Peanuts and Blue Jays
The family of Stellar jays is back and they are busy. So are the little juncos, all flitting back and forth from one bush to another, finding morsels where the human eye sees only a stem.
And directly at the foot of my glass patio doors off the kitchen lies a small cache of peanuts, shells, nuts, the whole works.
The only question is: squirrels or raccoons?
I've considered sitting in the dark on a wooden chair in the middle of the kitchen at 2 or 3 am just to learn who the peanut visitors are.
4 comments:
Chances are it is the 'cache' of a rat. Over the past few years at Christmas I have caught rats. The family joke is 'the Christmas rat has arrived'. This year I have yet to catch it but the evidence is there, you know droppings. Don't leave your garage door open or it will move right in and chew the heck out of any storage items. Also check around the outside of your place for signs of chewing near any openings. If it can get its head in it will move in. Cheers from North Burnaby.
Rats is what I was thinking as well. Some of them are very small - roof rats I believe they are called - and look like mice. We had to stop all our bird feeding because of them and call in "the troops". I would wait until dark and observe their antics while they stood on their hind legs as if in a chorus line on my patio fence. It *was* somewhat entertaining - but gave me the creeps. The area was liberally sprayed with a mixture of Javex and ammonia nightly for a while and I reached a point where I didn't care if I killed off all the rhododendrons as long as the rats left. Odd thing was - the rhododendrons have never looked better or bloomed more profusely than they did the following summer.....
As an aside.... I looked out my bedroom window this morning and saw a lovely robin strutting around. Can spring be far behind?
June
Stellar jays love peanuts and they are known to hoard just like squirrels...well maybe not so much..but they leave food aside for later. It could be the jays' store.
A PS. Jays love peanuts no doubt but they don't stash them in a pile. They hide them individually in flower pots, hanging baskets, and anywhere there is soft soil to bury the peanuts. And the little blighters DO 'remember' where they bury them. The only problem I have with hidden peanuts is in the eaves troughs because they are trying to stuff whole unshelled ones under the shingles. Of course this leads to plugged downspouts. BUT this also leads to squirrels on the roof looking for the nuts. The trees are gone from next to the house over the last 30 years with only a wisteria for roof access for critters. It has provided access to the roof for the squirrels and raccoons which the latter caused a new roof as the female tore several large areas of shingles from several places with the resulting water problems during rain. The female raccoon was looking for a way to get in to have her babies. (She tried several roofs here abouts and damaged them as well.) The 'coons follow the squirrels as the little ones chew any holes or weak spots they can find to make them larger and that enables the 'coons to tear open the roof. (team work) Because the wisteria has sentimental value it is staying and the upper reaches are being squirted with a very evil smelling sticky tanglefoot bird paste. Moral of the story? Stop feeding peanuts to the wildlife.
Post a Comment