Chickadees on the porch

Every spring the chickadees nest in a birdhouse on the front porch.  

They raise 2 or 3 clutches and then they're gone.

They scold us severely whenever we're on the porch,

but if we're still they will go about their parenting business.

 

 

 

Spring snow

We managed to get through the winter without snow this year and then came the first day of Spring.

  Lovely. 

 Then came the second day of Spring. 

Snow.

 This is what we woke up to, 

and of course the cars are in the garage at the bottom of the steep driveway.

doh.

We waited for daylight.  It snowed for several more hours.

The squirrel was not amused.

The birds flocked.  One at a time, sometimes.

The Hummer food wasn't frozen.

The sun finally came out and it all turned to slush.  

We got out of the driveway,  out of the neighborhood and into the park-n-ride.  

I was only 2 hours late to work.

The Bigger They Are

the more disgusting.  

We've had bird feeders on the back deck for years and the worst 'critter' we've seen, aside from the afore mentioned squirrels, was a mouse the size of a hamster.  

 He and the Douglas squirrel 

went at it for several rounds, giant mouse the victor, which was a surprise as the Douglas is a 'stand your ground' kind of guy and has been seen chasing off the bigger gray squirrels.  

Happily, we haven't seen the mouse more than once in the last year, but now this.  One rat you see means 50 that you don't.  Eek.  It's always breeding season for rodents.  

Until we figure out the solution, we have brought in the two bird feeders.  The birds have flown to other feeders, the giant rat hasn't been seen since.

With so many squirrels, raccoons, feral cats and all manner of birds that call our green belt home, we don't want to set traps that might catch some of the 'not rat' community.  How can just one species be targeted?

We're open to suggestions.

Guns are not an option.