CAN'T LIVE WITH 'EM, CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT 'EM

If you have followed my blog at all, you know that I have had quite a love/hate relationship with critters over the last couple years. All sorts of them, deer, mice, ground squirrels and birds decided that they owned the place and that I was the intruder.

Taking a stand, standing up and showing them who was boss has made a difference. I really do like animals, but I like them to know their place. So, with a little ingenuity we have come to co-exist. And, with co-existence, comes appreciation for their intelligence and ingenuity, however irritating it is at times.

Deer trampling my garden was the biggest problem. Finally, last year I found something so crazy that I thought it just may work and…it did! I read where putting up steel fence posts and stringing 30-weight fishing line between them would keep them out. I know, it sounded radical, but I was at the point where I would give anything a try. Lo and behold, when they run into the line, it scares them because they can’t see it and they turn away.

This just proves that there are ways to co-exist with wildlife without completely eradicating them. I have also discovered how interesting they are to watch as they “learn” different behavior.

Birds seem to be the most annoying, after the deer that is. First on my list was the woodpecker. I’m not real sure what species he is, he is a small little guy, barely five inches long. But he certainly makes his presence known, or should I say, he used to.

I heard this awful racket in the garage one day in early spring. At first, I thought something was drastically wrong with my car that I had just pulled in. Then, I walked outside and the noise got louder. There was this little guy pecking his heart out on the trim of my garage. At first, I thought it was just a fluke so I chased him off. After all, at last count, I had 63 trees on my property around the buildings, so why would he choose my garage to peck apart.

Apparently, this little guy’s will was as strong as his beak. He kept coming back to the same spot on my garage. He was determined, but then, so was I. I went to the hardware store and got some spray that is used to keep horses from chewing on things. I sprayed all my trim boards and was so pleased when he came back and pecked a couple times then flew off.

I had prevailed…at least for the meantime. He decided that he could shake it off and come back, withstand a couple awful tasting pecks and the he would be into fresh wood that tasted better. Refusing to be defeated by a critter that was about one fiftieth my size, I went for the red pepper flakes.

I made a paste of red pepper and water and stuffed it into all his holes which, by the way, were all about an inch in diameter. If his beak could withstand this heat, then I figured that he deserved to win. It was actually rather funny to watch him peck into the hot pepper, shake his head and then fly off. Each time he tried, the result was the same.

Then it rained, and rained and rained and washed it away again and again and again. Not to be defeated, I resorted to “the gun.” I despise guns but I also despise being defeated. No worries, I only shot to scare the little booger, I really couldn’t have hit him if I had tried! Whatever the case, it worked. He decided that I just wasn’t worth the hassle and took up residence somewhere else. Some tree is much better for him anyway.

Now, for my pair of cardinals. For the last two years, they have been nothing but a pain in my…well, you know what. They are stunning birds to watch. This pair, however, insisted on some weird behavior. Every time Ron parked his black Chevy Silverado by the garage, they would take turns sitting on the mirror, pecking at the mirror because they thought the image they saw was a rival, and simultaneously pooping down the side of the truck.

For some reason, they preferred his truck. Occasionally, they would do the same to any other vehicle that was parked in the yard but would leave my vehicles alone for the most part. How embarrassing to explain this quirky behavior to anyone who visited.

We tried chasing them off and putting grocery bags over the mirror but nothing worked. Then, one day about a month ago, unbeknownst to me, they flew into the garage and Ron shut the doors. After being in “bird time out” for a little over a day they never bothered the vehicles again. Amazing how they associated the punishment with the crime!

The cutest behavior was my oriole a couple days ago. We have had a pair nesting in our backyard…lucky us! The female noticed one of the fishing lines that had broken loose from the post. She picked the loose end up and tried to fly off with it, apparently trying to take it for nesting material. Of course, when she pulled it tight, it flung her on the ground since the other end was still attached to the post.

She would pick herself up, dust herself off and try again. She would perch herself on the string above the loose one and survey the situation and repeatedly try to pull it loose. This went on for nearly 45 minutes until she finally decided that it just wasn’t worth it. She sure was entertaining though!

My Aunt Sharlene feeds the birds, loves the birds and has been keeping track of how many different species she has seen this year. At last count, she was up to 23. Apparently, they and her have a far better relationship than I do with them!

Just when I thought I had seen it all, I really hadn’t. After all, with all the other critter problems, I had a skunk living in my barn last year. I only saw him/her a couple times. I kept my distance and he/she did not destroy anything so we lived in harmony. Apparently, this year he/she took up residence in greener pastures.

Then I opened the side burner of my grill the other day and a family of three tree frogs had taken up residence. I gently moved them out to a new home and they were back the next day. I have shooed them away, left the lid up so they were exposed, hollered at them, removed them and they always return. Even when we use the regular part of the grill, they just scooch to the outer side away from the heat. Why do critters love to annoy me so?

After all I have endured with critters, how do I resolve myself to the fact that the ones that probably will prevail over me are the tree frogs, the tiniest ones that are only about an inch long? Perhaps I should just throw in the towel because critters, you can’t live with ‘em and you can’t live without ‘em!