Except when I am doing lablabs or senna. those just go in the trash (lablab because it turns out birds wont eat it, senna because a. I already have a yard full of senna plants I am trying to get rid of from before (it really sticks around) and b. I don't want to have to go through the trouble of picking out the hellweed seeds, but also don't want any further risk of any of them growing again. )

 

[bobm]

Yes...in a way. And, in a way..no. That wasn't to supplement their diet but to keep them coming back to a certain spot so we could harvest their meat later in hunting season. By thinning the deer herds in this manner we can insure that the remaining deer have more to eat this winter. This keeps our local deer herd stronger and producing well for a good harvest the following year.

So, same in that it was for our own purposes to gain food for our family, but different in that we are practicing judicious conservation of the wildlife by hunting them. Good for us and also good for them.

This practice of putting out things such as apples , produce, etc. to attract deer or any other game animal in order to harvest them is considered as baiting and as such is an unsportsmanlike activity as well as an illegal hunting activity by the State Departments of Fish and Game. One can have one's gun or bow seized and fines and/ or jail time can be quite hefty. Just because some do it too does not make it right or legal.

 

[Beekissed]

This practice of putting out things such as apples , produce, etc. to attract deer or any other game animal in order to harvest them is considered as baiting and as such is an unsportsmanlike activity as well as an illegal hunting activity by the State Departments of Fish and Game. One can have one's gun or bow seized and fines and/ or jail time can be quite hefty. Just because some do it too does not make it right or legal.

Don't get yer panties in a wad, there Bob. Baiting is when you hunt over such items. These were put out well before hunting season and were all eaten up by then. Every last apple was gone by the time anyone pulled a bow out for hunting, so you can relax there, Officer.

 

[thistlebloom]

All states have different regulations regarding feeding and/or baiting. In some states it's legal anytime, and some states it's legal but must be withdrawn a specific time before the season begins, and in some states, notably California, it is never legal. So it's a case of hunters being familiar with their states regulations.

 

[Carol Dee]

Last winter son was hunting our property when DNR showed up . Someone had seen a salt lick and clover plot on our land. They wanted to fine son as it is illegal to have a food source and lick on a game *highway* and they declared that is what we have across the back of our lot. He did not get the fine as he was not the property owner and declared he did not know it was even there. Hench the need to clean up the site. Was even told to remove the soil for many feet around and under the salt. So DH removed the salt-mineral lick and moved the BIG burn pile over it.

 

[Beekissed]

Isn't a game plot the reason their would be a "game highway" through a certain wooded area? Those can either be planted plots or natural ones, but I'm sure there's always going to be a "game highway" to either kind. That's where the food is, for pity's sake.

This state encourages planting of game plots and will even subsidize seeds for doing so. They will even provide education on what to plant and where, how to manage the plots and wood lots on your land so as to increase food supplies for the turkey and deer.

Laws about hunting over bait in WV....

It is illegal to bait or feed cervids or other wildlife in a "Containment Area" as determined by the Director and established for the management, control or eradication of chronic wasting disease or other wildlife diseases. Song and insectivorous birds may be fed, provided that such feeding shall not cause, or be done in a manner that would be reasonably anticipated to cause a congregation of cervids or other wildlife. Provided further, that captive cervids may be fed inside cervid facilities permitted by the Division of Natural Resources.

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Baiting and Feeding Regulations
It is illegal to bait or feed any wildlife on public land between September 1 and December 31 and during the spring gobbler seasons. It is also illegal to bait or feed at any time on Beech Fork Lake, Bluestone Lake, Burnsville Lake and McClintic WMAs and on Coopers Rock and Calvin Price State Forests (see pages 27, 29 and 31).

In other words, private land and non-containment areas are fair game for hunting over apples, though we don't do it...no need for it, as we are proficient hunters here. We will usually locate hunting blinds at natural feed sources such as oak trees, persimmon trees, or game trails, which is logical and all part of hunting for a particular game animal.

So glad this state has reasonable hunting laws.

So...to get back on topic...feeding birds.

 

[seedcorn]

Since I see deer as long legged ground hogs (what a farmer calls them), I'm all for thinning them down. Along with our new menace-wild turkeys.

 

[baymule]

Ya'll gotta be kidding me. No game plots? Baiting laws? Gheesh. In Texas feeding the deer is a big deal. No telling how much money these (I started to say morons, but decided to be nice) people, yeah, people spend on deer corn. There is even balanced ration deer pellets. Plus deer plot seed mix. Right before deer season, the highways are hot with pick up trucks roaring along, loaded with camping gear, deer stands, 4 wheelers and all the paraphernalia pertinent to the blasting of deer. For all the money spent on bagging a deer, you could buy a half a beef, or maybe the whole thing.

Don't take it that I am against deer hunting--I'm not. I have hunted, shot, cleaned and processed my own deer. I have hunted over an oat patch. Hunting, camping, is a lot of fun. But like anything else, it can get out of hand. Shooting deer off the road or night hunting with a light is illegal, but plant all the plots you want.