i esp love seeing birds in my garden. but, i do have a question. never living in a city environment before, i put out a bird-feeder to attract chirpy birds to my house. this morning, i found a whole group of pigeons scoping out the joint. pigeons can't actually sit on the feeder but they were scampering about the ground looking for scraps. how do i keep pigeons from invading my neighborhood? (not that i mind them too much, but the neighbors will).

well, i ran out into the backyard and scared the pigeons off--they flew away instead of just hiding out in the next yard. haven't been back today. ok, don't know if i've talked about this before but a note on hummingbird nectar--don't waste money on the stuff in the store (think i talked about this in springark). make it yourself out of water and cheap (store-brand) sugar. it's a 4-1 ratio (4 cups water to 1 cup sugar). bring the sugar water to a boil and let boil for 2-3 minutes. allow to cool before placing in your feeder. DO NOT ADD RED FOOD COLORING. this upsets their little itty bitty systems and could kill them. hummers do like the color red so make sure your feeder has red on it so the birds can find it. you can keep leftover nectar in a jug in your fridge (just label it as such). change out the nectar in your feeder every couple of days if it's really hot. i change mine about once a week and the birds don't seem to mind. make sure you clean the mildew out at each fill up. you can put feeders anywhere in your area and the hummers will find it. and they'll come back to it every year. you will also see that hummers are territorial and will chase off others who try to come at the same time. knowing that it's coming on winter in most parts of the country, you'll have to wait til spring to use the recipe, but those of us in the warmer climates have hummers all year (still see them here in So Cal). speaking about birds, also put out bird feeders and keep them full all year long. you can vary the feed you use to see what kinds of birds come to visit.

Had an armadillo fall in the pool recently. It lived. But it took a few hours to regain motion.

*LAUGH* guess it's better than a gator or big snake!! did you have to disinfect the pool after? how'd you get him out--didja skim him off the top *giggle*

Scott fetched him out, the guy who rents my cottage. So I asked him to pull him out before I made it home, and before the dillo sank. If it would have been me, I would have videotaped it. Found a copperhead in the brush when I was gathering up wood for a bonfire the other day, tossed it in the bonfire.

then it's a good thing scott took care of the dilla!

Sheesh! All we get is mongooses. I had no idea armadillos were that fond of water! Brings to mind the old joke about the waiter and the fly in the soup. Pigeons you will have to live with. We were plagued by them my entire childhood. my father regarded them unkindly - they are VERY messy birds! Noisy too.

the pigeons are only here once in awhile now--and if i storm out back, they fly off and don't come back for a few days (usually just one or two birds).