This morning I heard a growl in the living room, located Max who was growling at Tyler, who was carefully harboring a bird in his mouth. I caught Tyler, made him drop the bird, it flew out of sight. The pool slider was open but not wide, so I pushed it back, leaving a large space. The bird found its way out, but it couldn’t locate the broken screen panel of our pool cage that had allowed it to get in to start with. I hadn’t worried about it because it is one of the upper screens and the cats can’t climb that high. The cats ran out and chased the bird.It flew into a screen and tried to get out by poking its nose into a corner of the panel. From past experience I have observed that birds cannot easily locate how they got into a place, even though the missing screen area was huge. I gently trapped it with my hand, and held it against my chest, allowing me to use my free hand to open the screen door and let it fly away. I hope it’s none the worse for wear and am grateful Tyler did not chomp down on him. It was a really pretty little bird with an orange marking on its forehead. Do birds have foreheads? Anyway, Carlos, our screen guy, can’t come till the 30th. He is fully booked till then, will call if he gets a cancelation, even offered a discount for our patience.

I also rescue geckos the cats bring in, if they are still alive when I find them, huddled in a corner, playing dead, I cover them with a Chinese food container, slide a piece of cardboard underneath and holding this tight, I take it outside and release the gecko into the grass. I warn it not to come back because we have cats. It’s the best I can do.

As for intruders of the insect variety, we have finally solved this problem by contracting with an exterminator who visits every six month and for no extra charge, will make an unscheduled visit to deal with any bugs we find. We had a huge infestation of ants and overnight they were toast. This outfit uses a product that does not harm animals. The worker circles the house treating entry points, and covers all the inside rooms. So no more palmetto bugs or ants, and I think fleas were also eliminated. When I do see the rare insect, it is usually in trouble. Works for me.

xx, Teal