Subject: RATS!!!
Date: Aug 27 00:06:24 1998
From: Lovcukes at aol.com - Lovcukes at aol.com


Angela writes: solitary pigeon in our area arrives in February - March and
waits around

in Madronas (eats blossoms?) and firs until April-May for mate. As soon as

the mate comes they descend and plant their yellow feet simultaneously onto

our Droll (tube) feeder with a base! It is amazing, like a ballet - as they

both stretch their necks with the white crescent around to the holes opposite

each other. I experience them as gentle and gracious. Maybe if I had a

platform feeder they would act differently. I have not seen the four at the

feeder this year because we have had to take away our feeder due to a plague

of RATS in the neighborhood! I hear the "cu-coo" around and sneak out the

feeder but sweep up seed immediately when I take the feeder in, but the feeder

is not out consistently. So much for the feeder watch. Has anyone else

experienced a Band-tailed pigeon waiting for mate before feeding at feeders?

How about RATS!? In the 26 years we have lived here we have never had a

problem and I have had feeders out most of these years. Hunting Rats instead

of B-T's.


Here's my rat/bird feeder story. My next door neighbor and I both have
feeders out and early this summer I began to see a rat feeding underneath
hers. They tried to catch it but were unsuccessful. Then my husband and I
began to hear strange noises at night, mostly in the wall of our bedroom.
Nice. About that same time we were noticing a rat actually inside my Nuttery
bird feeder (squirrel proof, but apparently not rat proof) munching away every
night. We tried to waste it with my son's pellet gun but we were always
hitting the wire cage instead of the rat. He seemed too smart for traps, even
bacon filled ones, so we got these cool sticky trays that are so sticky, don't
ever touch it - you'll NEVER get it off. Anyway, we caught both rats with
those trays and haven't had a problem since (knock on wood). I never did take
the feeders down - just couldn't bear to. We'd never had rats before either.
As for Band-tailed pigeons, we've had 2 pair for about 3 years and yes, they
also wait for mates before feeding. During rainy weather I have a sort of
roof that I put over the tray feeder and it's pretty comical watching them try
to duck their big bodies up and underneath it. And silly me, I used to
mistake their cooing in the trees for owls!

Dayna Yalowicki
Bothell, Wa