Flower Dogs
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Aren't these the cutest dang things? A friend sent me these pictures via email. I started poking around the Internet to find the origins, got off on 64 tangents and two hours later I'm back to finish this entry!
I can't resist showing you this photo I stumbled upon. Snopes says this is real. Kinda takes your breath away, doesn't it?
~ ~ ~
Aren't these the cutest dang things? A friend sent me these pictures via email. I started poking around the Internet to find the origins, got off on 64 tangents and two hours later I'm back to finish this entry!
I can't resist showing you this photo I stumbled upon. Snopes says this is real. Kinda takes your breath away, doesn't it?~ ~ ~
We came home Friday afternoon to find both cats on the fireplace mantel, a first. Turns out there's a bird stuck in our chimney. Saturday morning, we had a guy from CritterControl.com come out and see what could be done about it. Not much as it turns out. The fireplace is gas-fired and the flue is encased in a sleeve that is just big enough for a bird to fall into but obviously can't get out. The guy told us quite often they just lower a rope into the chimney and the bird grabs on and they pull it out. Weird, huh? But he couldn't even do that in this case the way the sleeve/flue is set up. The poor guy was way more frustrated and disappointed than we were about the outcome. It seemed like if we could just pull the fireplace insert out, the bird was right there. We consider ourselves bird lovers but that amount of work and expense just doesn't seem worth it.
He told us because birds are cold-blooded, it shouldn't stink too badly when it dies. More of a funny dried grass smell that should only last a day or so. I'll let you know how that works out.
The chimney is capped properly so he determined the bird must have gotten in along the side of the sleeve thing, so he installed 1/4" fencing around the perimeter to prevent this from happening again. He's going to come back when baby bird season is over and replace all the vents in the soffits around the house. They are plastic and have been deteriorating over the years. Being plastic, the birds can break them apart pretty easily and we have not been 100% diligent about replacing them. We've replaced a few over the years, but we know there are at least two that need replacing. It only takes one to cause a problem, eh?
Meanwhile, Venus & Verona have been intrigued as hell. Reggi doesn't seem to notice or give a hoot.
The much maligned starling is the suspect in the chimney. You may remember from years past that they also build a nest in our gas grill every year, going in through the vent holes on the sides. Nest building season is always upon us before I realize it so I get startled when I open the grill and see that it is just packed with nesting material. Typically, I toss the nest about three times before they stop rebuilding. We had eggs once last year.
We have kept the grill covered with a
canvas cover but it's fairly windy out here and we have a lot of trouble keeping the cover on the grill. I noticed one of our neighbors uses a bungee cord around the legs of the grill to keep their's secure so that's our next step. Not sure it will be a cure-all to thwart the birds, but definitely worth a shot.
He told us because birds are cold-blooded, it shouldn't stink too badly when it dies. More of a funny dried grass smell that should only last a day or so. I'll let you know how that works out.
The chimney is capped properly so he determined the bird must have gotten in along the side of the sleeve thing, so he installed 1/4" fencing around the perimeter to prevent this from happening again. He's going to come back when baby bird season is over and replace all the vents in the soffits around the house. They are plastic and have been deteriorating over the years. Being plastic, the birds can break them apart pretty easily and we have not been 100% diligent about replacing them. We've replaced a few over the years, but we know there are at least two that need replacing. It only takes one to cause a problem, eh?
Meanwhile, Venus & Verona have been intrigued as hell. Reggi doesn't seem to notice or give a hoot.
The much maligned starling is the suspect in the chimney. You may remember from years past that they also build a nest in our gas grill every year, going in through the vent holes on the sides. Nest building season is always upon us before I realize it so I get startled when I open the grill and see that it is just packed with nesting material. Typically, I toss the nest about three times before they stop rebuilding. We had eggs once last year.We have kept the grill covered with a
canvas cover but it's fairly windy out here and we have a lot of trouble keeping the cover on the grill. I noticed one of our neighbors uses a bungee cord around the legs of the grill to keep their's secure so that's our next step. Not sure it will be a cure-all to thwart the birds, but definitely worth a shot.
posted by Stefani at 8:24 AM
8 Comments:
So my cats (who routinely help with my morning internet checking duties) want to know why, if the birds are so helpful with this, you don't just fire up the grill and cook them. If you don't wish to eat them, then send them here and they'll be thrilled to help. Probably even send you thank you cards.
Dang birds! We get a couple flying around in our house each year. Have no clue how they get in. Suspect our two chimneys but the chimney guy says No.
And now I've got a bird in a nest sitting on top one of our unopened window awnings. We are not allowed to walk nearby because the mom swoops at our heads!
But at least I can grill... Oy!!!
Great photos! It's a shame about the poor little birdie, but what can you do...
We had that problem until they put a chimney cap on. Problem solved. Good luck though!
One of my sister's had the same problem except the bird didn't get stuck. It got all the way through and flew through the house, keeping her cats entertained for a while until it finally flew out a door. They got a fireplace cap after that too. Poor bird!
One year we had birds build a next in our front porch light. It seemed like a delightful idea at first but then proved to me a bit messy (The light hangs from the porch ceiling between the front door and the porch steps... think about the porch floor underneath that light) but we put up with it because by that time they had nested and we didn't want to disrupt them.
The next year I kept brushing off their attempts to build a next -- much to the birds' annoyance -- and then I got clever and wrapped the light fixture in aluminum foil. That foiled the birds (sorry, couldn't resist). The year after that I saw birds checking it out and so I immediately wrapped it foil and they gave up.
Heather has a little tiny pergola, a tiny wooden thing, open on the sides but with a roof.
One year a sparrow nested there and hatched her eggs.
No activity the next year though.
Re the wildflowers photo:
I can verify that pictures LIKE THAT are definitely real (obviously I wasn't there to see that one taken) -- we have traveled that area many many times and often take side-trips to see the flowers, especially the California poppies, blooming. It's amazingly beautiful. I have lived in the hot and dry semi-desert areas (California, Washington*, Oregon*, and Idaho) most of my life and love that climate. Beautiful photo ... brings back nice memories.
(*YES, eastern Washington and Oregon are VERY dry, contrary to stereotype!)
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