My Backyard Zoo

Yes. I have my own personal backyard zoo...whether I want it or not...I have one.

Juvenile Yellow-crested Night Herons
in 2009 in the Backyard Zoo

It started off early this year with ducks in my chimney last March. Now, it's the Yellow-crested Night Herons' turn. Every year they come back to the same trees and nests to hatch their ugly babies. AND every year the raccoons try to raid their nests about 11:00pm creating total chaos in the trees. The herons are not aggressive birds. They just stand on the limbs flapping their wings and SCREAMING at the top of their lungs waking the whole neighborhood. Neighbors come out in the boxers staring at my house wondering what the crap is going on. That crazy lady is at it again. :D

Last night was no different except that the raccoons stirred up all SIX nests in my yard so there was a chorus of 12 herons screaming for 2 hours. I'm blaming the dumb ass "super" moon.

This morning while I was out watering the yard, I noticed LOTS of recently hatched eggs around. I counted 6 active nests and 10 hatched eggs. One of those eggs might have had help from Rocky Raccoon.

They're pretty light blue eggs. Nice sized ones at that.

 

 

So in a couple of weeks, I'll have ugly heron kids running around my backyard pooping crawdad shells all over the place. joy. Thank goodness it washes. One thing we have learned...NEVER EVER walk near "white paint splatter" in my yard. AND definitely...NEVER look up!!! BOMBS AWAY!!!!  I can also tell they are fed very well. Thank goodness I wore shoes for once...there were lots of "to-go boxes" of frogs and crawdads scattered underneath the nests. They need to teach their kids some table manners!

I did learn today that I must walk behind my garage more often. I think I have a varmint living back there. My wonderful yard men have just piling up leaves and limbs and not hauling them off. NOW there seems to be a burrow in there. Any volunteers to find out what lives in there??? Maybe that's who the "Dear Resident" mail is for!!!

One thing our Backyard Zoo doesn't have a problem about is mosquitoes and bugs. That's because we have mega-gargantuan chameleon lizards who are not afraid of us piddly ol' humans.

Backyard Zoo hours: 7 days a week; 24 hours a day.   ::ugh::

Stupid Monkey Award

Spring is in the air...Everywhere you look around...Ooooo ooooo ooooh!

Isn't that how that song goes?

I know Spring is here because my Yellow-Crested Night Herons have return to nest in all my oak trees. There must be 6-7 nests in the trees just on my lot. They look pretty funny in the trees because the herons are such a lanky wading bird. And they're babies....OMG...they're babies are U-G-L-Y!!! UGLY!

One must be very careful when walking in the yard under the trees during this time of year. Avoid the "white paint" splatter and never look up. "Bombs" fall from the trees that make pigeon bombs look like a light rain.

This year has been unique. We have a new bird to the zoo. Besides the herons and the hawk families, we've had a duck, yes, a duck, sitting on my roof top lately. I don't live near a pond or a lake. There is a large ditch but it's not really close.


My son was finally home during Spring Break so I put him to work around the house. I had him get up on the roof to sweep off some leaves and limbs that had fallen during the Winter. He's a good boy...most of the time. :)

Well...as he's cleaning the roof and around the chimney, all of a sudden he jumps and screams. A DUCK has jumped out of the chimney! Yes, a duck!?!?!? WTH?!?

She kept a very close eye on my son as he worked around the chimney.

Never letting him out of her sight.

 

The duck finally got off the chimney so my son could take a look to see what she was guarding. Yep. Just as I had figured. A nest.

WTH!?!?!?!?! This is one stupid duck!! What's going to happen when her babies hatch? Has she thought ahead?!?! Obviously not. EGGS!!! OMG. A duck has laid eggs in my chimney. Not just one or two eggs. A BUTT LOAD OF EGGS!!! All I could see were cute little baby ducks hatching and taking their first step and SPLAT! right off the edge of my roof. I would come home to cute little yellow furry broken baby ducks scattered in my yard. I can't have that. They have to be moved.

I gave my son an Easter basket and sent him off to find Easter eggs. :P

He was a little apprehensive at first. EWWWW! roflmao!!

He was worried that momma duck was  going to come after him but she just sat over there watching the egg raider.

She had been a busy duck. She laid THIRTEEN eggs in my chimney!!! OMG!!! Image their cute little yellow furry bodies falling and rolling off my roof. o.O

We moved the eggs onto a plant tray and into a flower bed below ON THE GROUND in hopes momma duck might find them. I know the odds aren't good but we will try.

The chimney now has a make-shift cover on top of a McCain-Palin yard sign and a couple of bricks. It will have to do until I can get some chicken wire to cover it. Hopefully it will last long enough up there to give momma duck the message to nest somewhere else...like on the ground!!!

I had duck eggs in my chimney.   o.O    good grief.

And yes, the Stupid Monkey Award goes to.....
MOMMA DUCK!!!!

And a HUGE THANK YOU to my son for cleaning off the roof... and doing battle with a momma duck!