Rat-a-Tat-Tat
Now a little of the “not so good.” Each late spring when we return to our float cabin on Powell Lake we find a different challenge. Two years ago it was a nursery roost for Small Brown Bats between our ceiling and metal roof. Fortunately they couldn’t enter the cabin, but we could hear them exit each night and re-enter just before dawn. Sleeping late that summer wasn't easy. Last year we returned to find lots of Deer Mice living under our deck. One evening we could hear them scurrying in and out through a crack by the screen door. It took several trappings to get the last of the cabin occupants evicted.
New year, new challenge. We had just arrived and were putting our groceries away. There was a loud rat-a-tat-tat coming from the back of the cabin. Someone was knocking, but not on the front door. We went outside and around the corner of the float. Wayne got there first and saw a fairly large bird flying away towards the cliff. A visual inspection of the deck gave us our second hint. There were wood chips and slivers littering the boards. A look up towards the eves confirmed our worst fears. A woodpecker had chosen our cabin for her nest. Since there wasn’t a hole ready for occupancy, she was making one of her own.
We caught her just in time. An exposed beam was shredded, but entry under the roof had not been achieved. Wayne used some wood to block the hole and hung bright pink trail marking tape to flutter in the breeze. There was no sign of her for the rest of the day. The next morning at 5:45 a.m. we heard it again, rat-a-tat-tat. The eves are just over our upstairs bedroom window, so a loud “shoo” got her going back towards the cliff. An hour later, it was the same thing again. We didn't have a metal pie plate, so Wayne got a thin board and covered it with aluminum foil. We suspended it in front of the hole. Unfortunately, we had to return to town, so we won’t know if it was enough of a deterrent until we return today. Here’s hoping!!
Labels:
Birds,
Float Cabin Living
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