I grew up in the Midwest with a lot of land and space around me. I remember sitting outside on summer evenings with my Grandparents as we watched a Momma skunk walk along the edge of pond in the field nearby. She walked grandly with her nose in the air and her striped tail pointing to the sky. Behind her walked several baby skunks following in a straight line. We didn’t bother the skunks and they stayed away from us as there was plenty of space for us all.

This past fall our neighborhood developed quite a raccoon problem. Especially around our garbage cans and our neighbor’s corn stand. In one night those critters ate nearly half the rows of sweet corn and stomped all over the rest of the garden! So, we went to work to get rid of them but tried to do it as humanely as possible. After all, these little guys were just looking for food and didn’t really mean to wreck the garden.

Now, I am a true nature lover and watching the animals that visit my yard has delighted my whole family this winter. But those darn squirrels!! I put out corn for them – separate and far away from my bird feeders. And guess where they end up? Trying to get into my bird feeders! You know how it goes – last year we tried greasing the pole holding the feeder, putting an upside down bucket so they couldn’t get at the feeder and putting a cone over the top. And you probably can guess that none of it worked.