The Antonio Garden should see fewer rodents problems in future due to natural predation.
There are bobcats living in the barranca just past the condos. First, we had one, then it took a mate, and now there are 2 half-grown bob kittens roaming the hills.
When the first one showed up, we had coyotes, rabbits and squirrels, but not a single house cat on the hill. The adult bobcats have tangled with the coyotes who leave the area alone now. Caring for the kittens has reduced the adults’ range this last year, and the impact on the local rodents has been dramatic.
The bobcats has reduced the quail population considerably, but now we have gone from being over run with rabbits and squirrels to being almost rodent free. A biologist recently said the way you judged bobcat presence was the lack of jack rabbits
An adult bobcat ranges a mile or more in any direction, but the kittens only venture less than a mile. After eliminating everything except the gophers, I expect the kittens to be showing up at the garden along with their parents to help out with the squirrel and rabbit problems
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Another natural predator that should be familiar to you in the garden is the falcon.
We are lucky to have a pair successfully nesting in the area. After creating a more meadow-like yard, open to the sky, the falcons have spent a lot of time working my garden and orchard areas.
Together with the red-tail and red-shouldered hawks and resident owls on patrol, our rodent problems are greaetly reduced.
Now, if they would just work on the gophers…
About Mike TaylorMike was one of the founding members of the garden, author of this website and first chairman of the garden. Mike helped create the Antonio Garden which in turn has spawned more gardens throughout the county and across the country. The latest garden that used our model is in Iowa.
