Caledon Mountain Wildlife
18371 Hurontario St. Unit 7 L7K 0X7 Caledon, ON, Canada

The European Gypsy Moth is considered to be a major pest in North America. In the caterpillar or larval stage, the insect eats the leaves of trees making them more susceptible to disease and damage from other insects. Depending on the level of infestation, damage can range from light to almost complete defoliation or loss of leaves. In some situations, if the tree has been weakened or stressed by other conditions, the tree may die. Gypsy Moths prefer oak trees but will eat al...l kinds of hardwoods including elm, birch, poplar and willow trees. In some rare cases, when the number of Gypsy Moth is extremely high, the caterpillar will feed on evergreens such as pine and spruce. They do not appear to like sycamore, butternut, black walnut, dogwood or balsam fir. The moths are short-lived and seen in mid-summer. Both genders die after the female lays its eggs on the limbs and trunks of trees, on rocks, buildings or in other sheltered areas. The egg masses remain in place all winter and hatch the following spring from late April to mid-May. Once hatched, the caterpillars begin to feed for approximately seven weeks. But there's good news... there are natural predators in nature that will help us to eradicate them at different stages of their life cycle which include other insects like wasps, flies, beetles, ants and spiders and animals such as chipmunks, squirrels and raccoons. When caterpillars first hatch, birds such as chickadees, blue jays, robins and nuthatches will prey on them. Gypsy Moth populations are also reduced by diseases caused by bacteria, fungi and viruses. Similar to last year, sadly the professionals predict the infestation to be quite high in the Caledon area. Now is the time to arm yourself (and your trees) with various weapons of destruction to hopefully get rid of these pests for good!! Caledon Mountain Wildlife has a supply of pheromone traps for sale as well as replacement lures if you already have a trap from last year. ** Pre-orders welcome ** Trap Kits contain: 1 top (green), 1 bottom (green), 1 pheromone lure, 2 yellow sticky card inserts and twist ties. Retail price: $20 each Replacement Lures: (sold individually) Retail price: $10 each

SPRING MIGRATION HAS BEGUN Bird watchers anticipate spring migration like kids anticipate Christmas. Looking forward to first-of-the-year species helps us make it through these bleak days of late winter. But when does spring migration actually start?? Some waterfowl start heading north in February, but in mild winters, they may not have even gone very far south. By early March, we start looking for the first sightings of the Starlings and Red Winged Blackbirds. Usually th...e Grackles are not far behind. And then there's the Robins... except in the northernmost parts of their range (Canada and Alaska) Robins don't migrate much. Rather, their behavior changes in the winter, forming huge flocks and sticking mostly to forests, where they can find dried and frozen fruit still hanging on trees. Let's talk Goldfinches... you might be surprised to learn that they've been here all winter, but you may not have recognized them with their dull winter plumage. A sign of spring is seeing a few bright yellow feathers on an otherwise dull grey looking bird at your Nyjer feeder. Goldfinch don't usually start to molt into their breeding feathers until late March or early April. The dreary days happening in the next couple weeks is a great time to brush up on your birding-by-ear skills, which contributes to the growing excitement and anticipation for getting out there and spotting your first returning migrants of the year. I have a app called "BirdNET" that I use and try to make a game out of it to test my skills at identifying birds by their sound. You can download it for free to test your skills as well.

Friday Funnies.....

Every signature helps to preserve the beauty of our neighbours in Belfountain.

For those of you wondering where all the Cardinals are... apparently they are ALL hanging out in Ohio. There's gotta be 100's here.... Wowzers!!!

Although I have not seen any myself, we're getting lots of reports of Evening Grosbeaks in the area. These cool birds, along with Nuthatches and Pine Siskins move into our area in the winter in search of food when natural food supplies are low creating what we call an irruption. Known as 'nomads' in the birding world, they may or may not stick around for a short spell. If you happen to see some in your yard, they prefer to eat black oil sunflower seed, safflower and sunflower hearts. They tend to travel in flocks and I'm happy that the prediction of their arrival is true. They are absolutely beautiful birds that we rarely get to see in our area. Are you seeing any Evening Grosbeaks? Share your pics below.

The only program of it's kind and we're super excited to bring it to you.... REFILLABLE CAT LITTER PROGRAM Our Premium Clumping Cat Litter with baking soda for no odour. 100% Canadian made product. Packaged in a convenient reusable easy to carry container. Less waste which helps the environment by keeping plastics out of the landfills. Reduce Reuse Recycle

BACK IN STOCK We have Deer Feed back in stock for the fall/winter season. Fresh from Sharpe Farms, their deer grain is a dry mixture of wheat, oats and whole corn for balanced nutrition. Bulk orders ~ Please order in advance.

Local Businesses helping local communities....that's what we're all about.

Please be advised that we will be CLOSED next Saturday, October the 10th to observe Thanksgiving. Store to reopen again on Tuesday the 13th. From our homes to yours ~ Have a safe and happy celebration with your family.