Belling the Cat

I fear our bluebird population has taken a reprieve somewhere else for a time...

We have two birdhouses sitting on our back porch. I did not set them there with the thought that a bird would come and make a home in it, I probably did it one day while cleaning for someone to look at the house and I thought, "Decoration for the deck!!" They were birdhouses Levi and Austin had made with Cubscouts and I was hoping to put them up somewhere outside because birds will come to our yard if there is food and a house.

So forgetting I had put those birdhouses there, about a week ago I noticed a number of birds coming up on our deck and remaining there hopping around and playing on the railing. It was so awesome. I kept saying I wonder why the birds are coming up on our deck, and one of my sons finally said, "Mom it's the birdhouses." Well, we went out and looked in the birdhouses and sure enough they were building nests in them. We could stand inside the house and because of the closed window could watch them from 2-3 feet away coming and going bringing grass and straw for their nests, chasing off other birds from their territory... It was just amazing and something we all enjoyed doing.

Last Saturday, though, after we had watched the birds for a while we were all getting started with our day, and I heard a sort of a thump; sounding something like what our cat makes when he bangs into the door or falls from the screen trying to let us know he wants in (something I thought we had broken him of). So I looked through the back door and saw him, and because I did not want him to scare the bluebirds away I quickly opened the door and let him in... but as he came in I noticed he had a bluebird in his mouth (it makes me want to scream just typing about it).

I began to scream for Ken (much like you would if you had seen a mouse and were wanting someone else to come and take care of it) and I kept screaming until Ken came in where I was. He found the cat hiding behind the couch and got Tiger (our cat) to drop the bird. We now have a bird (not sure if it is dead or alive) in our house laying behind the couch. They were right by the front door, so Ken got one of the kids to hold the door open and got something flat to sort of scoop under it and as soon as he did that it the bird sprang to life and flew out the door.

I was very happy to know my cat had not taken the life of one of the beautiful bluebirds we watch every day, but I will say the news must have gotten around the bird kingdom because we have not seen many birds of any kind near our porch and even on our bird feeder in a couple of days. I sure hope in their little minds they will forget what happened and come back, or a new group clueless to "Tiger the bird eating cat" will come back so we can watch them again.

Ah the joys of the "life-cycle" and "survival of the fittest". Maybe I should put a bell around his neck as a sign to the bird kingdom that I'm on their side.