Do dryer sheets really drive wildlife away from your yard?

DEAR JOAN >> I have read many of your readers telling you about the lack of insects and birds in their yards. I have a solution — stop using chemicals and dryer sheets, which may smell good, but are full of chemicals.

At the moment, I have at least 50 birds in my yard. Over the course of a year, I get the following visitors: house finches, chickadees, woodpeckers, scrub-jays, mockingbirds, wrens, goldfinches, titmice, bush tits, yellow rumps, mourning doves, orioles, brown towhee, white and golden crown sparrows, Western bluebirds and cedar waxwing.

I also get to see raccoons, skunks, opossums, bees, lizards, ants, yellow jackets, horse flies, dragonflies and other things I can’t remember at the moment.

I have lived in the same house for 20 years and have always kept it chemical free. I believe the lack of dryer sheets has played an important role in keeping so many animals in my yard.

I do not abut wild space, and our corner lot is less than a quarter of an acre. I don’t have any secret to my success, except to keep it chemical free for my wild friends.

So, I believe if people would make a concerted effort to be chemical free, they would see all of the things I am so grateful to see in my yard all of the time. DEAR ANN >> I congratulate you on your exceptional efforts to make all wildlife welcome in your yard.

Making your yard a place where animals feel safe to come and go can be complicated, but wildlife experts say you need three basic things — food, water and habitat, meaning trees for them to nest in or perch and low brush for hiding places. It’s also important to keep your yard as natural as possible, letting nature exist in balance.

Some people put out birdbaths and feeders, but they also use chemicals in an attempt to control insects, pests and weeds. That can create an imbalance. For example, without insects, birds aren’t as likely to visit.

I’ve never heard that dryer sheets create a threat or deterrent to wildlife. There’s been a story going around for a few years now that claims the sheets contain large amounts of toxic chemicals that are harmful to human and animal alike, but that story has been pretty much debunked. Obviously, the sheets contain chemicals that soften and remove static from clothes, but those are not toxic. The dryer sheet industry is regulated the same as any other household product.

They do contain a fragrance, but wildlife is not likely to come into contact with the sheets. I do, however, appreciate your concern about protecting animals and I can’t argue with the notion that the more natural we live, the better.

DEAR JOAN >> My dad had a bird feeder on a pole — I guess a metal pole — and a squirrel would climb the pole and eat the seed.

One day he decided to spray the pole with WD40 and the next day he watched as the squirrel tried to climb the pole. After many attempts it fell to the ground exhausted and no more problems after that. DEAR ROGER >> The only problem with that method is that the WD-40 is a combination of lubricants, none of which would be good for any creature that got it on its fur or feathers. Baffles are good at stopping pole climbers.