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u/LRonHoward

Image 1 — I'm in love with the oaks that have volunteered in my front "yard" over the past few years
Image 2 — I'm in love with the oaks that have volunteered in my front "yard" over the past few years
Image 3 — I'm in love with the oaks that have volunteered in my front "yard" over the past few years
Image 4 — I'm in love with the oaks that have volunteered in my front "yard" over the past few years
Image 5 — I'm in love with the oaks that have volunteered in my front "yard" over the past few years
▲ 68 r/NativePlantGardening

I'm in love with the oaks that have volunteered in my front "yard" over the past few years

These are some of the ~8-10 oaks that have popped up in my front yard native plant "garden" (I'm relatively sure they are bur oaks - Quercus macrocarpa)... We started this area from seed 4 years ago, and it's been a blast seeing everything that's established. There are still a lot of problem plants (mainly creeping bellflower), but we're continuously addressing all the invasive species every year as best we can.

Anyway, seeing oak recruitment in my front yard gives me life! It's pretty sad to constantly see the turf grass understory that surrounds the magnificent Bur Oaks in the parks around me, so it always makes me happy realizing that these glorious trees readily grow in areas where the native plant communities are being restored/reconstructed & managed (if I can call my front yard a "reconstruction")!

u/LRonHoward — 1 day ago
▲ 73 r/Minneapolis

Please people, for the love of god, KEEP YOUR CATS INSIDE. Every year, I see my neighbors' outdoor cats (there are at least 3 or 4) kill birds, chipmunks, bunnies, and who knows what else. These are domesticated animals that should be kept inside (for the safety of the cat and for the safety of the urban wildlife around us).

The USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service states:

> Although wildlife managers recognize the beliefs of many concerned stakeholders, including advocates who use strong emotional appeals on behalf of cats, it remains that free-ranging and feral domestic cats are an invasive species spread by humans (Lowe et al. 2000) (Figure 1)

This document goes on to state:

> The threat which free-ranging cats pose to native wildlife cannot be understated. Proponents of free-ranging cats on the landscape argue that predation by such cats on wildlife is negligible when compared to other sources of mortality, however many studies have shown that cats are a major, if not the greatest, source of mortality to native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians (Lepczyk et al. 2003; Beckerman et al. 2007; Van Heezik 2010; Lloyd et al. 2013; Loss et al. 2013 and 2015; Woinarski et al. 2017 and 2018; Li et al. 2021).

There is a lot of research to support the tremendous negative impact outdoor cats have on our environment... Most of all I just want to see the actual wild critters around me making burrows in my backyard. Please keep your cats inside. Thank you!

Edit: To clarify, I am talking about people who let their cats freely roam around outside unmonitored. Responsible cat owners who leash their pets while outside or monitor & observe them constantly when unleashed in a fenced in backyard are not the people I am talking about.

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u/LRonHoward — 11 days ago