I have a bird feeder in my backyard. It's hanging from one of those double-hooked iron stakes, about 4 feet above the ground. This winter, I didn't keep up with it so much, because I was COLD. I've secretly felt guilty about not supporting birds through the cold months, so finally, about a week ago, I filled it up with some of the sunflower seed I have in the garage.
Needless to say, I've welcomed more than birds into my yard.
The past few years, we've had somewhat of a skunk boom in my area. The last few winters were rather warm (for Chicago) and fools like me seem to be supplying them food, so the population has expanded. This is a fact. My village has put out announcements about the problem and what they can do about it (basically, just rehome skunks and wait for more to move in to the old homes, I guess).
Also in the last few years, specifically two years, to be exact, I adopted a dog, Arlo Guthrie (I gave him the name, and it works). He is a mix of many types of terrier, beagle, Pomeranian and poodle, though he looks mostly like a schnoodle. The result is a sweet, fluffy dog who hates all sort of rodent and loves to bark. He is particularly good at finding skunks in my yard. He's been skunked 3-4 times since I've had him. NEVER AGAIN, I SAY!
Over the winter, I've not had to worry about the skunks because they aren't so active. I've been wondering when my brief reprieve would end.
Last night, I went out with a friend and came home about midnight. I was feeling pretty tired and since DST starts today, I wanted to get to bed right away, so I just left the dog leash on Arlo (I had picked him up from my mom's, who watches him if I'm away for a long time). It was the best decision I've made in a while.
When I opened the back door, he sort of rushed out, definitely tracking something. I had the light on, but didn't see any rabbits, which have been visiting every night the past week. He barked a weak bark at something. I stood still by the door, hoping he'd just wet quickly so we could go in, when I saw movement in the corner of the yard.
Movement taller than a bunny.
A fluffy tail.
With two colors.
Black and white.
A skunk!
By the bird feeder.
I bolted back inside, almost dragging my poor dog with me. You see, the skunk's tail was lifted, which means it has detected a possible danger. Danger = spraying.
Relieved that I had caught the skunk before it caught us, I tried to shine a flashlight on it through the window, to encourage it to leave. Nope. It likes the sunflower seeds. Great.
Back to my bird feeder this morning - as I just opened the blinds, I noticed I'm attracting way more than the lovely red cardinals I had planned on attracting. They're there, all right. But they're having to hover, while a posse of at least three squirrels just canvases the area, sits on top of the iron hooks, picks up the seeds that fall, and generally steals the bird seed. Oh, wait - now there are 4. It's sort of amusing watching the one on the iron hook slowly slide down as he stretches to reach the bird feeder with his front paws and hold on to the iron with his feet.
Not that amusing. Maybe the bird feeder needs to be relocated...
I am a fellow feeder of birds and squirrels (no skunks, thank goodness). Fortunately, we have a tall oak tree in our yard that we hang the feeder from with a hook created from a wire coat hanger. The wire is too thin for the squirrels to slide down and the feeder is too high to reach with a jump. We've had a few laughs watching some of them try. BTW, potted plants will look lovely hanging on that pretty hook once it warms up!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking of getting a hummingbird feeder. I love the birds in the area but can do without the rodents. I love the flowers and the birdfeeders so saving those from the rodents is a constant battle I won't give up on.
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