Sometimes doves just want some alone time

DEAR JOAN: I’ve noticed a young mourning dove on the ground near our front yard garden bench. It will walk around and peck at seeds, staying in about an area of 16 square feet. Mostly it just nests on the ground. I have put out seeds and water for it. I approached it once and followed it until it flew onto a nearby fence, so I know it can fly. It seems to hide at night. I have not seen or heard any adult doves near it.

I am worried it is easy prey. Do you think it will leave soon and join the doves that feed at our backyard feeder? Or could there be something wrong with it?

Barbara Fremont

DEAR BARBARA: It could be having problems, or perhaps it just wants to be alone.

Mourning doves are ground feeders and when not nesting they tend to spend a lot of time on the ground. My guess is that this is a young dove, newly fledged, who hasn’t quite got the hang of things. It likely will move closer to the feeders, although if it’s getting what it needs in your front yard, it might have little reason to visit the back yard.

DEAR JOAN: Two years ago when winter came and the tomato vines had died and been pulled out, the question became how to keep my neighbor’s cats out of my raised garden bed.

I tried your plastic fork advice. No. 1, it takes a zillion of them and a lot of time to cover a bed about 3 feet wide and 20 feet long. No. 2, the cats didn’t care one iota. They just shoved the forks out of the way and went on about their business.

I’ve thought of using an electric fence to keep the deer, rats and cats out of the planter bed, but it seems a little extreme, although it does work for the deer. A former neighbor used an electric fence to keep deer out of his vineyard.

Another problem this year is bees and yellow jackets attracted to the hummingbird feeders.

B. Bay Area

DEAR B.: Sorry to hear the forks didn’t work for you. You shouldn’t have to cover the entire bed — just spots. It’s also important to bury the forks, handles down, so that only the tips of the tines are exposed. The idea is to make it uncomfortable for the cats to walk there, not to injure them.

When you’re not actively growing anything in the bed, or before planting, you can try rolling out some chicken wire on top of it. You can plant in the holes or cut openings. This would make it hard for the cats to scratch around and might make them go elsewhere.

The bees and yellow jackets usually are drawn to feeders that are leaking. Otherwise, they don’t pay much attention to them. Make sure the feeders are working properly, or buy new ones. Putting them in the shade might also help, along with removing any decorations that are yellow.

Unique opportunity

The Tri-Valley Conservancy is looking for volunteers to monitor activity in Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore where a fire burned about 15 acres of parkland. As the plants rise from the ashes, so does the excellent opportunity to document the fire’s impacts as well as the regrowth of plants and the behavior of returning wildlife.

To learn more about this project, attend a kick-off meeting at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6. RSVP at TriValleyConservancy.org or call 925-4498706.