Why You Might Not Want Nesting Birds Nearby There are many reasons why nests aren’t always welcome. Different birders have different opinions about nesting birds, but in some cases, nesting birds aren’t desirable, such as: Invasive Species: Invasive birds usurp nesting areas from native species, and their prolific breeding can take over territories and force other birds away from essential resources. Birders who want to protect native birds and encourage them to nest nearby may need to discourage invasive nesters....

Learn signs of rodent presence, how to remove these unwanted pests, and how to keep mice out of your house for good without using poison. Signs of Rodent Presence When a mouse or rat decides to visit, it often goes unseen—at least at the start. Usually, signs that rats or mice are present include: Small dark droppings of feces that look like tiny grains of rice and are found along walls or in places where food materials are present Areas of destruction, such as chewed holes in boxes and bags of dry goods in a pantry, in pet food bags, or in bags of grass seed in the garage Rub marks or gnawed areas along baseboards or near any holes in the floors, such as where radiator pipes come through Small nests filled with shredded paper or wood shavings in hidden areas beneath cabinets or in unused drawers...

1. Hang a Mirror (or Several) Mirrors—what would we do without them? They’re functional, decorative, and can help make a space appear larger, for starters. But they also have another superpower. “The use of mirrors is an easy way you can disperse and scatter existing natural light into other areas within a space,” designer Marie Cloud explains. “The perfect mirror can truly illuminate a gloomy dark space.” However, there is some strategy behind hanging a mirror in any given room....

There are also practical reasons for pollarding trees, including: To keep a beloved tree from outgrowing its bounds on a private landscape (which would necessitate its removal).To keep trees on city streets or in parks more compact—it’s especially helpful if branches are encroaching on a power line.Traditionally, the cut branches were either fed to livestock (fodder), burned as fuel, or used to make things. Pollarding was thus a way of using wood from the tree over the course of many years, rather than cutting it down and having merely one-time access to its wood....