Spring is the season for gardening and getting yards back into
shape after winter rains. A few words of warning: Before trimming
tree branches and cleaning out roof gutters, check that there are
no nests hidden among the leaves, in the drain, or underneath the
eaves.
Dear Editor,
Spring is the season for gardening and getting yards back into shape after winter rains. A few words of warning: Before trimming tree branches and cleaning out roof gutters, check that there are no nests hidden among the leaves, in the drain, or underneath the eaves.
Why? Because it’s also baby bird season. It’s the season for parent birds to begin hatching eggs and raising nestlings. Checking for bird nests also helps ensure that you won’t inadvertently injure baby squirrels hidden inside the tree or amid the leaves.
Every year, the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center and other wildlife rehabilitation facilities across the nation receive orphaned and/or injured baby birds and tree squirrels because they have lost their nests or been injured due to yard and home maintenance. Moving or disturbing the nests can hurt the animal’s chances for survival. Even trimming trees around the nests can be detrimental, not only because of the noise and activity can scare away the parents, but because the nest’s covering may be lost, exposing the babies to predators and the hot sun, wind and inclement weather.
Nesting season is typically March to August. It’s against state and federal laws to remove, destroy, or disturb most nesting wild birds, their nests or their eggs. Special government permits are required to remove occupied nests and are only justified for a strongly compelling reason, for example, when the location creates a health hazard to humans. These laws apply to homeowners, contractors and businesses and violators may be prosecuted.
If a nest does inadvertently fall down, try to carefully place it in another part of the tree, then leave the immediate area and watch to see if the parent returns. If the parent doesn’t come back within four hours, call W.E.R.C. or your nearest licensed wildlife rehabilitation center for advice.
Sue Howell, Executive Director and Colleen Grzan, Animal Care Coordinator for W.E.R.C.
City needs to rethink pouring millions of dollars into downtown
Dear Editor,
Kudos to Staten Johnson for his reference to the downtown as a theme park (Morgan Hill Times, Tuesday Feb. 10). I’d call it fantasyland.
When Morgan Hill was founded in the early 1900s, the downtown was established to serve the citizens and continued to do so well into the ’50 and ’60s. But with the growing population, housing developments began to flourish and downtown was no longer adequate to serve everyone. Hence, retail establishments were built along the corridors into the city. Today, that idea continues with the new Target shopping center and soon Wal-Mart.
That is why so many of us are puzzled over the mayor and city council being so hell-bent on pouring millions of dollars into an area of the city that is pretty much irrelevant to most of us. I can understand why the merchants and landowners/developers support the vision. They have a financial stake, but they constitute a small percentage of taxpayers. Now we learn that the idea is to have an upscale shopping complex similar to Santana Row. I doubt very much if any upscale retailer would consider coming here. They read the same demographics as Whole Foods and Olive Garden have. Add to that the low income housing projects that the mayor and city council seem so fond of recently. It doesn’t make any sense.
As the Morgan Hill Times pointed out in the Feb. 3 editorial, in order for the downtown to attract consumers, an anchor store is necessary. Unfortunately, there aren’t any retail spaces large enough. As to the proposal to build residential units downtown, where will these people shop for groceries, fill prescriptions or buy hardware supplies, let alone park the vehicles they will require to fill these basic needs?
Councilwoman Marilyn Librers had the audacity to suggest that the citizens should have some input, but Greg “let them eat cake” Sellers shot that down. Thanks Marilyn, for at least acknowledging that we still live in a democracy.
Instead of chasing pipe dreams, the mayor and city council should be addressing the real needs of all citizens. What we do need is additional police and some medical facilities, like urgent care clinics. The next time your child falls off his bike and breaks his arm, or your elderly parent stumbles and bloodies her nose, while driving the 10 or more miles to seek medical attention, you can be comforted by the thought that you have a spiffy new downtown in the making, which the mayor and his cronies on the city council will boast about when they are up for re-election or running for another public office.
Maybe their actions are not such a puzzle after all. Politicians have been known to put their egos ahead of the needs of the community. I would hate to think that that is what is happening in Morgan Hill.
Joan Gnauden, Morgan Hill
