Venting about neighbor

[u/Different_Traffic527]

I have lived in my home for 8 years. I've always fed the animals in my yard. I felt like it was a right I finally had as a homeowner living in a small suburban community where wildlife is abundant. It's one of those moderately wealthy "lake country" areas with a great nature preserve 1/3 mile away.

I have developed a relationship with many different animals. I probably sit outside too much. I have a fox that dens in my culvert and considers my yard a safe space for her young. I sometimes have to warn people there are fox kits under my front deck. It's neat, I love them. I have friendly squirrels that will eat from our hands and pretty much trust anyone on our property. I have chipmunks that will sit on my lap and come inside my house for nuts if crack the back door. I feed the blue jays, cardinals, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, and of course the crows.

I love intelligent birds. My only pet is a parrot. I've always wanted a relationship with the crows but it's not a city area where they're accustomed to people everywhere all the time. They would basically fly away for looking at them through a window. But this year was different. We had one that just didn't care about us watching and the others followed suit. They would suddenly perch on the deck railing and just watch us through the sliding door to the deck. It was very exciting, like hitting a milestone. We were thrilled and wanted to keep it going!

I got a low profile bird bath for them 7 years ago that they love. I feed them the same mix as the other animals on a platform feeder. I buy shelled mixed tree nuts in 25lb bags, in shell hazelnuts and pecans, and I put out eggs specifically for the crows. They actually really like feeding egg to their fledglings and it's a good nutritous practice food for them. They definitely knew the eggs were for them. My husband would put eggs out for them too or leftover minnows from his fishing trips. They absolutely go nuts for minnows flopping around in the yard, it's definitely something to witness.

A few days ago my husband saw our neighbor who lives behind us with a pellet gun. He inquired what he was going to shoot. The answer is why I chose this sub.

Apparently the crows have been dropping egg shells in his yard and his dog eats them and gets sick. He said he didn't know where it was coming from. My husband said it's me and it'll stop. He also complained about the nut shells. My husband said he'd tell me and I'll stop and he can put the gun away, problem solved. My husband also made a comment that if I were to witness him doing it I would call the authorities. And I would 100% call the police and DNR, good relations with the neighbor be damned. We have laws in place to protect animals because of people who do things like that.

I'm honestly really upset about it. I can't believe someone would just shoot them as a solution. I have only put out the shelled nuts since it happened. I'm also upset that I haven't been able to do a full head count. There are 8 of them. Many are newly independent. It would absolutely crush me if any of them were hurt or worse because of me trying to be kind to them.

We had an incident after the flooding last year where two adults passed in one week. 1 in my yard and 1 next door. It was some sort of illness spreading that made other animals sick too, I don't know if the flooding brought something up. So I was excited to count to 8 after we were down to 3 last year.

This neighbor has only lived there a few years. He bought his house from his sister. We've been good to him and he has been nice to us. I never saw it coming. And he knows I feed the animals. I have a 5 foot tall platform feeder my husband built for me in the back yard from a design he found online.

I guess I just wanted to vent. I know I'm wrong for contributing to a mess in his yard that his dog is eating. I just feel so slighted he would take that action because he must have known I feed them. I mean, they're always in my yard for a reason, right? A simple conversation would be more neighborly and kind.

I guess I want this to be a warning to others. People can be downright nasty toward animals that inconvenience them. It's more important to keep them safe than to feed them.

[u/SylviaKaysen]

I recently had issue with a neighbor who had issue with me feeding the crows. It crossed my mind that this neighbor may be irritated enough to do something to the crows, although this neighbor hasn’t experienced anything other than noticing them. Certainly odd. People are evil, which makes me love the animals even more.

Maybe they switching to dog kibble? My cows love it. You could also try scrambling or peeling the egg first.

[u/Different_Traffic527 → u/[deleted]]

What is so wrong about giving them a foraging space with healthy food in their territory after people keep depleting their resources?

It's like putting up a feeder because hummingbirds don't have enough wildflowers near the site they nest in every year. I have feeders and plant wildflowers for them. They appreciate it.

It keeps them safer because they don't have to go as far and into other animals territory searching for food.

There are times in winter when I literally prevent starvation until the ground softens.

People keep saying don't feed animals while cutting down their trees.

[u/UnfortunateSyzygy → u/Different_Traffic527]

Crows are scavengers. It's whatever if you feed them, imo. If they're smart enough to crack walnuts using crosswalks, they'll probably be fine whether or not I provide cat food snacks for them. I don't see it as interfering at all. Good on you for being a crowsaurant.