Rabbits cause most winter damage on young trees and low shrubs by clipping stems with a clean, angled cut and gnawing bark at or just above snow level. The most reliable protection is a cylinder of 1 ...
The winding, 1 to 2 inch wide trails of matted or dead grass that appear when snow melts are vole runways, made by small rodents that tunnel along the soil surface under snow cover all winter. Most la...
Store bird seed in a galvanized steel can with a tight or locking lid, kept in a dry garage, shed, or mudroom and set on a board or shelf rather than damp concrete. Metal stops the mice, rats, chipmun...
Birds hit windows because glass reflects sky and trees or shows a clear path straight through. The fix that works is breaking up the outside surface of the glass with markers spaced no more than 2 inc...
Clean out bird nest boxes after the last brood has fledged and the box is empty, usually in late summer or autumn, by removing old nesting material, scraping out droppings, and letting the box air dry...
A squirrel baffle is a cone, cylinder, or dome that blocks squirrels from climbing a bird feeder pole or sliding down a hanger, so seed stays available for birds. For most pole feeders, a stovepipe-st...
To winterize a backyard pond in Zones 3 to 6, net it before leaves drop, clean out the muck by late October, stop feeding fish once the water stays below 50°F, and keep one hole open in the ice all wi...
Heated Bird Baths and Winter Water for Backyard Birds A heated bird bath or a thermostatic bird bath de-icer keeps water open when temperatures drop below freezing, and it can attract more winter bird...
Suet Feeders and Winter Bird Feeding: What Works For winter birds, the most useful setup is a suet feeder, a tube or hopper feeder with black-oil sunflower seed, and a heated bird bath, placed within ...
Bulb Cages to Stop Voles and Squirrels The most reliable way to keep voles and squirrels from eating fall-planted bulbs is a wire bulb cage or a box of 1/2-inch hardware cloth buried around the planti...
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