Watching Wildlife To Reduce Stress

WATCHING WILDLIFE CAN AND DOES REDUCE STRESS  

December, 2012/January, 2013 issue  
 Two  years ago, with my wife’s blessing, I spent just under a thousand   dollars, erecting an aluminium garden shed, complete with wooden  foundation and  a small deck at its approach. The building wasn’t for  garden tools, or firewood,  or flower pots. It was for bird feed. 
  
 The  building houses all my bulk bird feed, separated, and affectionately   stored in galvanized garbage cans, lined with plastic. I purchase all my  feed in  huge quantities from a distributor in Picton, just a 20 minute  drive from where  I live. The cans contain mixed seed, sunflower seed,  niger seed, safflower seed,  and peanuts in both whole and shelled form,  some of the bags so huge as to  barely fit in the back of my car.  Shelving units provide storage for unused  feeders, scoops, suet bars,  spare suet logs, a box of spare plastic bags with  which to line the  containers, and spare parts. I spent a day completely wiring  the  building, with an indoor light, an electrical outlet, as well as a  powerful  floodlight on the outside of the building for those 5:00 a.m.  feedings. The  building even has a clock.   
  
 Although  no one has dared challenge me yet on my decision, it is an  expenditure  for which I offer no apology. I emphasized this at a bird feeding   workshop I held recently, attended by over 70 avid bird enthusiasts. We  no  longer feed birds because we feel a sense of obligation to do so  during the  three lean months of the year; we do so because we enjoy  their presence in the  backyard, pure and simple. There is nothing wrong  with that, despite the  warnings of doomsayers and windsocks whose  knowledge of birds usually extends no  further than the backyard  birdbath. 
  
 You  need to understand, that birdfeeding for me is a form of relaxation.    My setup is just outside my home office window where I can look upon 30  or more  feeders, all concentrated in an area of only 50 feet square.  When my mind grinds  to a halt at the computer, all I have to do is take  in the activity at the  feeders and the world makes sense again. Some  feeders hang from a large maple  tree, others dangle from poles, some  from a red cedar, a few from a Russian  olive, and still others from a  white spruce. My birds even enjoy a heated pool –  a large basin of  water equipped with a built in de-icer and thermostat. The  entire  ground area beneath the feeders is kept clear of snow in the winter with   the help of my snowblower. 
  
 Birding  – birdfeeding in particular – is a hobby and spending exorbitant  sums  to enjoy this pastime is no different from the photographers I meet  every  spring at Prince Edward Point and Presqu’ile Provincial Park,  armed to the teeth  with many thousands of dollars’ worth of  sophisticated photographic equipment –  to take pictures of birds. The  hobby is a release valve and all return to their  places of employment  totally refreshed and revitalized.  You can`t put a dollar  figure on  that. 
  
 The  bird feeders outside my office window always work like magic. While   writing my book, “Up Before Five – the Family Farm” two winters ago,  thought  processes often ground to a halt, the same as they do when I  write my columns in  local newspapers. All it took to jump start my  brain again was to swing around  in my chair, and look out the window at  the menagerie of birds outside at the  feeders. Early this past fall,  it was the pine siskins, hundreds of them vying  for space at the niger  feeders. 
  
 Sometimes,  it is the cardinal, cautiously working his way to his favourite  feeder  at the red cedar for safflower seed. Or, it might be the juncos and  tree  sparrows on the ground scratching for their favourite tidbits, or  the chickadees  darting back and forth. In the summer, it is the downy  woodpecker, offering its  young family suet, and the chipping sparrows  filling up on finch seed. One year,  it was a family of brown thrashers,  another year a family of catbirds.  
  
 Quite  correctly, birds could be described as stress relievers. The benefit   of animals toward relaxation has been well documented over the years.  Studies  going back as far as the late 1980s have shown that gazing at  aquarium fish for  example reduces stress and subsequently lowers blood  pressure. We are hypnotized  by their peaceful and serene nature,  creating a calming effect for a few moments  in our hectic lives.   Seniors who were provided with an aquarium filled with  fish had  significant blood pressure reduction. Watching fish has been shown to   calm children who suffer from hyperactivity disorder. Dental patients  who were  subjected to hypnosis vs. an aquarium experienced the same or  greater benefit  from the aquarium. Other studies have shown that dental  patients required less  pain medication after having watched fish in  the office. It's little wonder that  physician offices, dental clinics,  and even waiting rooms for counsellors have  traditionally kept an  aquarium in the waiting room. Studies have shown that  seniors who have  Alzheimer’s experience a variety of health benefits from  watching an  aquarium. Alzheimer patients ate more, and required fewer  supplements  after an aquarium was placed in the dining room. They also exhibited   less physically aggressive behaviours. 
  
 Owning  pets, as another example, not only provide us with companionship by   making us feel secure and happy, they act as an anchor or stable force  that  helps one cope with the stresses of everyday life. Their  unconditional love  gives our mental and physical health a boost, and  for this reason there is much  to be said about the responses humans  have had to pet therapy as an alternative  or supplementary treatment to  help reduce stress, as well as treat a whole range  of medical and  emotional ailments. This therapy is widely used in nursing homes,   prisons, hospitals, and schools to reduce loneliness, anger, depression,  and  stress. A leader in the area of pet therapy research found that  cardiac patient  survival rates were higher for those who owned pets,  and that elderly people  with pets made fewer visits to the doctor's  office. In the final days before my  mother died 11 years ago, it was  often difficult to rouse her from a seemingly  comatose state in the  nursing home, but the moment she spotted the  Sheltie/Terrier I owned  back then, her arms would stretch out, and she was alert  once again. 
  
 Dogs,  cats, dolphins, and many other types of social animals have been used   for years for this type of therapy, with encouraging, positive results.  Even  walking a dog is good for a little human stress management via  fresh air and  exercise. This ability of animals to provide calming  effects could explain the  reason for the popularity of wildlife  watching these days, be it at a zoo, on  TV, on a guided hike, in an  aquarium, gazing at birds through binoculars in the  field, or just  watching them through a window. Spending money on pursuits such  as  these is not an expense, but rather, an investment.
  
 For more information on birding and nature and guided hikes, check out the  NatureStuff website at www.naturestuff.net 
  
 Terry Sprague lives in Prince Edward County and is self-employed as a  professional interpretive naturalist.