The subject of today’s report is unwanted visitors
from the animal kingdom. Living here in paradise is wonderful but it does have
one or two down sides. In the summer months there are groundhogs who take up
residence under our porch, in the winter, flying squirrels have on occasion
penetrated small openings in our roof. They want to nest in a warm place to
procreate, and they make a lot of noise. Because the gestation period for a flying
squirrel is relatively short, one could find oneself with a real problem in no
time. In past reports I have spoken about our war with these flying squirrels.
They can be a real nuisance if they decide to live in the roof of your home.
About five years ago, we had a squirrel “expert” come
to our house for a consultation. Over a very expensive cup of tea, we had an
interesting and informative conversation about the tenacity and ingenuity of
these annoying rodents. He then got up on a ladder and did an assessment of potential
entry points to our house, and we then did our best to plug them up. Squirrels are
notorious pests, but if possible, my rule has so far been to live and let live.
I once went to the extreme measure of live-trapping a red squirrel and driving
it 12 miles away from our house, simply to avoid killing it. That’s how far
away one needs to take them to avoid having them return. Needless to say, I
only did that once. Eventually, I changed my credo to: Live and let live,
unless the little bastards get into the house. Once they break that rule I “go
medieval” on their little asses. Bazookas, chainsaws, hatchets; the works. Back
to the squirrels in a minute.
Our latest nuisance from the animal kingdom is a
family of pigeons. In my twenty-five years living up here, I’d never seen a
pigeon on our property until last year. Now, there are four or five of them residing here. They moved in last year, probably from the city, and probably because
Rob Ford is mayor now. I have nothing against pigeons, as long as they keep
their distance and don’t poop on me or my house. Clearly, they do not
understand the rules of Jasper Bark Lodge, and they are spewing their guano all over our
house. It's beginning to look like a Jackson Pollack painting. While I do have a pellet gun, I have yet to shoot a bird. Unless I
decide to incorporate pigeon into my diet, I prefer to avoid killing them. High
powered squirt guns are a deterrent, but I needed something to scare them away.
The other day, I bought one of those wireless doorbells with twenty different ringtones. I couldn’t believe some of the annoying ringtones it features. Why
would anyone want a dog barking as their doorbell ringtone? I set the ringtone
to “Emergency Vehicle Siren” and plugged it in outside on our balcony porch. Then I waited for our unwanted visitors. So far I have had marginal success with the
emergency vehicle ring; I think it bothers us (and our neighbors) more than it does them. They’re getting used to it. I’m going to see if I have more
luck with the barking dog, but I'm not optimistic.
Back to the squirrels. The other day I noticed blood
on the snow outside our window, and I think a bird of prey got one of the red
squirrels. We’d trapped a lot of mice in the house last summer and fall,
but that has tapered off since January. I think perhaps natural predators are
getting them before they enter the house. I feed at least one feral cat, and
perhaps that is paying off. The other night Shauna and I were looking out the
front window of our bedroom and noticed two flying squirrels on the ground
foraging. While I wasn’t watching, I heard Shauna scream from the bedroom
window. While she was watchinig, one of the squirrels scampered up a tree and, in
an instant, was snatched by a big barred owl. Game over, and problem
solved!
In general, the lessons we learn here on the lake are
the lessons everyone should learn; we need to adapt to Mother Nature. She is
the boss, and everything we do to alter her magic has unforeseen consequences. We
built a big house where lots of critters live, and short of killing everything
that moves, we need to figure out how to co-exist with that wildlife. That’s
what we are trying to do. I have much more respect for nature these days.
Last night, we were fortunate enough to watch the full
blood super duper wolf eclipse of the moon, or whatever it’s called. It was captivating.
I had never before observed a lunar eclipse from start to finish, and we watched
this one with binoculars. Shauna and I were mesmerized. Sure beats CNN, or
Hollywood’s latest remake of a superhero comic book story.
- Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2019 ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED
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