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Unwelcome House Guest

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By marydalene

I’ve discovered that the best way to get rid of an unwelcome house guest is to change the locks on all your doors.

And why would I be so unkind as to unceremoniously lock a house guest out? Well, it’s because she was a bird.

She decided to move into my dryer vent tube and build a nest there without consulting me. Well, after discovering said nest, I removed it (and the egg), hoping to discourage her from building there again.

When I heard scrabbling around in my vent again, I knew that she hadn’t taken the hint. That’s when I discovered a second nest, this time with three eggs. I didn’t have a lot of time to mess around with it (I found these while I was doing laundry, so I needed my dryer) so it went out with the trash.

When I discovered yet another nest in the making (she’d knocked the tube off of the vent hood leading to outside), I decided that it was time to change the locks.

I was a little too vigorous in cleaning out the tube (she’d piled nesting stuff all the way to the bottom of the tube) and ended up punching a hole in it, necessitating its replacement. So when I went to get a new tube, I also got new locks.

The bird was very upset with me.

She stuck around for a couple of days after Jared had installed it, which is when I snagged the above portrait through my kitchen window. She was a little stressed, but I felt it was a necessary change to our relationship.

Next time, little birdie, I suggest you ask before you try to move in. But I hear there’s plenty of space in the large pine tree in our front yard.

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Comments

  1. Lynda/MomMay 16, 2010 at 2:16 PM

    What a persistant little mommy! Since spring has been cool and slow in coming,I'll bet the dryer vent was just the ticket for her this year. Aunt Lynda

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sandy BrunsonMay 16, 2010 at 7:27 PM

    I agree with Aunt Lynda. She sounds like a smart little bird trying to keep she and her babies warm. I can also appreciate the need to evict her.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GrammyzanneMay 16, 2010 at 8:41 PM

    We had a finch build a nest on the straw wreath on our front door. She'd fly off when we opened the door or approached the door but always returned and hatched her eggs. The only real problem was when she didn't fly off quite fast enough and flew into the house instead. Getting her out was an adventure. Unfortunately the chicks didn't grow into fledglings. Dryer vents are not front door wreaths. But you have to admire her persistence!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Austin's MommyMay 17, 2010 at 9:07 PM

    Funny. Did you ever finish painting your living room?

    ReplyDelete
  5. marydaleneMay 18, 2010 at 12:21 AM

    No, we haven't finished yet. We're still in the process of removing the wallpaper glue. (Only the entry is left.) We were doing OK on progress and then several life events interrupted us. Hopefully we'll be able to get back to it soon.

    ReplyDelete

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