Timothy Birdnow

So last night I was doing a few dishes in the kitchen. Suddenly I heard a great screech from just outside the window; clearly a bird of prey. I mean it was CLOSE!

I think it was an owl. I have owls down at the Ozark Hilton and, while they usually hoot, sometimes - especially when hunting - they let out such a screech.

I suspect they are hunting mice, who have targeted my house for colonization. Like little blockbusters they want to move in and chase me and my wife out.

A month or so ago I found an enormous hole in the plaster of the basement door frame. Big enough to put your fist through, and low to the ground. No doubt the mice had been laboring to excavate that. I stuffed some aluminum foil into it and sprayed in some spray-foam insulation, then put a board against it on the inside.

I found a couple of small openings in other places and they too got the foam insulation treatment.

At any rate, the mice remain a problem, although there seems to be fewer of them. I keep mouse poison handy at all times, and it has been disappearing less and less.

I've largely given up on snap traps. Every time I check them the peanut butter bait is gone. And glue traps aren't working as well as they used to either.

But an owl would be the perfect neighbor!  The mice wouldn't DARE try to get into the house with that fellow about! I hope he stays around; my own personal air defense! 

At the Ozark Hilton I had a problem with mice until a big Black Ratsnake moved into the cabin. He didn't bother me and I didn't bother him, and he cleaned all the rodents out of there. A good lodger indeed!  He moved on, but I also had a couple of armadillos living under the cabin and I am given to understand they will eat small mammals aka mice. So I've had less trouble with rodents in the wilds of the Ozarks than here in my digs in St. Louis.

Rats hate mice too, and I once saw a unique spectacle at the Ozark Hilton; a mice darted out from under my futon, right between my legs, followed by a big brown rat. The two ran in a big circle and ran right back from whence they came!  That rat was trying to kill the mouse. They will eat mice, I am given to understand, but will kill them even if they don't. No doubt they compete for the same resources and the rats know the mice are more prolific.

At any rate, the little love children have been quiet the last few days and the poison is not disappearing as quickly. I am grateful to have my friend the owl on guard!

Which brings up Memorial Day. How much more grateful must we be to our veterans who stand on guard not against pests but against those who would do us great harm. And this day memorializes those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us all. God bless all vets, but most especially God bless those who died to secure our liberty and safety!  Ours is a debt that we really cannot repay.

The American fighting man protects us in ways great and small. They are like the owl, going after the filthy vermin invading our house, only in this case we call the vermin terrorists. They are sometimes the battle hawks, fighting in the skies against predatory filthy birds. Or they are like the loyal family pets who defend our homes, on the land or in the water. They do it all for little recompense and usually not much glory, if any.

America loves superhero movies and watches endless drivel from Marvel and the like, yet the real heroes walk among us and ask for little in return. And sometimes they no longer walk among us.

Today marks our remembrance of those whose legs are still.

Thank you for that. Thank you for giving your life so we may live ours!

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 08:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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