This was a really good article, Sharon! I can relate to all of the comments on both sides. As a retired landscape worker for the state of Ca. I have mixed feelings about the gophers and ground squirrels, as they are very expensive pests in this part of the country. I have spent nights in freeway closures where the mountainside had to be removed from the road due to their tunnels washing out during heavy rains, and watched new plantings slowly disapear into the ground in the dry season...all at taxpayer expense. The only thing I can think of that they're good for is Hawk chow. The same applies to rabbits. The thing is, we've brought this on ourselves. We used to have the hawks follow us as we worked along the freeway, waiting for us to flush out their lunch, but as our shrubbery grew they couldn't hunt there anymore.We have destroyed their habitat. I have to give the state credit for trying, they do build Wildlife Corridors under the freeways. Now if they would just teach the wild life to read the signs....
The Coyotes adapt. There are plenty of small dogs and cats. The deer have all been run over on the roads. The mountain lions have been hunted and crowded to near extinction, and the pesticides have killed most of the raptors and fish.
I miss my opposums. They turned over pots and tore up the insulation under my mobile home, but I never had to bait for snails/ slugs.
We need to learn to respect Mother Earth!
