I am an idiot. I choked and left the birdfeeders out all night, blithely ignoring the warm night and lateness of the season. I had been considering taking them in for good, but we had another cold snap (these cold snaps do not seem to be ending).
With no feeders, my fine-feathered friends were pecking at bare frozen earth and shooting dismembering glares at the house. I could not take it. I caved and bought more sunflower seed and put the feeders back out. I thought the famished ursine neighbors would languish in their comfy dens for several more weeks.
I was so wrong.
Now I am out one perfectly good squirrel-proof (but not bear-proof) feeder. The marauder not only pulled the feeder down, but in frustration, ripped off the top and emptied the seed (no doubt right into his mouth like a pixie stick.) Then it looks like he sat on the feeder for it is as flat as a pancake (alright, more like a waffle). The thistle sock? Right. Thanks for asking. Disappeared, no doubt gutted and tossed aside, to be found whenever I get around to finish tidying last fall’s leaves tucked under the hedge. Sigh. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.
Stumble It!
4 Comments
April 3, 2008 at 6:04 am
Yup. Bears are moving in New Jersey. Long may they live (safely) which means away from us.
April 3, 2008 at 2:56 pm
So there is something worse than squirrels when it comes to backyard birding…
My mother-in-law lost a lot of good feeders in the fall to bears. This seems to have been a particularly bad year in that regard.
April 6, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Sounds like the good folks up in Canada at Brome need to get to work on the “Bear Buster Plus” bear-proof bird feeder.
April 7, 2008 at 6:49 am
Wailing about my feeder situation this past weekend, my friend said, “Goodness, I have had my feeders down for 3 weeks now.” Why do I never get the memo?