SIMPLE PLEASURES IN LIFE MAKES WIFE HAPPY
For 35 years, my wife has enjoyed feeding the birds in the backyard. No matter the season, she faitfully feeds the various birds as though they were her own flock. I think they are, really. For almost as many years, we have heard the sounds of baby birds beneath the deck, chirping loudly and impatiently for their next feeding. According to what she has told me, the chicks or hatchlings, or whatever one calls these baby birds, they only eat worms, not seeds. I will take her word for this bit of bird education.
Recently, the squirrels have become more than ocassional looters, they are taking over the bird feeder. To combat these seed robbers, she has vowed to get a super-squirter and drench them a few times. Will they stop their wholesale theft of sunflower seeds? Only time and her good aim will tell.
The funny part of this animal story is that she loves the squirrels too.
A few days ago, she came home from an estate sale with a large and very realistic wrought-iron statue of a heron. She told me she thought it might help keep the rodent squirrels away. "Do herons eat squirrels?" I asked her. "No," she replied, "but they don't know that."
"Do you think it will scare the birds away?" I asked her.
"Do herons eat birds," she asked.
"Not that I know of," I responded, "but do the birds know that?"
Time will tell what happens. The dogs do not seem to bother either the squirrels or the birds, they have learned to live in harmony. So, will a wrought-iron heron totally make this food station quiet, absent of the sounds of birds feeding? Only time will tell.
SIMPLE PLEASURES IN LIFE MAKES WIFE HAPPY
For 35 years, my wife has enjoyed feeding the birds in the backyard. No matter the season, she faitfully feeds the various birds as though they were her own flock. I think they are, really. For almost as many years, we have heard the sounds of baby birds beneath the deck, chirping loudly and impatiently for their next feeding. According to what she has told me, the chicks or hatchlings, or whatever one calls these baby birds, they only eat worms, not seeds. I will take her word for this bit of bird education.
Recently, the squirrels have become more than ocassional looters, they are taking over the bird feeder. To combat these seed robbers, she has vowed to get a super-squirter and drench them a few times. Will they stop their wholesale theft of sunflower seeds? Only time and her good aim will tell.
The funny part of this animal story is that she loves the squirrels too.
A few days ago, she came home from an estate sale with a large and very realistic wrought-iron statue of a heron. She told me she thought it might help keep the rodent squirrels away. "Do herons eat squirrels?" I asked her. "No," she replied, "but they don't know that."
"Do you think it will scare the birds away?" I asked her.
"Do herons eat birds," she asked.
"Not that I know of," I responded, "but do the birds know that?"
Time will tell what happens. The dogs do not seem to bother either the squirrels or the birds, they have learned to live in harmony. So, will a wrought-iron heron totally make this food station quiet, absent of the sounds of birds feeding? Only time will tell.