LAND USE INTEGRITY?

Mr. Lamb

Mr Lamb was full of stories about his place in Madison County. He had lived almost his entire life in the same place. He could tell you how he rode to school on a horse, he could name all the wildlife that visited his place in the holler -- he was full of local history and enjoyed talking to you about it. He always had a welcome smile when I stopped for a short chat on his sittin" porch in warm seasons. He recently passed away -- he was in his late 70s.

Welcome gate to his comfortable sittin' porch

(Above photo taken when Mr Lamb lived on the property.)  

I wrote a couple posts about his birds and squirrels and you can find them here and here.

One of his large sugar maples

 with squirrel feeders and squirrel house.

(Above Photo taken when Mr Lamb lived on the property.) 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Now the property has been sold and it is quickly changing. All the beautiful old maples have been topped off in an ugly fashion. The old house appears to be in the process of change with builders and trucks swarming around it. 

Here is one of the topped off maple trees with a squirrel house still hanging on -- I'm sure it's wondering what is happening and I am sure the squirrels have headed for the back woods along with other  wildlife

Here is the back of the property showing signs of a new building -- perhaps a new house. The yard has now become one big mud pie. The smoke is from a large brush pile in front of a newly erected foundation. 

This is what is happening everywhere in our country. One minute you have  a nice old house and land and within a couple months it is sold to a developer and new ideas march in -- tearing and turning everything upside down. 

If only  new changes could be done with sensitivity and integrity -- to the land, to the wildlife, to the plants, to the buildings, I think we would be more forgiving of developers? 

SQUIRREL FRIEND

MR LAMB OPENING THE HINGED DOOR OF HIS SQUIRREL FEEDER

Mr Lamb is a friend to wildlife especially birds and squirrels. But he found out that the two don't mix well when it comes to dinner time. So he devised a way to keep everyone satisfied. 


He set up a squirrel feeder that requires the squirrel to go through a small swinging door to get seeds. Once inside the box structure squirrels can find lots to eat. They can munch away in solitude -- no blue-jays or other bothersome birds to dive bomb them. No problem getting out of the box structure -- the door swings both ways. Like a doggie door.  


Along with the feeder Mr Lamb set up a housing unit for them. It is high in the adjacent sugar maple tree. He made it out of spare wood. Now the squirrels can go about their business and be content that they are in good hands.

WOOD SQUIRREL HOUSING UNIT IN MAPLE SUGAR TREE
SQUIRREL FEEDER AT THE BASE OF TREE

And the same goes for the birds. They have their own feeders and are content. Mr Lamb knows how to create good community relations.