Many of you may recall that I feed the blue jays. My Number One Goal was to get a blue jay to take a peanut out of my hand. It never happened, but that's okay. Every morning I feed raw peanuts in the shell to a dozen blue jays on my porch and it's wonderful. I sit on my couch and my cats lie at the door and watch while all of them swoop in and out. Of course, there's far more to it than just that, as there is to so many seemingly simple things in my life. I take what should be an Easy, Joyful Thing and find a way to Make It Worky.
It never starts out that way. It starts out simple and innocent and easy. Then I read something and talk to someone and then read some more and pretty soon it becomes a Whole Production in which I involve others.
At one point my brother informed me that he discovered blue jays taking eggshells out of his compost. "You should try giving your blue jays some eggshells," he said. I could not google it fast enough. Rick takes a hardboiled egg every day in his lunch. He now peels it with utmost care; my blue jays prefer large pieces of shell. Sam, my son who comes here for lunch, also peels eggs with gentle precision For My Blue Jays.
Not long ago, some particularly shitful squirrels began invading my porch during Blue Jay Breakfast Buffet. They were shameless and greedy. They took over both peanut pedestals and peed all over the place. I couldn't have that. In a burst of frustration, I sent Marlowe out the front door with a command. "Get 'em! Get those squirrels!" Marlowe ran right out and did her job. Then she installed herself at the porch post, waiting. A few blue jays swooped in; Marlowe merely looked at them. When a squirrel came up, she pounced at it. I was thrilled.
Unfortunately, Marlowe has since been fired, and so has Piper. Their bloodlust for marauding squirrels turned into curiosity and tolerance. It was pathetic and sad to see them merely sit and watch the squirrels wander past them and onto the peanut feeders. At that point it was up to me, and I traded my leisurely mornings for several of vigilance and Squirrel Terrorizing.
Lately, I've had trouble finding raw shelled peanuts at my grocery store. Whenever I did find them, I'd always buy a couple of bags. I was down to my last bag, and the store had been out for a while. I went to a different town, but still no peanuts. Earlier this week, I ran out completely. Panic set in. Still, there was one option. I got in my car and took a short drive.
As God is my witness, my blue jays will never go hungry again! That's 25 pounds of raw shelled peanuts right there. Those peanuts now live in a big tub in my basement and I couldn't be happier.
I know; it doesn't take much, right?
Sometimes, it's the Simple Things (That You Make Worky) in life that are the best.
Squirrels are such assholes. I call the ones that dig up my plants George Bush, just because he's such a butthead. He's not to Trump standards, he doesn't come and criticize me or anything, he just tries to ruin the world.
ReplyDeleteAre your bluejays loud? I almost shot one here years ago because it would just YELL all morning every morning. I don't have a gun, though, so that didn't happen.
J--I think of you naming squirrels George Bush *all* the time. I laugh and totally get it. I call the squirrels hillbillies sometimes, but I guess they're actually closer to being republicans. They grab at everything and end up ruining stuff for others.
DeleteSome of the jays are loud. One of them mimics perfectly the call of a red-tailed hawk. Another one makes the usual "clear out" blue jay sound. Most of them don't say anything because they are regulars and know they don't have to compete for the food.
I'd love to ping the squirrels with a bb gun just to deter them further, but it's too dangerous here since the homes are all so close. I might shoot someone's window or car or damage their siding or something. I used to be hell with a pea shooter back in my childhood. Do they even sell those anymore?
Memories - my mother-in-law would shoot squirrels with a BB gun...in a suburban neighborhood! She couldn't stand the way they stole her birdseed which was ONLY for the birds. We have a peanut feeder that is hanging on the patio - lots of different birds come to it (including jays once in awhile) - the peanuts are shelled so it's easy for chickadees and wrens and the like to eat them. I've noticed different birds flying away from our compost with egg shells (and various other garbage).
ReplyDeleteVera--Love your MIL. She sounds like my mother, who used to shoot cats in our suburban back yard. They used to hunt the birds and bunnies that hung out near the birdfeeders.
DeleteI use shelled peanuts in my stick-on window feeder occasionally, but the damn sparrows chuck them down to the squirrels below.
Interesting that other birds use your eggshells. I've only seen the jays grab ours. Then again, only a few cardinals and woodpeckers dare infiltrate the Jay Buffet.
Oh yes, we have three bins of bird food, two in the basement. The third is actually something called 'deer ration', but the jays love it.
ReplyDeleteHmm. Maybe I need a cat.
Although there is a problem with the feeders, or something, just now. All we have are jays. The little birds that leave in the spring and come back in the fall are not present this year. We think, maybe, bird flu, as it has been identified hereabout. Sad, if so.
Mary--This is a terrible thing to say, but I would love a little Sparrow Flu around here. I buy pricey bird food with no hulls/shells--a nice fruit and nut mix to attract woodpeckers and cardinals and jays. Those damn Walmart birds, the common sparrows, mob my feeders and stuff themselves all day long.
DeleteHow I'd love to send them your way. Thanks for the tip about deer ration. Will read extensively and obsessively about it now.
We usually get song sparrows - whitethroats, etc, some summer residents, some passing through. Also grosbeaks, American goldfinch, (goldfinches?), all melodic. Not here or at our neighbours, who are steady feeders. Scary, actually. Silent spring coming up?
DeleteI'm laughing my butt off at this. Getting a blue jay to take a peanut from your hand - well, it's good to have a goal. I love your explanation of how you take good things and make them 'worky'. The family involvement is great, but the dog turning 'pathetic and sad to see' cracked me up. Hooray for a 25 pound bag of peanuts. It doesn't take much - bah, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteErnie--I'm blessed to have a family that indulges me. But I promise not to tell Piper and Marlowe (the cats) that you called them dogs. That might be over the line for them. LOL
DeleteI can't believe I'm saying this, but I kind of miss the hoards of sparrows we would get at our Ohio feeder. They were hilarious - especially when I squirrel would come barreling through. We called it bowling for sparrows. Down here we get more variety, but we do still have squirrels.
ReplyDeleteBug--I can't believe you're saying it either. They're invasive at this point, and the only species worse than they are is the starling.
Delete... blue jays taking eggshells out of his compost? That sounds cannibalistic to me, but the ways of birds often seem weird to me. Squirrels I understand, don't exactly like, but I get their MOs.
ReplyDeleteAlly--LOL. I get where you're coming from, but the blue jays don't see it that way.
DeleteI'm both happy that you found an ample supply of peanuts and a bit worried. Squirrels will gnaw through anything to get to their favorite food. We kept black oil sunflower seeds in a sealed garbage can, first on our screened porch and later in our garage. We finally had to give up feeding the birds as the squirrels destroyed our screened porch--chewing multiple holes in the screen and the door frame--and were well on the way to doing the same to our garage. In fact, the cedar siding still bears the damage. I'm hoping you have all masonry and glass materials for your basement entrance, materials that they cannot assault, but admittedly, I'm still concerned. Squirrels are such assholes.
ReplyDeleteShirley--Fear not. My peanut stash is in the basement on a shelf right at the landing, which is a high-traffic area. No squirrels can get in the basement and never have. Once in a great while we get a mouse, but that hasn't been for a long, long time. I keep baits and traps in the far reaches of the basement, and they remain untouched. And the presence of the cats seems to help (even though they are fat and lazy and highly tolerant of animals). My other birdseed is in galvanized cans in the garage.
DeleteWhew! Wonderful news!
DeleteAw, you're such a romantic! You should secure one more promise out of your husband though. Make him promise to check to make sure you can even drink wine with your medications. LOL
ReplyDeleteJean--(I think this comment refers to my next post. Oops!) But yes, aren't we both so romantic? And to think we had only just opened the wine!
DeleteI guess everyone has a lifelong goal and yours is to have a jay eat of your hand. I think it's a good goal!
ReplyDeleteNGS--It's not my only goal LOL. And I've almost abandoned it at this point.
DeleteI love that you feed the Jays. Mine are pretty much the Shenanigans of the bird feeding area and cause a ruckus ALL THE TIME. But they are lovely. I've not tried to hand feed any birds yet, but I think we all know I don't need any more work *out there*. Pointing to all the gardens, caterpillars and butterflies.
ReplyDeleteI do get a few squirrels and they are annoying, but also, they like to eat and so do I.
Your cats laziness after the fun wears off made me giggle.