GET BIGGER…

Ach Claudia – ALL so pertinent. They do the same thing just across the border from you in Canada when they build new houses in the lower mainland – White Rock, Langley, etc. And then we have continual power outages as those unsupported pines keep falling on the power lines! OR they raze the entire lot to the ground, with no regard for how much rainfall those trees have been absorbing, and no drainage put in… so then whichever house(s) are downstream, now have flooding. This is classic current human thinking – NOTHING outside the one task they are actioning, or their one objective. NO thought to the ecosystem and all the interlinked/interdependent elements.

But YES, each of us CAN have a substantial counter-effect, as one-by-one we become aware. When they built 2 new homes (2 houses over from my house in Langley) they cut every tree and sold it for lumber, on 1 acre. The rains started and the lower half of my lot and the horse property at the end of my lot were under water. I talked to my landscaper and explained what had happened. So we put in a french drain, then added water loving plants at the beginning of the drain intake. Then added a willow tree prior to the french drain, and added another willow tree at the end of the lot to help absorb the water from the neighbour’s horse field. My actions on just my property have a huge mitigating effect for the neighborhood – and the animals.

I love that you’ve thought of what to plant for the local animals, that is so awesome. The rat (and opossum) poisoning is also an issue because then other animals and birds eat the poisoned rodents, and we lose all the benefits to humans that opossums bring. I think educational flyers around the neighborhood – or on a communal mailbox can help people think twice about using poison. If they’re not willing to address the source (what are they doing/not doing on their property that is bringing rats?) then a trap would be better than poison. Ah well, as the pelicans told me in Mexico as I gathered plastic from the beaches in dismay: “Don’t do it, if you can’t do it with joy. You have other things you can do that are more effective, and leave this task to those who can do it with joy or peace.” Amen.