It used to be that you could attract "average" critters fairly easily, and "rare" critters were rare and hard to attract.
 
Then the mushrooms came, and initially they helped a lot. At that stage the lower dragons were actually "mildly attracted" to higher mushrooms. But in time, the settings were tweaked and the dragons turned into pests, so that having mushrooms just replaced mice with dragon pests.

Now, it seems like "average" critters, even with a mushroom in, often come at a frequency closer to "rare" critters. Has anyone else noticed this? Settings were tweaked when the supershrooms arrived, but I don't remember it being this bad.
For example, hedgies used to be ubiquitous. This month they are almost rare, unless you have a supershroom.
Have regular mushrooms become worthless in terms of increasing attraction of the critter you want?

It would be nice if "common or rare" was differentiated. Maybe a look at the frequency settings is in order? Just a thought... Thank you :)

So much depends on the garden setup. If you are trying to attract too many things at once, if you’re only using one attractant, if you’re not using deterrents for unwanted critters, if you’re using low feeding tables (which allow more mice to feed) when you could be using high tables … all of these things can affect how often a critter visits.
It’s not just about how “common” or “rare” something is.  There are so many more variables that come into play.

Absolutely. All of that is true. You certainly can't make sensible comparisons if you do not compare similar garden set-ups. :) I did some quick checks today, comparing "rare" with "average" in gardens with similar set-ups. All other things being equal, there were no major differences in most. And in many gardens "rare" critters were significantly more common than "average" critters.

The key phrase in your post is "Settings were tweaked when the *supershrooms* arrived." I have wanted to post similar thoughts as yours for a while now, Fern, so thank you.

There are a lot of components involved
We have more spaces in the garden
More complex setups involving more plants -
More wildlife coming to those plants
More "pests"
A strong setup is still the best answer to getting what you want

Agreed Patricia, but that is a different point. :) If a critter is listed as "rare" it should not be as easy to attract as "average". I am comparing similar set-ups, of course.

Certainly platters do differ and there is random variety amongst plates; some platters attract lots of the target critter, whilst others don't (like with the bird bath). But in random garden checks that I have done, the "average" and "rare" are often attracting at the same rates.

Yes it all depends on set up for sure and there hasn’t been a tweak in the supershrooms or any other tweaks, why would there be? On a side note of supershrooms, some, a lot, say there are often too many WRC’s with them, well maybe it’s because they actually attract them? Also a myth is that they are worse on weekends. Anyway, have the best set up you can possibly have if you’re wanting a certain critter. Only that critter, no others, meaning you can dedicate all the tables you have, to that one critter. High tables whenever it says “any table”. Sometimes though there are deterrents to help but they can also bring in other critters to those plates. A random look at gardens doesn’t give the proper picture on every variable etc. Yes some may look like “this” but the majority look like “that”. I always follow Freedom Fairies United (FFU) ultimate garden set up, especially when really wanting to concentrate on a rare critter and i see a lot don’t, which is fine of course, no one has to or even know about it too but unless you do everything possible, then yes, sometimes rare critters can pop up sooner than an average for example.

I always say that garden setup is more important than mushroom used - I rarely use a mushroom at all unless I need a myth or caterpillar. Yes, I'll use a supershroom when underwater because UW seeds only last so long, and maybe to deter fairy tale wildlife (if I host them again).

I think the real issue is the time crunch and expectations. So many people are working on different challenges and "need this (critter) NOW" (sorry for shouting, only trying to emphasis the urgency) so they can move on the next thing and will host multiple wildlife with only 1 attracting plant each and it's no wonder people have terrible results.

Right now, I know my garden is mostly attracting m&m (which given rubies, unlike caterpillars) and I'm ok with the occasional target wildlife visiting, but I'm willing to wait. I hosted planimals (froog/snabbit/etc.) a week ago and had 3 RFH plants and prayer for at least one to show up and be spotted.

Yes, i used to hate pink caps for the dragons when using veg. especially but have grown to love that they give seeds haha!

Couldn’t agree more with both of you, Shannon and Lesley 👍