etek AUDUBON BULLE DI N 9 
And the birds? By careful count, more than 55 species! 
Animals? Rabbits, racoons, possums, and chipmunks. Most 
interesting in the mammalia department, however, are the 
shrews. Seldom seen. Most people think them mice! Voracious 
little things that go scooting around the dry leaves to find 
worms and bugs, bits of garden protein, flotsam, and vegetable 
jetsum. Most unusual. We had an entire litter of five moving 
about under the bird feeders one day. All disappeared, but one, 
the next. Then? When winter snows have gone, shrew-tunnels 
show up. Mice? We know better! 
Leaf litter contributes to our operation. Makes the birds 
happy. And the wildflowers. Leaves are allowed to remain in 
the border to rot. Make top soil each year. Why compost? 
Waste of effort! Oven birds, thrashers and hermit thrushes do 
the turning over each spring, as well as the grackles. And the 
migrating warblers have a good feed from the winged insect 
hatch that comes from nowhere. Besides, who wants to rake 
leaves? 
Does OL, thats, our street’ number. on Roslyn lane in 
Highland Park where people point to our grown-up borders 
in an otherwise neat neighborhood. Once they said “‘weeds!’’ 
Now they know better. They re wildflowers, trees, shrubs and 
birds (pe fOr ‘Sreei 
Sciacca 
One of the Shrew family of five snacks beneath a bird feeder. 
