Re: mini-mansions, now raptors

I guess these raptors were on the brink of extinction and I know they
were completely gone from Iowa when Iowa started it's reintroduction
program...they have made a remarkable comeback here and now are a
completely common site. Way cool! Proof that humankind can rectify some
of its mistakes when it really makes the effort.



Melody, IA (Z 5/4)

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."    
--Albert Einstein

 --- On Wed 03/24, Kitty < kmrsy@comcast.net > wrote:
From: Kitty [mailto: kmrsy@comcast.net]
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 11:02:57 -0500
Subject: Re: [CHAT] mini-mansions, now raptors

Yes, Melody, Ft. Wayne IN participates. There was a piece in the paper
last<br>week about it. FW steadily releases the raptors as part of a DNR
project.<br><br>DNR: "Indiana...began its peregrine falcon introduction
project in 1991,<br>releasing a total of sixty young falcons in
Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South<br>Bend and Evansville through
1994."<br><br>Other cities and universities in IN have taken up the
cause, purchasing<br>chicks, raising and releasing
them.<br><br>Kitty<br><br>----- Original Message ----- <br>From:
"Melody" <mhobertm@excite.com><br>To: <gardenchat@hort.net><br>Sent:
Wednesday, March 24, 2004 1:36 AM<br>Subject: RE: [CHAT] NOW
mini-mansions and disgust<br><br><br>> re: raptors...<br>><br>> For
those of you who live in more urban areas, do any of your towns
have<br>> peregrine falcon restoration programs? Seems cityscapes are
ideal<br>> habitats for these birds to adapt to as the tall buildings
apparently<br>> simulate cliffs and there is usually enough of a rodent
population<br>> around to keep them happy. Iowa City did this about a
decade ago and our<br>> county now has a thriving population of nesting
pairs and<br>> offspring...they are truly magnificent to
watch!<br>><br>><br>> Melody, IA (Z 5/4)<br>><br>> "The most beautiful
thing we can experience is the mysterious."<br>> --Albert
Einstein<br>><br>> --- On Tue 03/23, Bonnie & Bill Morgan <
wmorgan972@ameritech.net ><br>wrote:<br>> From: Bonnie & Bill Morgan
[mailto: wmorgan972@ameritech.net]<br>> To: gardenchat@hort.net<br>>
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:52:34 -0500<br>> Subject: RE: [CHAT] NOW
mini-mansions and disgust<br>><br>> Theresa, speaking of raptors, most
of what I see around here are<br>> small<br>hawks. Further out in the
country, I see larger hawks, but the<br>> other day,<br>going into work,
I saw a huge raptor, closer to eagle size<br>> (like I was in<br>Florida
a few years back near the Kennedy space<br>> center.) I nearly had
to<br>pull off the road because I didn't want to<br>> take my eyes off
of it. I wish<br>I'd had

a camera with me so I could<br>> ask for help identifying it.<br><br>I'm
wondering if our communities<br>> "green areas" are fostering
some<br>come-backs? The little park in our<br>> neighborhood is
"unimproved." There is<br>a small area that is cut and<br>> mowed with
one picnic table, but the rest is<br>left "wild" with only a<br>> few
paths to wander through (watching out for poison<br>ivy, among
other<br>> things.) It seems to be a good model, but I know some
in<br>the<br>> neighborhood think it's a nuisance to have it that way. I
love it!<br>> <br><br>Another larger park in Bellbrook features gravel
and paved<br>> trails, but to be<br>honest, unless a tree falls across
the trail, it<br>> doesn't get touched. And<br>if an area is "fragile"
it is cordoned off<br>> so that one might "look" but you<br>definitely
can't touch or enter.<br>> It's amazing what you can see in a
place<br>like that. I hope to get out<br>> there a little later in the
spring to see the<br>park's spring array of<br>> new
life!<br><br>Blessings,<br>Bonnie (SW OH - zone<br>>
5)<br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From:
owner-gardenchat@hort.net<br>> [o*@hort.net] On
Behalf<br>Of Tchessie<br>Sent:<br>> Tuesday, March 23, 2004 10:51
PM<br>To: gardenchat@hort.net<br>Subject:<br>> RE: [CHAT] NOW
mini-mansions and disgust<br><br>How sad it is that we<br>> all seem to
have the same story. I wonder how many<br>years until we<br>> really
have "paved paradise and put up a parking lot"?<br>They are<br>>
experiencing housing and population growth here to equate to
one<br>new<br>> elementary school classroom per week here. An additional
8000 kids<br>> will<br>live here before the end of the school year. And
yes, the houses<br>> are huge<br>(and I know<br>><br>> only 3-4 people
live in them)- you could easily spit on<br>> your<br>neighbor's dining
room table from sitting inside your own house.<br>> It is<br>physically
painful to see the habitat for the hawks, coyotes<br>> and
rabbits<br>taken over by housing developments. I see de

ad
raptors<br>> all the time near<br>the highway- mostly owls and marsh
hawks, both of<br>> which soar too close to<br>the ground to clear the
height of the big<br>> SUVs, and certainly the trucks.<br>Just awful!
Except I can't really<br>> move further away from people, since
my<br>job requires a major medical<br>> center- so I just watch it
happening and feel<br>really sad.- and keep<br>> planting everything I
can in my yard and ripping out<br>the<br>> turf!<br><br>how
depressing-<br><br>Theresa<br>Sacramento, CA zone<br>>
8-9<br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From:
owner-gardenchat@hort.net<br>>
[o*@hort.net]On<br>Behalf Of Wendy
Swope<br>Sent:<br>> Tuesday, March 23, 2004 8:26 AM<br>To:
gardenchat@hort.net<br>Subject:<br>> Re: [CHAT] WAS Buddleia noxious
weed? NOW mini-mansions<br><br><br>Zem<br>> and Auralie, I am
surrounded, too. My idea of a suburban<br>> development<br>that provides
what it is supposed to is the kind they<br>> built from the<br>1950s
through the 1970s--cookie cutter houses (their<br>> virtue
was<br>affordability) with nice big yards for dogs, children, and<br>>
gardens, for<br>people who love being outside but aren't farmers or
park<br>> rangers. This<br>is the kind of plat I live in. But the
developments<br>> around it, dating<br>from the 1980s and marching
endlessly forward, are<br>> all mini-mansions or<br>golf-course homes.
The houses get bigger and<br>> bigger and the yards shrink<br>and
shrink. I guess the golf courses are<br>> better for wildlife
than<br>pavement, but with all the herbicides<br>> necessary to maintain
a green, not<br>much.<br><br><br>When I moved here<br>> 11 years ago, we
had patches of wetland remaining. Now<br>the ducks and<br>> geese all
live in the parks or around retention ponds,<br>where, because<br>> of
their droppings, they are regarded as a nuisance. The<br>groundhogs<br>>
have moved to the parks and th<br>><br>> e<br>> local airfield. Yeah,
they<br>are a gardener's scourge, but they still<br>> have a right to a
safe place to<br>liv

e. There's been a big stink about<br>> the coyotes that moved into
the<br>field behind a neighboring suburb's<br>> rec center. Well, where
else are<br>they going to go?<br><br><br>I<br>> understand the cultural
dynamic that is driving<br>> this<br>market--two-income couples who
don't have time to take care of a<br>> yard,<br>with kids who are
constantly elsewhere. But if this is the way<br>> they want<br>to live,
what's wrong with living in the city, instead of<br>> scarfing
up<br>more farmland and wildlife habitat?! <grrrr!> This is<br>> another
place<br>where it will take laws to change the situation,<br>> because
it's cheaper<br>for the developers to build on "vacant" land<br>> than
to go into the city<br>and knock down or repair existing plats.<br>>
Ohio is losing farmland faster<br>than almost any other state in
the<br>> country, if I remember right. We're<br>just behind Connecticut,
or we<br>> were, a few years ago. But nothing's<br>happening in the
state<br>> legislature to force urban renewal. We must be<br>one of the
top ten<br>> greediest populations in the U.S.<br><br><br>In<br>>
disgust,<br><br>Wendy<br><br><br>-----Original<br>>
Message-----<br>Zemuly@aol.com writes:<br><br>> I'd say that could
apply<br>> equally well to the real estate developers who<br>> have<br>>
destroyed<br>> nearly every natural habitat in this area to build the
ugliest<br>><br>> little boxes I have ever seen in my life!<br><br>Where
are they building<br>> "little" boxes? Around here all the new houses
are<br>"starter mansions"<br>> - usually fake Victorian, and hideous -
starting around<br>3/4<br>of a<br>> million up to several million. What
was once a wooded hillside<br>> behind<br>us where our sons had eight
miles of bike trails now has row<br>> upon row of<br>these<br>monsters.
Ugh! I can't imagine anyone wanting to<br>> live in such - think
of<br>the<br>housekeeping chores. But then I have<br>> heard that some
of them only have two<br>or three rooms furnished.
What<br>><br>stupidity!<br>Auralie<br><br>--------------------

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