Fox Snake and the Bluebirds

[Art]

Back to the bluebird situation. When I was a child I used to see them, not every day but regularly. Now I hardly ever see a bluebird. The main culprit is invasive species birds, especially starlings and English sparrows that destroy their nests. Illegal alien wildlife annoys me, they're almost never beneficial. Now I have a general policy of never interfering with the processes of nature and predation is one of those. But blue birds are in enough trouble I might have to make an exception, even though snakes are not the major influence in their decline. While I have nothing against serpents, if Mr. Fox Snake wouldn't stay away from the blue bird nest on his own I believe action detrimental to the snake would be justified.

[lyman]

plenty of Bluebirds around here, got one that wants to nest under my mailbox, and some neighbors, every year,
infact, they were early this year,

[Merc]

I see plenty of blue bird nesting boxes but I have only seen one nesting pair near their box on a golf course. Lots of other birds around, especially at our summer home near the Pymatuning Reservoir that’s about 40 miles south of Lake Erie on the Ohio border. Dozens of bald eagles, osprey, blue herons inhabit the islands and wooded shores of the 17,000 acre lake.

[Liam]

My wife and I volunteer for the blue bird count effort at a local level. We visit a local winery that was good enough to allow 21 nesting boxes amongst the vines. An electric fence intended to keep the raccoons off the vines does double duty protecting the boxes. We stroll around for about an hour checking each box, cleaning out if necessary and writing down results so their numbers can be maintained. It's relaxing and gets us out of the house early on weekends. If non-native birds (primarily house finches) have a nest started we remove it. If barn swallows have started a nest, we leave them be as they are native to our area. Where the data goes, and how it affects the birds is unknown to me. bbrd.jpg

[lyman]

My wife and I volunteer for the blue bird count effort at a local level. We visit a local winery that was good enough to allow 21 nesting boxes amongst the vines. An electric fence intended to keep the raccoons off the vines does double duty protecting the boxes. We stroll around for about an hour checking each box, cleaning out if necessary and writing down results so their numbers can be maintained. It's relaxing and gets us out of the house early on weekends. If non-native birds (primarily house finches) have a nest started we remove it. If barn swallows have started a nest, we leave them be as they are native to our area. Where the data goes, and how it affects the birds is unknown to me. bbrd.jpg

Liam,

what group?

IIRC you are in the Valley or NOVA area?

I'm in Central VA, just south of RVA, and would be interested in that group

[Liam]

I am in Loudoun County, VA. My wife signed us up. I believe it is the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy (https://loudounwildlife.org). We get to roam the winery alone before opening. I also make the occasional replacement house. Sometimes there are a couple of nice bottles of wine at our car when we go to leave.

[lyman]

thanks, I'll see if they do something similar in this county

[fguffey]

The wife and I have raised wild birds like blue Jays, mocking birds, cardinals and coo coo birds. And then there were the doves got 27 years. We also had labs,

My son wanted to train his labs to hunt quail and retrieve ducks; he had it all figured out, he ordered baby ducks with the intention of raising the ducks with our menagerie. There was no use talking to my son so I told my wife she did not want to be home when the ducks arrived. I explained to her the ducks would come out of the box looking for the biggest, fluffiest thing in site and that would become their mother. The ducks came out of the box and then straight to the lab, he became mother.

I do not know how but the lab taught them to fly, it seemed he was very annoyed at the ducks, in an effort to loose them he took to running circles around the yard' in the beginning the ducks ran and then started flying, and then one day they got higher and then went into a skid and escaped the bounds of the yard' they managed to get higher than the fence.

The lab was trained to ring a bell when it wanted out, it was trained and or learned how to hit the glass sliding patio door when it wanted in. The girds we raised were released, most of them stayed and became friends with the lab. When the lab hit the glass door to come in the birds landed on his back and came in with him. Once in the birds got off his back and went to their gages. This went on for 5 years with one of the blue jays and for 27 years with one of the dove.

It came to 'show and tell' at the elementary school our children attended; they took the birds. The teacher called my wife to come and get then' she responded with "there are two children and two birds; which of 'them' am I to pick up. Wrong answer, my explained to the teacher it was 'show and tell'.

The teacher explained to my wife there was no room in the class to sit down, the class was wall to wall children. She said no one knew that birds could talk, play games and when it came to eating and were gull they hid the good and could remember where they hit the good. The blue jay would stuff excess food in a students hand and return for it later.

My wife asked the teacher if she could get a telephone into the class room, if so have someone call you. As soon as the phone rang the blue jay went in to its old hen routine. She said one day I was not at home when the phone rang. It was then she realized how much fun we were having.

If the blue jay was outside it would land on the wife's shoulder when she walked to her car. She said it made quite whispering sounds near her ear.

I went to rattle snake roundups, I had to give it up; when I say "don't move", don't move, never ask "WHY"? It always takes to much time to answer the question.

F. Guffey

[fguffey]

Snakes: My family and my wife's family do the 'hoe down' on snakes. My wife's dad hollered "SNAKE!", I walked over to determine 'what kind', it was a king snake, I wasted my time but I informed him it was a good snake. And then he did the 'hoe down' on the snakes head and then declared: "Now it is a good snake".

F. Guffey