Ready to Create a Brush Shelter for Backyard Wildlife?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the creation of brush shelters for backyard wildlife, exploring their benefits, construction tips, and the humorous interactions among participants regarding the concept of "zoobies" and their association with brush shelters. The scope includes practical advice, personal anecdotes, and playful banter.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share tips for creating effective brush shelters, emphasizing placement, materials, and ecological benefits.
  • Others engage in humorous exchanges about the concept of "zoobies" and their connection to brush shelters, with some claiming to be part of this fictional group.
  • A participant recounts a personal camping experience involving a brush shelter, discussing the use of military rations and fire-building techniques.
  • There are playful challenges and jokes about the purpose of brush shelters and the nature of "zoobies," with some expressing fatigue over repeated jokes.
  • One participant mentions working for a brush manufacturer, leading to jokes about the supply of brushes and their potential use in shelter construction.
  • Another participant discusses the use of exothermic heaters in military rations, introducing a humorous element about capturing hydrogen for explosions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion features a mix of serious advice on brush shelters and light-hearted banter about "zoobies." While there are shared tips and experiences, the humorous exchanges indicate a lack of consensus on the seriousness of the topic.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about local regulations regarding brush shelters, and there are references to personal experiences that may not be universally applicable.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in wildlife conservation, backyard habitat creation, or those looking for humorous community interactions related to unconventional topics.

zoobyshoe
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No one's in a better position to do this right now than Evo, but anyone with somewhat of a yard might be able to atract some critters:

Brush Pile - Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program - National Wildlife Federation
Address:http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/logpile.cfm

TIPS FOR CREATING BRUSH SHELTERS
Some communities do not allow brush shelters, and some neighbors might not undertand their value. Check you local codes and notify your neighbors if the brush pile will be highly visible.
Place your shelter on the edge between two habitats - these "ecotones" house the most wildlife.
Make sure at least half of your shelter receives direct sunlight - many animals love to bask.
Use stone piles in your shelter as part of the base to create hiding places and along the edges to serve as basking sites.
Plant native flowering/fruiting vines to sprawl over the shelter to attract hummingbirds and songbirds.
Weave evergreen branches into the roof of your shelter in the Winter to provide cover from snow/ice storms.
Add old pipes to your shelter's base to serve as tunnels for rodents, reptiles and amphibians.
 
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Biology news on Phys.org
Hey, look - it's Zooby's house!
http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/images/14082brushpile.jpg
 
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But that's NOT my dog!
 
Why build a brush shelter?

Why not just keep them in the broom cupboard like everyone else?
 
That's my dog.

I sent him to the brush shelter to get me a water color brush.
 
Huckleberry said:
That's my dog.
Why won't he leave? I keep telling him "Make your own brush shelter!"
 
I'm going to go collect sticks for this. maybe I can catch a PF member lurking around. Oh, crap, we have the homeowner's association in our neighborhood, I'm not sure if they allow it. I'll have to check, but then again...

Why bother? :devil:
 
zoobyshoe said:
Why won't he leave? I keep telling him "Make your own brush shelter!"
It's just that I've never seen any zoobies using the shelter so I assumed it was abandoned. Didn't want all those brushes to get all crusty.
 
I'm sure you all can observe my shelter's simple, elegant lines and its structural grace. It was designed by Brush Architect, Frank Lloyd Zoobie - a classic!



This site has tons of brush shelter pictures:

Tracker Trail - Brush Shelters
Address:http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/shelter/brush/abbbrush.html
 
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  • #10
brewnog said:
Why build a brush shelter?

Why not just keep them in the broom cupboard like everyone else?

I can supply lots of brushes! I work for a brush manufacturer
:cool:
 
  • #11
Kerrie said:
I can supply lots of brushes! I work for a brush manufacturer
:cool:
I, and the rest of the zoobies, are becoming very tired of that joke.
 
  • #12
Kerrie said:
I can supply lots of brushes! I work for a brush manufacturer
:cool:
So can I send you the 60 pounds of cat hair that Lucy sheds every month?
 
  • #13
I'm doing my part by donating my fence as a termite habitat. :approve:
 
  • #14
the next story will demonstrate my extreme hick-ism:
One weekend (cold and rainy) i determined that i was going to 'rough it', so i did. i rounded up my millitary surplus gear and a couple MREs (Meal- Ready to -eat(millitary ration)) and headed off into the woods. that was friday night, i built a shelter, boiled some H20, built a fire, and slept there that night and saturday night, and left for home sunday morning. it was a peaceful and quite cool experience (except for the freak mountain storm on saturday) and i had a fun time. next time, i will bring a zippo, lighting fires by sparking flint and steel is a *****.

Fibonacci
 
  • #15
Actually, that sounds like a very cool camping experience. Next time don't just bring a zippo, bring some real food. Gots the makings of a great time if you know how to build a brush shelter. (Don't need to lug a tent.)
 
  • #16
zoobyshoe said:
Actually, that sounds like a very cool camping experience. Next time don't just bring a zippo, bring some real food. Gots the makings of a great time if you know how to build a brush shelter. (Don't need to lug a tent.)

actually, the MREs i had were quite swell, some random italian food with chicken, and if you get the heaters that have an extothermic reaction when you mix them with water they are hot too! the old MREs are sucky, and you have to know which ones are good. italian stuff is usually good.

Fibonacci
 
  • #17
You didn't build a fire?
 
  • #18
i did, as i said in my first post.
 
  • #19
1 said:
i did, as i said in my first post.
You did say that, yes. What was the function of the exothermic heater thingies?
 
  • #20
zoobyshoe said:
You did say that, yes. What was the function of the exothermic heater thingies?
Man build fire. Man no cook. *grunt grunt* :biggrin: :smile:
 
  • #21
zoobyshoe said:
I, and the rest of the zoobies, are becoming very tired of that joke.


:confused: it's no joke, I seriously work for a company called American Brush Company.
 
  • #22
Kerrie said:
:confused: it's no joke, I seriously work for a company called American Brush Company.
And do they sell instructions on how to make shelters from their products?
 
  • #23
zoobyshoe said:
And do they sell instructions on how to make shelters from their products?
Oh, I thought you were making shelters for their products. :-p With all that hair, I thought you'd need a lot of brushes, and might need a special shelter just for them. :biggrin:
 
  • #24
zoobyshoe said:
You did say that, yes. What was the function of the exothermic heater thingies?

they heat the MREs, and give off hydrogen, which i like to capture in a bag and explode.
yes, i am a pyro, too.

Fibonacci
 
  • #25
1 said:
they heat the MREs, and give off hydrogen, which i like to capture in a bag and explode.
yes, i am a pyro, too.
It's loud and firey. It burns clean, and leaves nothing behind but pure H2O. I'm not seeing a problem.
 
  • #26
zoobyshoe said:
I, and the rest of the zoobies, are becoming very tired of that joke.

The rest? so you're in the zooby club now? How do I join?
 
  • #27
Zantra said:
The rest? so you're in the zooby club now? How do I join?
There is no "zooby" club. There is a race of beings called "zoobies". I am a "zoobie", but my name is "Zooby". I am Zooby the zoobie. Zoobies live in brush shelters. If you want to make a brush shelter and live in it, you will not become a zoobie, merely zoobie-like.
 
  • #28
zoobyshoe said:
There is no "zooby" club. There is a race of beings called "zoobies". I am a "zoobie", but my name is "Zooby". I am Zooby the zoobie. Zoobies live in brush shelters. If you want to make a brush shelter and live in it, you will not become a zoobie, merely zoobie-like.

I will meditate on this. Perhaps after years of meditating inside of a brush shelter I may one day become one with the brush shelter and transcend to zoobie status...
 
  • #29
Zoobyshoe

Has his own universe