Min, are you doing your part, or whatever you can do to keep your land native critter friendly? If you are the only other thing you can do is fight development in your area. I feel your pain!

Lisa, you bet I do, but with only a few acres of our own and the town creeping closer all the time, it's very difficult. We leave most of our property as it was when we arrived here, especially the creek area. With our recent heat, drought and nearby fires, I know the wildlife really needs a place to hide away and get water. Thanks for your understanding. I hope there are more of us than the ones who don't notice or care. Min

i do feel sad that we don't nearly hear what we used to, crickets, locust, all the things, but we live in a tiny town, and topeka is slowly moving here, i noticed one day as we were coming back from shopping, that there were few places that there wasn't a house for miles. that saddens me, i LOVED it when i would come home and i could go for miles and not see a house, but nope now houses. which means pestacides, (to me) and more of the same with gangs and theives and all that stuff, drugs, i'm so fearful of that. no more of the sounds when i leave the windows open either. i tried to show my kids the fireflies like when i was a kid, its just not the same. :'( very few of them. ~Medo

"Progress". Years ago, our area was the same. This development was built in the late 60's on the outskirts of town and even though it basically still is, the landscape is changing all the time. There was nothing but fields and forest around here years ago. Now there's one development further out than us and more going up here and there all over the place. In the process more land was taken on top of the land used to expand roads and highways. It's not so bad where we've lost some of our typical nature sounds like our robins, owls, cardinals, cicadas and so on, but the feel is different.

They tore down an old factory by the river 8 or so years ago that was supposed to remain as a park area where we used to see plenty of ducks, gulls and geese but it didn't take long for them to commercialize it with a restaurant, some shops, the obligatory CVS and leave us not forget the primo riverfront townhouses and condos.

What I can't get over are the bloody drugstores. I grew up in a town that had a Rexall downtown on the corner. (Must be getting old. Spell check told me Rexall is spelled wrong.) Now, it's like some huge pharmacy giant just walks through the country, squats, and drops a CVS or Walgreen's here, there or wherever. The other thing that gets me about that is, whenever one builds the other is sure to build somewhere nearby.

I had a great childhood growing up in the "sticks". Wandering in the woods and drinking water from the streams. Now, there are houses everywhere where country used to be and the streams are now heavily polluted. .

My home property is mostly wooded with snags for cavity nesters. There are no pesticides here and it is as environmentally friendly as I can make it.

Have an additional 25 acres in the western part of the state left intact. All the critters are welcome (as long as they don't try to eat me)! LOL Even have my own bear! It is absolute heaven.

It hurts beyond words to see what is referred to as "development" destroy the land but Min, we can make a difference. It may not be on the large scale we would like, but tell that to the critters we shelter. Sure makes a difference to them and I think we are all better off for it.