Dog hair to the birds
They may not be interested but it's nice to
offer
MetPet.com Staff Writer
 There are an estimated 25 birds
to every human living on the planet. They are so commonplace
that we take their presence for granted as they weave in and out
of our suburban landscape. Bird enthusiasts provide bird
seed but what about aiding their nest building activities?
Every large sized, long haired
dog produces enough dog hair to fill a lawn bag every year.
There are some heavily coated dogs that can produce this much
fluff in a single grooming!
It's time to make better use of
this natural resource than simply tossing it away. Birds
have been known to use the hair from grazing animals such as sheep
and even hair from squirrels. They regularly pick up human
debris to line their homes including bits of string, paper and
refuse from uncovered recycling containers.
 Dog hair is soft, pliable, warm
and biodegradable. It can be used to add warmth and softness
to nests although we doubt it will keep prowling cats away.
The life of a neighborhood bird is short and difficult.
Having nesting materials easily available may make the difference
between surviving another season or not.
Why not leave a few tufts, the
size of your palm,
on fences (shown above) on the tops of bushes (below) or the branches of
trees (left)? By leaving it in a variety of different
locations, a number of different types of birds will have access
to it. If you're lucky, you can actually see birds collect
it and fly off with it.
If you have prowling neighborhood
cats, make sure that the tufts are above cat level on tree
branches that are too spindly to take their weight. As the
tufts disappear, you can add more. If they're still there a
week or so later, it's likely that the birds in your yard are
building nests out of some other material. It's also
possible that you have no nest building birds at that particular
time of year.
 Nest building starts early in the
year but nest building and repair can go on throughout the summer.
The schedule for nest building and the types of nest materials the
birds in your area use is highly varied. So the next time
you give your long haired dog a bath and a thorough grooming, save
the clean, dry hairs to cushion your friendly neighborhood babies.
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