Adventure in the Front Yard
Apr. 17th, 2012 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
isabelladangeloTo start with, I fixed the dryer duct myself. The old dryer vent was almost permanently open, which is how things like the mice, the birds before that, and oh yeah, a wasps nest ended up in there. Fun! The new parts cost a grand total of $24. GHI wanted to charge me $100 for someone to come out and fix it. Umm..no. Just no. I pay way too much already and you want to nickle and dime me over that? I'll fix it myself, thanks.
It wasn't hard at all. The hardest part was getting the old vent pipe loose to take it out of the wall and put the new one in. That did take a bit because I think something melted it in place. As per tradition, I stuck an old pair of linen (16th Century Turkish style) pants inside the wall because there isn't an old house that doesn't have old clothing or a dead cat in the walls. I wasn't going to put Jasper in there. He'd complain. ;-) I also stuck a note in the wall to any future residents.
Once I had fixed that, I went back outside to get my escaped animals. Jasper and Ginsie ran out when I was going from the laundry room to the outside of the house. The front yard in very enclosed so it just a matter of herding them. When I double checked the vent outside, I turned around and saw something very small and very round from about six feet away. I thought it could be a frog for a split second until it tilted it's head up and it was very clearly a baby bird.
He very much should not be out of his nest! Look at those feathers growing in!
This is Momma. She kept flying by and getting scared because I was there.
This is Papa. He was just as bad as Momma was about flying by.
I kept Miss Ginsie at bay. She came over to investigate a few minutes after I did. Actually, I managed to go inside, get the camera, take pictures, and then Miss Ginsie was curious. Once she saw, she wanted to "play" with the baby bird. Luckily, Ginsie will listen to me and I can pretty easily keep her calm and yet let her look at the bird.
Eventually, I took her in. When I came back out, Jasper looked at me and saw the baby bird. He lunged and I caught the cat before he could get too close. The bird was terrified -rightly so!- but I took the cat in. I also gave the baby bird a small bowl of water, just in case.
I went inside and, sure enough, Momma and Papa fly in for the rescue. When I came back outside a half hour later, no more baby bird in the yard. I'm sure he's just in the nest that's in one of the bushes in my yard.
It wasn't hard at all. The hardest part was getting the old vent pipe loose to take it out of the wall and put the new one in. That did take a bit because I think something melted it in place. As per tradition, I stuck an old pair of linen (16th Century Turkish style) pants inside the wall because there isn't an old house that doesn't have old clothing or a dead cat in the walls. I wasn't going to put Jasper in there. He'd complain. ;-) I also stuck a note in the wall to any future residents.
Once I had fixed that, I went back outside to get my escaped animals. Jasper and Ginsie ran out when I was going from the laundry room to the outside of the house. The front yard in very enclosed so it just a matter of herding them. When I double checked the vent outside, I turned around and saw something very small and very round from about six feet away. I thought it could be a frog for a split second until it tilted it's head up and it was very clearly a baby bird.
He very much should not be out of his nest! Look at those feathers growing in!
This is Momma. She kept flying by and getting scared because I was there.
This is Papa. He was just as bad as Momma was about flying by.
I kept Miss Ginsie at bay. She came over to investigate a few minutes after I did. Actually, I managed to go inside, get the camera, take pictures, and then Miss Ginsie was curious. Once she saw, she wanted to "play" with the baby bird. Luckily, Ginsie will listen to me and I can pretty easily keep her calm and yet let her look at the bird.
Eventually, I took her in. When I came back out, Jasper looked at me and saw the baby bird. He lunged and I caught the cat before he could get too close. The bird was terrified -rightly so!- but I took the cat in. I also gave the baby bird a small bowl of water, just in case.
I went inside and, sure enough, Momma and Papa fly in for the rescue. When I came back outside a half hour later, no more baby bird in the yard. I'm sure he's just in the nest that's in one of the bushes in my yard.
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