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&quot;suet holder --Boundary_(ID_IZb6ERGRISPQcGwU2TzfOA) Content-type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Be careful with the salt, sugar, and preservatives that are added to=20 many commercial peanut butters. The peanut butter that can sit at room=20= temperature in your cupboard probably won't go rancid in the winter=20 outdoors. George On 10, Jan 2008, at 10:21 AM, Wild Flora wrote: > Years ago, before meat came in packages from the grocery store,=20 > butchers often gave away bits of cow carcass that their human=20 > customers did not want to eat. This is how many dogs got their bones. > =A0 > The butcher was also a popular source for suet, which is a thick piece=20= > of nearly pure white fat that is found behind a cow or steer's=20 > kidneys. Hung outside, often in an old onion bag, it would provide=20 > high-calorie fuel for small birds during the depths of winter. Because=20= > it was (in those days) free, people didn=92t mind leaving it out for=20= > birds. > =A0 > Today many people have trouble getting suet from a butcher (and if you=20= > can find it, it=92s no longer free), so manufacturers have started=20 > offering it for purchase suet in stores; it usually comes in the form=20= > of a square cake that fits into a "suet holder" that you can also=20 > purchase. > =A0 > I spent a lot of money on commercially prepared suet over the years,=20= > believing that this was the ideal way to feed winter birds. But=20 > eventually I realized that the custom of feeding suet arose more=20 > because suet used to be free than because suet is necessarily the=20 > ideal food. As a matter of fact, my readings suggest that almost any=20= > high-fat food will work just as well. > =A0 > Through a process of trial and error, what I=92ve found is that birds=20= > actually seem to like peanut butter best. When you buy it in the giant=20= > jars in the bulk foods section of the grocery store, peanut butter is=20= > also quite inexpensive. > =A0 > After discovering peanut butter, I went through several years in which=20= > I tried combining it with other things, such as corn meal or dried=20 > fruit. Eventually I concluded that this is unnecessary and just adds=20= > to mess around the feeders, because the birds scatter what they don=92t=20= > like. So I just started putting out straight peanut butter. > =A0 > Some people are afraid to give birds straight peanut butter because=20 > they've heard that the birds will choke. But I've investigated this=20 > and found no evidence that this is likely to happen. As far as I know,=20= > most authorities now consider this to be an urban legend. > =A0 > The only concern in offering birds peanut butter or any other high-fat=20= > food is that these foods should not be left outside in warm weather.=20= > Fats of all types go rancid in heat. Rendering fat makes it keep=20 > better but is a time-consuming and potentially dangerous process. I=20 > prefer to offer fatty foods only when temperatures are below freezing. > =A0 > Peanut butter can be offered in almost any container, including a suet=20= > feeder. You can even spread it on things, as peanut butter sticks to=20= > almost anything. Do not spread peanut butter on a live tree or shrub,=20= > however; squirrels will chew through the bark as they try to get at=20 > the last of the peanut butter. > =A0 > In addition to offering peanut butter to the birds, I also continue to=20= > offer the same foods I put out during the rest of the year. The =A0food=20= > most preferred by most birds that visit suspended feeders (those that=20= > are above the ground) is black oil sunflower seed. Ground-feeding=20 > birds tend to like millet and cracked corn; I often throw cheap bird=20= > seed on the driveway for these birds, because cheap bird seed is=20 > mostly made up of millet. =A0This combination keeps a wide array of=20 > birds (chickadees, nuthatches, doves, juncos, various sparrows, and=20 > various finches, to name a few) very happy during the winter. The=20 > peanut butter may even attract woodpeckers and other birds that=20 > ordinarily would eat mostly insects. > =A0 > The above is taken from my blog, http://www.wildgardeners.com > =A0 > Wild Flora > =A0 > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ George E. Forsyth ph. 902 = 681 4910 c/o Evangeline Middle School fax. 902 681 4909 9387 Commercial St. New Minas, N.S. B4N 3G3 --Boundary_(ID_IZb6ERGRISPQcGwU2TzfOA) Content-type: text/enriched; charset=WINDOWS-1252 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Be careful with the salt, sugar, and preservatives that are added to many commercial peanut butters. The peanut butter that can sit at room temperature in your cupboard probably won't go rancid in the winter outdoors. George On 10, Jan 2008, at 10:21 AM, Wild Flora wrote: = <excerpt><fontfamily><param>Georgia</param><color><param>3333,3333,3333</p= aram><bigger>Years ago, before meat came in packages from the grocery store, butchers often gave away bits of cow carcass that their human customers did not want to eat. This is how many dogs got their = bones.</bigger></color></fontfamily> = <fontfamily><param>Georgia</param><color><param>3333,3333,3333</param><big= ger>=A0</bigger></color></fontfamily> = <fontfamily><param>Georgia</param><color><param>3333,3333,3333</param><big= ger>The butcher was also a popular source for suet, which is a thick piece of nearly pure white fat that is found behind a cow or steer's kidneys. Hung outside, often in an old onion bag, it would provide high-calorie fuel for small birds during the depths of winter. Because it was (in those days) free, people didn=92t mind leaving it out for = birds.</bigger></color></fontfamily> = <fontfamily><param>Georgia</param><color><param>3333,3333,3333</param><big= ger>=A0</bigger></color></fontfamily> = <fontfamily><param>Georgia</param><color><param>3333,3333,3333</param><big= ger>Today many people have trouble getting suet from a butcher (and if you can find it, it=92s no longer free), so manufacturers have started offering it for purchase suet in stores; it usually comes in the form of a square cake that fits into a "suet holder" that you can also = purchase.</bigger></color></fontfamily> = <fontfamily><param>Georgia</param><color><param>3333,3333,3333</param><big= ger>=A0</bigger></color></fo