This past week's winter storm certainly reminded us that it is still winter in central Illinois. Two weeks ago I saw my first robin of 2007, and of course my thoughts were of spring. Spring will be here sooner or later, at this point I feel like it is going to be later, but I'm not a meteorologist. I do know that birds, especially robins may be finding it difficult to find food right now. You may have noticed robins in your fruit bearing trees and shrubs, gleaning the last remaining fruits from the plants. Fruits are a secondary food source for robins. If you are a bird feeding enthusiast, you may want to add raisins to your feeding platform for the robins until warm temperatures activate insect populations.

When outside temperatures do begin to warm up again, I'll likely begin receiving telephone calls concerning bats in homes. The big brown bat often hibernates in attic and wall spaces in central Illinois and late winter warm outside temperatures may cause some of these animals to become active. These bat encounters usually involve one or two bats that seek the warmer house temperature and enter your living space. If you can close off the room they are in and open a window the bat will often fly outside on their own. If you decide to speed up the process with a butterfly net, be careful so as not to be bitten.

If you do encounter a bat intruder this late winter, you will want to try to locate the outside entrance hole in your house when spring finally does arrive. The task of bat exclusion is often best left to a professional. However, the University of Illinois Champaign Extension office can provide a detailed fact sheet on the process if you want to consider dealing with the problem yourself.

The activity of other animals in your backyard may also increase as warm weather arrives, so you may want to begin monitoring for other common spring wildlife nuisance conflicts. The resident urban populations of Canada geese will begin searching for suitable nesting areas toward the end of this month. If you are planning on installing fencing or other barriers around your small pond to make the area unsuitable nesting habitat now is the time to get busy. Fencing or string barriers at the water's edge of a pond are most effective when installed prior to nest territory selection.

Another common late winter nuisance wildlife call I receive concerns woodpecker drumming. Drumming is a spring territorial activity that is done by pecking on a hollow tree. Unfortunately in urban areas these locations may be limited, so the birds use what is available, your chimney's flashing, eaves or the corner of your home's siding. Again, you may want to monitor for this activity now. If you want to disrupt or move the woodpecker to another area, you must intervene as soon as the activity begins. Woodpeckers are protected by state and federal laws, so they cannot be killed; the objective is to scare them away. Strips of mylar can be hung from eaves to scare the birds or the drumming area can be temporarily covered, but this can move the bird to another part of your home. Scaring the birds away with a loud noise can sometimes work, but this technique requires persistence and intervention soon after the drumming begins.

It's difficult to predict what will happen with temperatures the rest of the days of winter, and the affect on wildlife activity. The best approach to reducing wildlife nuisance conflicts is anticipation and preparation, so watch the wildlife in your neighborhood. You may even find it entertaining. If you have questions about wildlife nuisance management, call the University of Illinois Champaign Extension Unit at 333-7672.