OkcPets Magazine September 2022

22 OKC Pets • September / October 2022 A Clean Sweep Fall Cleanup Benefits Wildlife by Inger Giuffrida, executive director, and Kristy Wicker, education program coordinator, WildCare Oklahoma Photos courtesy of WildCare Oklahoma A s the weather starts to cool, atten- tions turn to school, football season, and end-of-year holidays. Yard work and home repairs are generally not on to-do lists for October, November, and Decem- ber. People prefer spring for removing tree limbs or trees, moving brush or burn piles, or completing home repairs. Unfortunately, our instincts to undertake those projects in the spring directly conflict with the life cycles of wildlife. In fact, where wildlife is concerned, late fall and early winter are the best times to do yard work and home repairs. Trim Shrubs and Trees Every spring, WildCare receives hundreds of baby birds and squirrels from home- owners and tree-removal companies. Why? When they cut down trees and tree limbs, they find they have destroyed bird and squirrel nests filled with babies. Although wildlife uses trees all year long for shelter, food, and even hibernation during the cold- est winter months, spring is a particularly bad time to remove trees and limbs from landscapes. Eastern fox squirrels, the most common squirrel species in Oklahoma, build nests in trees with holes or cavities. They also build leaf nests high in larger trees. Eastern fox squirrels generally have two litters each year, with the first litter born any time from February to April. For many birds, March to August is considered prime nesting season. However, some bird species nest and lay eggs even earlier in the year — eastern bluebirds start to nest in mid-February. To prevent destruction or interruption of nesting season, late fall and winter (No- vember through January) are typically the best time to remove or prune trees because those months are not during the breeding Eastern bluebirds are among the first songbirds that nest in Oklahoma. They nest in tree cavities and are often displaced because people cut down trees in early spring or remove dead or dying trees, known as snags, from their landscapes. These orphans were raised at WildCare.