Only need 283 folks to donate TODAY and we unlock an extra $10K for our project!! Any size donation works!
A donor said they would donate $10K if we get 1,000 people to donate by the end of the day...and we have already had a whopping 717 people do so!!
Help us unlock some big $$$ for the project by donating here:ย https://t.co/kZq9wddP8h
@giveashitnature@morgfair Our favorite spot is the electric meter where the mourning doves build their nest. The mama laid the eggs, they didnโt roll off, and we get chicks each year. It is the cutest thing!
@giveashitnature We use hay to keep our garden beds from drying out too quickly and the robins love it. I also try not to get too uptight about spider webs unless they're invading my space because I think the hummingbirds use them?
@giveashitnature Iโd like to put in a good word for naturally shed horse hair.
The birds on my hilltop raided my corral for horse hair every spring.
My elm tree was a favorite for scratching and the birds loved it.
Every summer, well-meaning people hang out balls of dryer lint, yarn, and pet fur for the birds. Most of it does more harm than good.
Dryer lint feels perfect, but it isn't. It crumbles the first time it rains and leaves holes in the nest, and it carries detergent residue and microplastics.
Yarn, string, and long hair can be worse: they wrap around a nestling's leg or wing as it grows and slowly cut off circulation, and wildlife rehabbers see the results every year.
Pet fur seems like the safe, natural choice, and it's the one I'd skip hardest. A 2025 UK study found that 100% of the animal fur lining the nests of two common songbirds contained insecticides from flea and tick treatments, and the higher the dose, the worse the chicks did. The soft lining was poisoning the brood.
Here's the good news: The best nesting material is a slightly messy yard, and it's free. Leave the twigs, dead leaves, and dried grass where they fall. Let plants stand so the seed fluff and stems are there for the taking. Leave a small patch of bare mud for the robins.
Birds were building nests for millions of years before the craft-supply aisle existed. Give them a wild corner and get out of the way.
Colorado is a black mustang #mare. She was rounded up from Little Book Cliffs CO in 1998. In 2021, we found her in a kill pen in poor shape after years of neglect. One of our lesser known #horses, she loves living out her golden years at #Skydog in a #wildhorse herd.
We were asked to take him and we said yes. Itโs a selfless act to put the horseโs needs above the joy of having him in your life. We appreciate the sacrifice made in his best interest and the trust put in us to give Thunder a happy, wonderful, wild and free life,
Rounded up from Salt Wells Creek WY, Thunder was adopted out and passed from person to person, each trying to break his #wildhorse spirit and make him a riding horse. The cruelty and abuse left him terrified of people. His wonderful last owner understood he needed sanctuary.
I love Little Owls. They provide me with a bit of a moral issue because they were only introduced to the UK 150 years ago. So, in theory I shouldn't like them because I believe in only having native species. But in their case I am afraid that I am a hypocrite.
When you are sitting with Chips and you hear something close behind you!! Lovely time sat with them in the sun this morning. Chips has even almost gone to sleep! Also lovely earlier to watch Gravy groom one of the young๐ฅฐ
The sweetest way to start the day! ๐๐ข
Meet our newest saw-shelled turtles starting their life journey after hatching at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.ย ๐ฅน
@giveashitnature And if you have a BIG problem with rats โฆ like an infestation on a farm or outhouses etc, get some friends with terriers in. Rats killed near instantly, and no other species harmed, just need some kibble and waterโฆ
A poisoned rat doesn't die fast. It goes slowly and painfully.
It clumsily wanders out in the open for a day or two, which makes it the easiest meal around for the owl, the hawk, the fox, or the snake that was already hunting your rodents for free.
They eat the dying rat and swallow the poison with it. Then it builds up in them.
The numbers are grim. At one Massachusetts wildlife clinic, 100% of the red-tailed hawks tested carried anticoagulant rat poison in their bodies.
In California, testing found it in 69% of endangered San Joaquin kit foxes. These second-generation poisons linger in tissue and pass from one animal to the next, killing by slow internal bleeding.
So you poison the rats, and you poison the exact predators that keep rats in check. The yard ends up with more rodents, not fewer.
Skip the bait. Seal the gaps where they get in, cut off their food, and use snap traps if you need them, indoors and away from kids and pets.
Then let the hawks and foxes handle the rest.
Happy Tuesday! This pair of Kittiwakes were very vocal while greeting each other, showing off their bright red mouths! Another amazing bird breeding at Bempton Cliffs ๐คโค๏ธ