Birdhouse robbery

Sad news around these parts today. Found this mess this morning. Looks like a raccoon or a squirrel had their way with the contents of this little birdhouse.

I’ve had my eye on this house for awhile, with some concern. It’s perched atop a four-by-four post on our deck, just three feet from the ground. I’d never intended or expected that any bird would actually take up residence; I put the house there just to sort of camouflage an old post that rose in an odd spot in the middle of the deck.

But last week we noticed little-brown-bird activity in the house, and I have been trying to design some kind of baffle to place on the post to keep the predators away. Something I could install without freaking out the birds in residence.

In fact, that was the project I was planning to take on today.

I’m not doing so great with the whole bird thing. There’s another nest, well, there was another nest that twice now has been robbed–started out as a Stellar’s Jay nest two years ago. It was perched under the eaves, quite accessible to raccoons or squirrels, and at some point the contents of it perished. Then this season a Robin settled in, converting the space to her own–about two weeks ago I found the nest on the ground.

It was a bad spot for a nest, and I probably should have thwarted all the original attempts to build there.

This morning’s discovery follows on the heels of my nightmare last night. It was so real. I was trying to close the sliding door but it wouldn’t flow–because of the flurry of new nicks and dents in it–it had been pried open. I looked around the house to see if everything was intact, and discovered that all the equipment in the studio was gone. The room was so bare.

Of course, we’ve been talking about updating our insurance. Especially after listening to Gary Mula’s story of his studio burning to a crisp. And then there was the car burglary last week, that did $700 in damage. And all the burglaries at our neighbors’.

I’m feeling a little anxious.