I Still Hate Squirrels

Mmmm... Uriney!

So, even after an evil squirrel doomed my Zebra finches to a what was an undeniably horrible fate, they continue to plague me. Last year, they destroyed any hope of my having home grown tomatoes (there just isn't a better tomato than the one you've grown at home). This year, the little bastards dug up and ate at least half of my lily bulbs. And the little bastards love hanging onto my bird feeder. 

I've tried just about everything I was told to try. They laughed at the mothballs. They ran from the water pistol, but came back. They ignored the pepper spray, even when I hit them in the face with it. And while someone told me that she had success using a ceramic raccoon, I was unable to find a realistic one at a reasonable price. 

So coyote urine pellets are now my last resort (short of actually shooting them, which I don't think my neighbors would appreciate). I placed my order for Shake-Away time-released coyote urine pellets at Garden.com earlier this evening. Of course, coyotes are not native to my suburban PA neighborhood, so I'm not sure how the evil rats with fuzzy tails will react to it. I hope they will quake in fear and avoid my yard forever. Otherwise, I will have wasted yet another $30 on a product that doesn't work.

Do you have or have you had a squirrel or other rodent problem? How did you deal with it? Were you successful? Tell me what you did.

Oh, how I hate these thieving little creeps! Any and all suggestions as to how to keep them out of my garden are welcome.

More, anon.
Prospero

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Name the Budgie

The picture above is very similar to my newest house guest. My mother was so upset by what happened to my poor finches, that she insisted on getting me a new bird as an early birthday present. "One you can teach to talk and sit on your shoulder and have fun with."

"Okay, Mom. Whatever you say."

"And it has to be a male. Only the males talk" (which I have since learned is not true; males are simply better talkers).

So, off we go to buy me a new bird. The first place was the least expensive, but the birds there were too young to tell their sexes (males. like the one above, have a bright blue stripe across the top of their beaks). At the next store, the birds were more expensive, but the only males they had were rather unattractive green and yellow mottled things. I guess that makes me a speciest. Onto the the third and final place. Here (a chain pet-store, albeit one with a good reputation) they are the most expensive, but they have a beautiful blue and white male. Perfect. As the clerk is catching the budgie (with a rather clever folding net), I go and get all the items needed to retrofit the newly cleaned and repaired cage so it is appropriate for its new occupant: bedding, food, grit, grit cup, wooden perch and assorted toys (I had to talk my mother out of buying the embarrassingly tacky parakeet Ferris wheel - I couldn't find an image of it to share with you, but trust me, it was awful).

So, my question to you is: What should I name my new pet? This is the second time I'm asking you all for your opinions. Not something I do lightly or often. I have some ideas, but the websites all say to keep it simple, so the bird can learn its name. I'm inclined to go Shakespearean (big surprise there, eh?) but am open to any number of creative and appropriate names.

Please leave your suggestion in the comments section (and not on Facebook, FB friends). As with my tattoo request, I can't promise I will go with anything you might suggest. But I will take all serious suggestions seriously.

More very anon.

Prospero

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F**k You, Very Much

I've been feeling a bit down of late. The show closing has a bit to do with it, but there are other factors (which I won't go into right now) that have me a little more than blue. Truth be told, I've been battling depression most of my adult life. Luckily, I've usually been able to work through it without the use of medication (though occasionally therapy helps a lot). As I am sure you have been able to tell from my most recent posts, it's been creeping back up on me.

Anyway, here's something I meant to post a while ago, but didn't for some reason. I was looking for something less maudlin to write about and went into my files and found this music video from "The Big Gay Collab" that cheered me up a bit. My sister will hate it (she won't watch movies with swearing -go figure), but the rest of you may enjoy it quite a bit. It's probably NSFW, but I don't particularly care...

Oh, and at least this did not happen to me, today.

More, anon
Prospero

You have read this article Birds / Depression / Gay / Music Video / Ramblings / The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told with the title Birds. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2009/07/fk-you-very-much.html. Thanks!

Squirrels are Evil!!!

So, I haven't talked much about the birds since the babies fledged last December. As you may remember, my attempts to unload the five new birds were unsuccessful and I found myself with seven Zebra Finches.

Okay, fine. So I have seven. They are cheerful and sweet and fun to watch, even if seven of them are a bit messier than I would have liked (two were bad enough), but fine. I clean the cage and vacuum the rug every week (the over-sized bath sheet I use as a drop cloth catches a lot, but not enough). I even bought a new cage and practically traumatized them in the transfer. But the cage had more room for them and was much easier for me to clean. Today was a general house-cleaning day for me. I did the bathroom (toilet, tub and sink), dusted the tables and entertainment center and ran the vacuum.

And, like every weekend since it's gotten warm enough to do so, I took the birds' cage and stand outside to clean it. Now, my biggest worry in doing this has always been the few feral cats that roam my neighborhood, but they are usually asleep somewhere during the day and they have not bothered them at all. Occasionally another bird (usually a wild and slightly larger finch) would land on top of the cage, but I've never had a problem with having them outside.

So today, I do the usual routine. I set them up in the side yard; shook the bath sheet out; emptied the seed tray and dumped the old newspaper. I was about to take the tray to the garden hose, so I could spray it down. My back was turned for 2 seconds when I heard this loud "Bang!" I turned back to see this completely evil, foul, malevolent, bushy-tailed rat of a squirrel clinging to the side of the cage as it is tipping over. As you can imagine, the cage came crashing down to the ground, breaking apart and scattering my birds to the skies in seven different directions, without any possible hope of catching a single one of them.

Now I know some of you are saying, "Well, birds don't belong in cages. They're meant to fly free." Which, to some extent, is very true. But this are Zebra Finches, birds which are native to Australia and which have been bred and raised in captivity; their food and water brought to them; their every need taken care of. I fear that in the wilds of southeastern Pennsylvania, they do not have much hope of surviving for very long. Especially my favorite, little Znowball, who being all white, has no camouflage from cats and other predatory birds. I went out several times, hoping to see them at the wild bird feeder I keep in my yard, and heard one peeping away in a nearby tree, but could not catch sight of it.

So, in conclusion, squirrels are the devil in a not-so-cute little rodent costume, waiting to wreak havoc on the human race at every given opportunity. I am not a fan. Sigh... just one more thing to add to my growing melancholy.

On a cheerier note, though...

I spent the evening with my good friend Dale. We had a lovely meal of grilled sausages and deli salads, with carrot cake for dessert. Then we walked down the hill of his expansive back yard (which backs up to a lovely park) to watch the Flemington municipal 4th of July fireworks show. Dale, who is an amazingly talented artist and scenic designer, also agreed to design my Eye of Horus tatt, based on my specs (a less-complicated variation of choice 'D,' if you're wondering). So the day wasn't completely awful, I suppose.

Oh, well. I've already decided that I'm getting a budgie, next week. I intend to teach it to talk and I'm keeping it's wings clipped, damnit!

More, anon.

Prospero

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Zebina Laid an Egg

Well, five, actually.

The lovebirds had been acting funny ever since I provided them with a box of "nesting material" from my local pet store. Zebadiah ignored it for a week. Then I noticed him with a beakful of it one day, and watched as he flew into the little wicker nest I had bought when I first bought Zebina. Soon, I began to see Zebina fly into the nest for the first time. Soon, the wicker palace was a soft and cozy nest for two.

For the last several days, only one of them would leave the nest at a time and I began to be especially suspicious when I noticed he was out much more often than she was. Tonight, for the first time in days, they both came out at the same time and I had visual confirmation of what I thought was happening all along: five tiny white, Jelly-Belly-sized eggs lay on the floor of the nest. I'm so excited, because it happened much faster than I thought it would. Ay, me! Bird love! I'll keep you posted. In any event, would you like a Zebra Finch?

More of this, anon!
Prospero

You have read this article Birds / Pets / Ramblings / Sex with the title Birds. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2008/10/zebina-laid-egg.html. Thanks!

Zebina Got Married

The 'ceremony' was at 7:15 PM in my bathroom, after the reluctant groom had settled in my sink long enough for me to catch him. "Zebadiah" quickly settled into his new home and the happy pair are canoodling as I type this. After I went online and discovered that Zebina is indeed a female, I went to get her a companion, because she seemed so lonely in that big cage (they also have two new perches, a cuttle bone and some toys). I didn't even watch as the young lady at Pet Smart snatched my new bird and boxed it up. It wasn't until I got home and got him in the cage that I realized I had a male (the deep orange beak, bright red cheeks and larger tail fan were the giveaways). Who knows, I may end up with Zebra Finch chicks.

I had no idea that directing a show would lead to a whole new world of pets for me. I still need a stand (right now, the cage is on a plant stand, but it's getting cold and my plants have to come inside soon) and a tray to catch the seeds they seem to delight in knocking to the floor. And truthfully, Zebadiah is still a little freaked out after his box-to-bathroom-to-cage adventures, but he'll settle in quite nicely. They spent about about an hour together, huddled atop the wicker "nest," peeping and squeaking away. Now they are both hopping and flying about, getting used to each other (though they were probably together in the store for a while and just need to get re-acquainted).

A short and simple post tonight. I'm still catching up on television and am off to Chicago on a business trip for my day-job on Friday. I'll start renting movies again next week and maybe writing about them sooner.

As always, more of this anon.

Prospero

You have read this article Birds / Pets / Ramblings with the title Birds. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2008/10/zebina-got-married.html. Thanks!