Alix: Holly?
Holly: Z
Alix: Why aren't you sleeping in your new room?
Alix: Were you...SCARED?
Holly: OF COURSE NOT.
Holly: I just thought YOU might be.
To the two who commented about the invasion of a squirrel problems at my moms house. The problem is no one can figure where the squirrel is coming in. The vent that is on the side of the house was discussed but it is far away from the roof where there is no tree. Also sounds like squirrel comes in from other direction. My brother-in-law did find out how one had come in and fixed that but a different entrance has come no one knows. He used a trap that got rid of one squirrel. When we are there you can hear the squirrel coming in but we can never catch where they come in. The previous squirrel also built a hugh 3 ft nest.
you really need to find out where and soon! squirrels can cause more problems than just building nests. the easiest and least expensive solution is to get a cat.
Back when I was young enough to share a room with my sister (40+ years ago), I used to offer her a choice:
She could have the bed nearer to the door, in which case the SNAKES slithering in through the door would get to her first, OR she could sleep in the bed nearer to the wall, in which case the GHOSTS coming through the wall would get to her first….
kbarb-I had a full grown squirrel get into the dryer vent from the outside vent cover. Turned on high heat and he left, I was fortunate to discover it before it had chewed through the vent and got into the house.
Mythreesons in my moms house case for the dryer vent birds would clogg that we would have to clear it out for the dryer vent and this did not effect the attic two separate locations. My mom would discover this when dryer would not dry very good then its time to check the vent. My dad back in the 68 had a very small storm shelter built and the top converted to utiltiy room with freezer, wash/dryer, and hotwater tank behind the kitchen. Remember house was built in 1947. Two bedroom house.
My mom could never handle loud music and she doesn’t listen to anyway. She doesn’t know any new songs only the old country artists.
Our current house is a bilevel and do I ever miss wash/dryer upstairs. Our worse problem is spiders invading. The house we left was my husband mothers house no basement attach garage wash/dryer in the kitchen this had me spoiled rotten. The new ower moved it to the garage I pity anyone living there for that fact.
Lose bug screen on wood or even metal Gable , eaves or soffit vents can act like a dogie-door . Looking solid but actually a vermin entry . I have witnessed unscrupulous and low IQ builders use none metal screen for these applications . And have the least skilled workman install this required barrier .
I remember on various occasions hearing strange sounds and wondering what they were. In one case, sparrows had built a nest in my air conditioner, and had begun laying eggs. I had happened to leave the blind down for some weeks, and I didn’t need to turn on the air conditioner, so they felt quite safe. To them the blind was a solid wall, I guess. Well, when I put up the blind, and I saw all this mess of twigs - I admired it, but I wanted to be able to use my air conditioner. Sparrows are not rare or endangered birds - in fact, they drive me crazy with their raucous noise.
So I cleaned out the nest. But the story was not over! Next day I found a small egg on the windowsill. A friend of mine who knew about birds said that the mother bird would still be growing the egg inside her body when they were driven out, and this was the place she felt safest in, so that was where she laid it. I was told not to touch it, because of all the diseases wild birds’ eggs could carry. So I picked it up with a piece of paper towel, and put it in a small box I had. I still have it. I just look at it now and then.
The other time, I kept hearing skritching sounds in the kitchen. When the handyman came to fix something else, I asked him about it. Turned out some black birds were busily filling the hose from the clothes dryer to the outside with nesting material. (They made the skritching sounds when they walked on the metal part of the hose.) There was no cover on the vent to the outside. I don’t know if it had been damaged on its own, or whether the birds had destroyed it.
So the handyman emptied the hose and put on a new vent cover (with a screen, so that the air could get out). He told me I should have it checked at least every 2 years. After a while, plastic gets brittle, and then it can crack easily. And I thought plastic lasted forever!
Cornell University has a site on the Web that shows the results of a competition that they ran, to have people take photos of the most unusual places where birds had built nests. To summarize the results: Birds will build nests anywhere. And once they get an idea into their heads, it may be impossible to get them to leave.
If you are interested in looking at the photos, this is the address: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/challenge/funky-nests-in-funky-places-1/funky-nest-entry-directory
The funniest photos showed plastic owls that people had put on their roofs, to discourage other birds. The small birds built their nests - on top of the owls’ heads, between the ear-tufts! I saw at least 3 such pictures.
@DaKreb1, my sister had squirrels in the roof of the front porch, and it was decaying, to the point that they had to have it completely rebuilt. Of course, they had to get rid of the squirrels first.
Unfortunately any opening into the house can produce problems. As to the strip - The girls are so cute, and I LOVE that Alix always seems more insightful than Holly!
kreole over 14 years ago
It’s the tigers after you go to sleep that’s rough……
yyyguy over 14 years ago
no, but in my dreams i’m a golfer - instead of a hacker!
lewisbower over 14 years ago
CREAK!
Anandgyan over 14 years ago
Love that smirk. Kids know the truth, sort of.
lightenup Premium Member over 14 years ago
What a “concerned” sister she is all of a sudden… ;-)
kab2rb over 14 years ago
To the two who commented about the invasion of a squirrel problems at my moms house. The problem is no one can figure where the squirrel is coming in. The vent that is on the side of the house was discussed but it is far away from the roof where there is no tree. Also sounds like squirrel comes in from other direction. My brother-in-law did find out how one had come in and fixed that but a different entrance has come no one knows. He used a trap that got rid of one squirrel. When we are there you can hear the squirrel coming in but we can never catch where they come in. The previous squirrel also built a hugh 3 ft nest.
Yakety Sax over 14 years ago
you really need to find out where and soon! squirrels can cause more problems than just building nests. the easiest and least expensive solution is to get a cat.
Yukoneric over 14 years ago
Liar……………..
DHBirr over 14 years ago
Back when I was young enough to share a room with my sister (40+ years ago), I used to offer her a choice:
She could have the bed nearer to the door, in which case the SNAKES slithering in through the door would get to her first, OR she could sleep in the bed nearer to the wall, in which case the GHOSTS coming through the wall would get to her first….
Mythreesons over 14 years ago
kbarb-I had a full grown squirrel get into the dryer vent from the outside vent cover. Turned on high heat and he left, I was fortunate to discover it before it had chewed through the vent and got into the house.
kab2rb over 14 years ago
Mythreesons in my moms house case for the dryer vent birds would clogg that we would have to clear it out for the dryer vent and this did not effect the attic two separate locations. My mom would discover this when dryer would not dry very good then its time to check the vent. My dad back in the 68 had a very small storm shelter built and the top converted to utiltiy room with freezer, wash/dryer, and hotwater tank behind the kitchen. Remember house was built in 1947. Two bedroom house. My mom could never handle loud music and she doesn’t listen to anyway. She doesn’t know any new songs only the old country artists.
kab2rb over 14 years ago
Our current house is a bilevel and do I ever miss wash/dryer upstairs. Our worse problem is spiders invading. The house we left was my husband mothers house no basement attach garage wash/dryer in the kitchen this had me spoiled rotten. The new ower moved it to the garage I pity anyone living there for that fact.
Ronshua over 14 years ago
Lose bug screen on wood or even metal Gable , eaves or soffit vents can act like a dogie-door . Looking solid but actually a vermin entry . I have witnessed unscrupulous and low IQ builders use none metal screen for these applications . And have the least skilled workman install this required barrier .
RinaFarina over 14 years ago
I remember on various occasions hearing strange sounds and wondering what they were. In one case, sparrows had built a nest in my air conditioner, and had begun laying eggs. I had happened to leave the blind down for some weeks, and I didn’t need to turn on the air conditioner, so they felt quite safe. To them the blind was a solid wall, I guess. Well, when I put up the blind, and I saw all this mess of twigs - I admired it, but I wanted to be able to use my air conditioner. Sparrows are not rare or endangered birds - in fact, they drive me crazy with their raucous noise.
So I cleaned out the nest. But the story was not over! Next day I found a small egg on the windowsill. A friend of mine who knew about birds said that the mother bird would still be growing the egg inside her body when they were driven out, and this was the place she felt safest in, so that was where she laid it. I was told not to touch it, because of all the diseases wild birds’ eggs could carry. So I picked it up with a piece of paper towel, and put it in a small box I had. I still have it. I just look at it now and then.
The other time, I kept hearing skritching sounds in the kitchen. When the handyman came to fix something else, I asked him about it. Turned out some black birds were busily filling the hose from the clothes dryer to the outside with nesting material. (They made the skritching sounds when they walked on the metal part of the hose.) There was no cover on the vent to the outside. I don’t know if it had been damaged on its own, or whether the birds had destroyed it.
So the handyman emptied the hose and put on a new vent cover (with a screen, so that the air could get out). He told me I should have it checked at least every 2 years. After a while, plastic gets brittle, and then it can crack easily. And I thought plastic lasted forever!
Cornell University has a site on the Web that shows the results of a competition that they ran, to have people take photos of the most unusual places where birds had built nests. To summarize the results: Birds will build nests anywhere. And once they get an idea into their heads, it may be impossible to get them to leave.
If you are interested in looking at the photos, this is the address: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/challenge/funky-nests-in-funky-places-1/funky-nest-entry-directory
The funniest photos showed plastic owls that people had put on their roofs, to discourage other birds. The small birds built their nests - on top of the owls’ heads, between the ear-tufts! I saw at least 3 such pictures.
RinaFarina over 14 years ago
@DaKreb1, my sister had squirrels in the roof of the front porch, and it was decaying, to the point that they had to have it completely rebuilt. Of course, they had to get rid of the squirrels first.
vldazzle over 14 years ago
Unfortunately any opening into the house can produce problems. As to the strip - The girls are so cute, and I LOVE that Alix always seems more insightful than Holly!