Yesterday I was doing some yard work and finally got around to cleaning out the bird houses. I took down the first house and found it was in need of repair but empty. I carefully cleaned it and went on to the next house. The second house is from Germany and made of cement. The previous owners of our home told me it was the best house in the yard. It was positioned way up in a huge Maple tree in our back yard. I managed to get the big ladder up against the tree. I was scared of falling, but, I went up and tried to get the house off the hook it was on ( it was about 20' up). I twisted the house back and forth and then....out popped this furry thing with big eyes and it flies out of the entry hole!...Yikes!...I screamed like a girl!...a cartoon girl scream! The little guy was on the ground and not moving. I climbed down. It was so cute and sweet looking, but not moving. Frankenstein came over to give it a sniff, but didn't pay too much attention too it. I of course ran inside to get my camera. When I returned, Frankenstein was just coming back from the back garden and the critter was gone! He buried it in the back garden and I couldn't find it anyplace (I so look forward to gardening back there and finding it....double yikes!). Frankenstein is very quick to bury any animals in the yard be they stuffed or real!Once I had got my cool back, I went up the ladder to get the house down. Mr. Eleven looked it up and it was differently a Flying Squirrel. I managed to get the house down and I opened the front of it, to reveal a beautiful cozy nest, made of feathers and straw and other soft things. The guilt of disturbing and ultimately killing this guy was eating at me. However, I had to clean it out so someone new could move in, right? So I pull out some of the bedding and all of a sudden, there is movement...again I scream like a cartoon and do a freaky dance.
This little sweety was hidding inside.
She came out with her big black nocturnal eye and clung to the outside of her home. When she saw Frankenstein she made a run for it, More like bunny hops, her bod like a furry square, bounding towards the tree. I have to say they are super cute and the fur is like a chinchilla, in fact at first I thought they were chinchillas.She went up the big tree and Frankenstein was going crazy with excitement. Then we noticed there was another one in the house still. A smaller one...not a baby but younger. We didn't want to do any more damage to this family, so I placed the house, with the little guy in it up in the tree. That is where we left things yesterday
I hope once it got dark, they had a reunion and found a new nesting spot. They had a perfect home and I destroyed it. I was trying to do a good thing and it went all wrong, I feel horrible.There is a bird house in the front that needs to be replaced. Sparrows are nesting in it and I have been told to kick them out, by a reliable source. I will do it, but man I feel really bad about all of this! I am learning, Gardeners have to be tough!
Hopefully the rest of the story of birdhouse cleaning will be uneventful!
onward.....
3 comments:
What an adventure! I would've shrieked too. Yikes. So cute though.
Yeah you wouldn't think cleaning out bird houses would be so adventurous. Yard work: it's Super Extreme!
They were so freakin cute!
I'm sorry that one of the little ones died, but you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. You were doing what had to be done. It's good that you were tending to your birdhouses (a lot of folks never do that), and the flying squirrels were a surprise. Indeed, let's hope the mother returns to the young squirrel that remains.
Plus, hey, it's terrific that you and Kevin have some very personal wildlife encounters in your own backyard!
All the best.
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