Bird Feeder

I have a bird feeder which is not against the CC&Rs. I live in and am a board member in a 240 townhouse complex. I have A neighbor that has complained to the board 2 times in the last couple of years about my bird feeder. The board president has explained to her that there is no action the board can take as I'm not in violation. This neighbor says my feeder attracts rodents. Especially gophers. We have extensive large landscape area's. Our landscape maintenance company has to rid our landscape of gophers on a regular basis. There are area's that gophers are active throughout the complex including area's that there are no bird feeders present. The complex is located in the hills and has wildlife that includes Deer, Coyote's, Raccoon's, Mountain Lion sightings, Wild Turkeys, Hawks, Falcons, Turkey Vultures, Squirrel's, and I'm sure Rats and Mice. Our landscaping is very habitable for many types of wildlife. including rodents. There are other homeowners that also feed the birds. The complex has also installed 3 Owl boxes trying to attract Owls. Now the board president, in our news letter, is taking a survey on bird feeders. My neighbor, the complainer, is in several CC&R violations, Lets her dogs run free, hangs Yellow Jacket traps in common area tree's, dogs that bark at who knows what. Any suggestion's besides removing the feeder. Thanks Allan

Leave the bird feeder up if it's not in violation of your CCRs or architectural guidelines.

Optional step: Start complaining to your neighbor about her dogs and ask the board to fine her.

AllanP1(Cal)

1- worth re-reading those CCRs plus municipal bylaws to make absolutely sure that your bird feeder is neither a direct nor nuisance indirect violation.

2- If you're neither in direct nor indirect violation, consider if it would be neighbourly to try a change of feeder and/or better class bird feed to reduce the discard dropped for rodents.

Feeders with good range of spring-weighting adjustments, may allow better targetting of birds who discard less. The less corn or waste filler in the feed - ie more expensive nuts & grains - maybe the less discard too. If agile rodents are leaping on/ spilling - eg red squirrels - you may try to make that more difficult eg to add 2 feet or more extra height onto any freestanding pole support. Red squirrels make incredible vertical leaps.

3 Mice and others appear to be causing millions of dollars in loss through eating electricals in vehicles.

Cost me a thousand dollars for electrical wiring in late 2014 because of mice now more tolerant of biodegradable components or whatsoever. Wonder how angry your neighbour would be about that ?

Just because there is nothing in your documents preventing you from having a bird feeder does not mean that its a good idea to have one. It may seem benign to you but as other posters have said, it does attract other wildlife, and not necessarily from the seeds but because birds tend to set up housing somewhat near the food source. You may actually be doing them more harm than good. That being said, since your landscaping is so attractive to wildlife, you seem to be inviting them even closer with the bird feeder. Please rethink this from all angles before doing anything. These folks may have a valid point and I am sure its not your intention to cause your neighbors to have problems with rodents.

Lets be honest, any food put out for one animal will attract other animals.

That said, it appears that the squeaky wheel is starting to get the grease. That is to say that the one individual has finally complained enough that the Board is willing to look into the issue further. What result this look will produce will be up to the board and the membership (in that the membership elects the Board). If there is support to claim that any feeder causes a nuisance by attracting other wildlife, then the feeders will likely be banned. If there is not support for such a decision, it won't be.

Time to start gathering support for your opinion of feeders.

As far as one member who is in violation of covenants complaining about another member who may be in violation of covenants only proves that the one complaining appears to be a hypocrite. That fact has zero bearing on the other member being in violation. It makes a nice story but it simply isn't relevant to the issue at hand - are feeders attracting enough other, unintended, wildlife to cause a nuisance.

My suggestion, make complaints to the Board about this individuals violation if you want to. However, don't bring those complaints up as a defense to your situation.

Another suggestion is to look at the issue from the neighbors perspective. They are being inundated with rodents. They do not like this. Therefore, they are simply trying to stop any activity that may be attracting said rodents. This is something that certainly sounds reasonable unless you are involved in the activity they are trying to stop.

I feel you are being unreasonable. You are not looking at the common good and only seeing what you want.