Deer grazing outside your window can be a welcome sight, unless
the deer are eating your favorite flowers. Their spring and summer
browsing can kill or severely damage young garden and landscape plants.
Once deer are attracted to your yard, discouraging them is not easy. But, there are ways you...
Published April 2007. Reviewed July 2013. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
Oregon has 45 species of birds that nest in holes (cavities) in
rotting or dead trees (snags). But, though they are very valuable for
wildlife, many snags in urban areas are cut down
and removed for aesthetic reasons or because they
are considered a hazard. If you have some dead...
The wood duck is so beautiful that its scientific name, Aix sponsa, means “water bird in bridal dress.” Being so beautiful (and tasty!), by the 1880s, the once-abundant wood duck was disappearing
quickly due to hunting and habitat loss.
The Pacific chorus frog, which used to be known as the Pacific treefrog,
is the most abundant kind (species) of frog in Oregon. Pacific chorus frogs are amphibians, like other frogs, toads, and salamanders. The word amphibian means “double life.” These critters are given this
name because they spend some...
Feeding wild birds has become one of America’s favorite hobbies.
It’s easy to attract birds to your yard, and there are many different ways to do so. The most common way is to put out bird feeders for them.
Many wild birds such as chickadees, nuthatches, juncos, finches, and
jays...
Bats play an important role in controlling insect populations. In North America, bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects. Some species of bats can capture several hundred insects an hour, including insect species that can devastate valuable plants or crops.
Butterflies are some of the most beautiful, fragile animals in nature, sometimes called “flying flowers.” Butterflies and moths pollinate flowers, and both adults and larvae are an important food source for birds, bats, and other wildlife. Nearly 700 kinds or species occur in North America. About 20 species commonly are...