Adventures With Wildlife

[kelliem]

The last couple of weeks we've been seeing our neighborhood fox again. It's been a year or so since she graced our yard and I was worried she'd been hit by a car or something, but she appears to be hale and hearty. She comes and hangs out in our yard when it rains, which leads me to believe her den must be in a low-lying area near the creek which floods easily.

Then today I came home early to help daughter-unit finish up some costumes for Otakon, and then we spent an hour not sewing. She'd mentioned on the phone that the cat was going nuts looking at the fireplace which was rattling a lot-- we figured it was the wind. Wrong. Just after I got home, she yells "Mom, I think there's a dead bird in the fireplace." So I went in asking "Why do you think that?" and she says "Look." So I look and sure enough there is a bird in the fireplace. Only... not dead. Very live bird. (At which point I start hearing Monty Python saying "Not dead yet!")

So we spent an hour trying to figure out how to get a woodpecker out of the fireplace. Finally called a wildlife pest control place who told us that a) woodpeckers are federally protected and b) to open all the doors and then open the fireplace up and stand back with a broom to shoo him toward the door. We tacked a sheet up so he wouldn't go upstairs, and towel across the exit from the kitchen to the dining area so he couldn't go there, and then opened up the door and fireplace and Voila! In about 10 seconds the bird was outside.

Sadly, Riku-kitty is VERY disappointed.

Ah well, excitement is over now. Back to sewing.

Comments

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Yeah, foxes always make me think of RayK. And the are so pretty. Sort of like what you'd get if you genetically mixed a dog with a cat. Groundhogs are cool though... and useful if you need to know if spring is near. :)

Sad about the bird though. :-(