Community Chat

[Bird mama]

Hello all, the bird of the day is the Bush Stone Curlew

nice wingspan

[Winifred]

I got my high efficiency washer versus a regular one due to it being on sale. LOL. I have always loved Sears washers thru the years and they have always been super great - at one time they were all made by Whirlpool. I noticed the "Sears" washers now are made by several companies and I did not like that. This one was on sale - at Sears, LOL - and $100 cheaper than theirs. Soooooooo, I got this one. My Mother swore by Maytag and I recall she had them forever. It does clean better than any I have ever owned - my big grips is the locked door AND cleaning it when I use the fabric softener. Well will not have to clean it this morning due to the wet weather as the clothes will go into the dryer.

Last night we had a thunderstorm with rain and hail to beat it all. Stripes showed up not longer after it started stretched out on top of the freezer in the carport. LOL. guess he wanted in and needless to say he was quite wet.

Hope all have a great day - I think I need to take Davey back to Urgent Care. His Mom took him on Monday and they said he had a sinus infection big time. Well his coughing is worse now and he still feels terrible - I just did not completely buy into the sinus infection due to his horrible coughing but I am not a MD. So probably will take him back.

Again, have a good day everyone.

[Bird mama]

Hello all, the bird of the day is the Red Billed Blue Magpie

[Bird mama]

This story will be redundant for Winifred, because I posted it on the Back Fence thread.

On Wednesday night, I was chatting with my sister on the phone. I started the call late and we didn't intend on talking long but we started reminiscing about learning how to drive (taught by Dad) and other funny things when we were younger. I sleep in my family room (just like sleeping there since DH died) and so the dishes had been done, my flock (birds) had been settled for the night, TV was off and I was pretty much chatting in the dark (well I do have 7 watt night lights all over the house).

My kitchen dining area and family are what I think people call an open floor plan? There isn't a traditional doorway and you have one small step into the family room. So I decided to put my phone stylus on the kitchen table and take off my glasses and I step into the kitchen dining area and flip the overhead light on. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a mouse.

The last time we had a mouse in my house was over a decade ago and DH was alive to deal with it. It's funny how fast the human mind works. I immediately told myself to stay calm and not scream so I don't wake the birds, who are sleeping upstairs at this time.

I tell my sister, Oh My God, there is a mouse in my house - how did it get in here? You know when you see one, there's a family and I was rattling questions off.

She tells me, don't panic, you have an attached garage and it probably got in that way.

So I tell her I need to get off the phone. The mouse ran behind the sofa so I flipped on the floor lamp near the one recliner and the table lamp between the sofa and other recliner and by this point, my house is lit up like Yankee Stadium. I open the door from the family room to the back yard, prop open the storm door and turn on the patio light.

I go get a broom, all the time, screaming on the inside and trying not to hyperventilate. I grab a flashlight and shine it behind the sofa and then the mouse runs behind the one recliner and runs along the fire place hearth to hide behind the TV in the other corner.

There I am, it's like 11:30 at night standing with a broom in my left hand, trying to stand my ground so it stays in the family room and doesn't get past me.

I say, little mouse, I know I'm on the wildlife grapevine as being friendly to all critters. That said, those gossiping birds misinformed you - you cannot stay here. You need to go because I have to work tomorrow. So, go on.

I shook the broom just a little and that mouse walked out the door. I called my sister back, told her it was done. I said that I asked the mouse to leave, opened the door and it left.

She said she is going to call me a mouse whisperer. I was bug eyed and awake past 1 am.

[Bird mama]

The bird of the day is the Diamond Firetail Finch

[possummink]

Hi Birding Friends, Happy Spring to each of you!!

Birdmama, Your story is so funny and I agree you are the "Mouse Whisperer". I must tell you that we could have used your expertise hereatDS's home. For the last 3 months, there has been a Citrus Rat 'boarding' in my middle GSs room. It apparently got into the Christmas stuff up in the top of the garage and escaped into the main part of the house when all that stuff was brought down so DDIL could decorate. My oldest GS thought he saw a big mouse one evening in the kitchen, but we couldn't find it and with 3 cats in the family didn't think too much about it, till about 6 weeks ago, my middle GS saw it in his room. We tried to catch it that evening, left the window open so it could go out if it wanted. We think it was helping itself to Skye's(hamster)food. Plus, GS has been known to snack in his room. We didn't tell DS for a long time, as we wanted to catch it alive and let it go outside. They are all over this area as they eat oranges, tangerines,etc that grow here. They are not like the Brown or Norway rats that are vicious and bite + do damage. Citrus Rats are much smaller. DDIL finally found a "Have a Heart" trap and last night reset the tension on it and this am, the critter was in the trap and so she drove him/her to a nearby park with a lake and plenty of food. I am glad we didn't have to resort to more drastic measures. The cats knew it was in there, but didn't catch it, guess they're fed too well. GS's room has 4 aquariums and Skye's cage, his mini fridge etc. Plenty of hiding places for that critter. Glad it ended well for him.

The Great Horned Owlets are getting so close to leaving the nest. The older one did what they call "branching'' yesterday and last night, at least till I went to bed around 1am. Branching is when the owlet leaves the nest to sit on a nearby limb of the tree. The owlet sat out there for hours, in the rain, whileit'slittle sibling huddled with Mom. The photo below is from early this am. Theinfra redpart of the camera is on from dusk to dawn.

[Bird mama]

Possum - I googled citrus rat. Just let me say OMG .

There would have been no whispering if I had been dealing with a citrus rat. I probably still would have opened the doors, but there would have been screaming and flailing and a whole lotta crying on my part. I would have then had to leave a message for my team lead that I would be late and then taken a Xanax to knock myself out.

It was kind of you to catch and release.

[mousiegirl]

On 3/20/2015 Bird mama said:

Possum - I googled citrus rat. Just let me say OMG .

There would have been no whispering if I had been dealing with a citrus rat. I probably still would have opened the doors, but there would have been screaming and flailing and a whole lotta crying on my part. I would have then had to leave a message for my team lead that I would be late and then taken a Xanax to knock myself out.

It was kind of you to catch and release.

[Puddles]

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the first day of spring whether it's really spring where you are or not.

Bird mama, I had the same exact scenario happen to me. A mouse entered from the fireplace in our last house in Houston. I was sitting on the sofa reading and he/she ran into the kitchen and behind the refrigerator, then I saw him/her run into the laundry room which is right next to our attached garage. I opened the door to the garage and also the garage door. It wasn't long when I saw the little thing run out of the laundry room. I was ready with the garage broom, he/she fought to get out from under the broom, but eventually apparently saw the outside from the garage door and ran like crazy. I was so relieved! The only other time I had a mouse was in Dallas and it showed up looking for food on my counter top. I screamed and he ran into a drawer. Long story shore, DH caught him and sent him on his way out in the field behind us. I scrubbed my countertop with Clorox and washed everything in that drawer along with the drawer itself. LOL!!!

possummink, I'm with Bird mama, if I had a visit from a Citrus Rat, I'd be running in circles screaming too! I love that your DDIL had a heart and returned the one you had to his own environment.

[Bird mama]

Puddles, perhaps my rat radar is working OT this week. I work in downtown Detroit and there has been major construction at a freeway interchange that creates a serious roadblock to getting home. Being a native Detroiter, I have a slightly convoluted way to avoid the interchange and get back on I-75. There are lots of twists and turns, but it actually goes quite quickly. It does require me to drive through semi deserted and rough area. So today, as I was tooling along, I saw ahead of me a mammal with long tail getting ready to cross the street.

At first I thought - is that a scrawny squirrel? What happened to it's tail?

Um, it was not a squirrel .

Yes, I did stop the car and gave it the right away