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Bird Friends

         I spotted a woodpecker during dinner by the back window. He had a black and white belly, a brown back, a red throat and head, and was small in size. He was eating the seed on the railing. I've had bad experiences with woodpeckers, so they don't make me really happy. They're pretty to watch, but they can be an enemy.

         My husband and I had an A-frame with cedar siding on a wooded lot in a lake community. The carpenter bees invaded some of the cedar timbers. We tried spraying, but that didn't work. We didn't notice the holes, but humming was noticeable at certain times of day when you went outside. I moved out when I filed for divorce, but still had an interest in the house and the German shepherd that I couldn't take with me. We were told the carpenter bees themselves couldn't do any real damage, but other bugs could get in.

         The other bugs came, and that was an invitation to the woodpecker, the Woody the Woodpecker type, not the little one I saw tonight. That thing drilled to wake the dead. My ex couldn't get rid of it. I asked the 4H teacher at church, and he said to shoot it. Well, you can't fire a weapon in a subdivision. So we had to get the pest control guy to put powder on the holes. I did try with a B-B gun, but I wasn't fast enough.

         So I'm glad this little guy on the back porch is just passing by and eating some seed, not bugs. We don't have cedar siding. Hopefully, there are no trees in our yard to attract him or his family. (You can fire a gun discreetly in this neighborhood. Two neighbors have shot rabid animals without anyone hearing or complaining.)