Raven part deux

Around the first year I lived here, I was seeing things that this city girl was never exposed to.  For example,  mountain lions,  bears, and horny toad lizards were just a few of  the unusual things I was privy to see.  Each time I saw something new, I would call my husband and tell him my experience with my new discovery. It was not until I started seeing things that were not normally in this area that my husband started to doubt my sanity.

 One day on the way to work, I swear I saw a wolf.  Husband said it was a coyote.  I said I know the difference between a wolf and a coyote.  He said I was wrong and went on back to what he was doing.  A few months later a news cast mentioned that the Mexican Gray Wolf had been spotted in the south central area of New Mexico.

Next, I was going down to Walmart and saw a roadrunner by the ski area.  Called husband again to tell him what I saw.  He said at 9,000 ft in the winter, no less, you would not find a roadrunner.  But yet there was that dang roadrunner crossing the highway.  I was determined to prove to my husband I was not going crazy.  I followed the car in front of me all the way down to Alamogordo.  I followed him until he parked in the parking lot of Wal-Mart.  I jumped out of my car, rushed him and asked him if he saw what I think I saw crossing the hwy at the ski area.   He asked,  "You mean that Roadrunner?"  "Hold it right there.", I said.  I quickly called husband and said "Hold on I have someone here that saw the same thing I saw"  I asked the poor fellow that I  had just accosted to tell my husband, who thinks I am going crazy, what he saw.  The poor fellow was so nice he says "Hello?".  For a minute there,  I think he thought I was crazy too.  He did tell husband that yes in deed there was a roadrunner at the ski area.  Then he gave me my phone back and backed away.  He did not turn his back to me until 20 ft. before the automatic doors.  Yep, I think it is safe to say he thought I was crazy too.

Then one day, I was headed to Alamogordo again.  I got to the bottom of the hill and noticed a junk shop.  You know the kind, junk everywhere and everything for sale.  I was walking up to the door and noticed a dog.  I leaned over to pat him and heard..."Hello"  " Whatca gona buy?" I look around and see NO ONE but the dog.  The dog was just laying in the sun.  His tail wagging and tongue hanging out.  DANG! maybe I am going crazy.  About that time, I heard, "Go on in."  This time I really start to look around. I am looking for anyone, for a speaker system or one of those rock speakers....you know the kind they put around the pool to deliver music to all that are swimming. NOTHING!  I slowly go inside.  All at once I notice a bird, a BIG bird.  It was a crow.  The biggest crow on the face of the earth.  I get inside and decide to take my chances.  I ask the guy inside if he knew he had a talking crow....A BIG TALKING CROW.  He said yes but it was not a crow.  He tells me it is a Common Raven.  Turns out he found it years ago when it fell out of its nest.  He could not bare to leave it to the elements so he brought it home and raised it.  Somewhere along the way it started to pick up words.  He said it knew about 50 plus word to date.  I thought, OH BOY, what will husband think of this?

I decided to not say anything until I got home.  I later told husband, "A Raven spoke to me today."  Man oh Man, that was it for him.  He thought I really had lost my mind.  I explained the whole thing.  To this day, I am not sure he believed me.  And after that, I decided to not tell him my further discoveries. 

Who knew a Raven could speak? NOT THIS CITY GIRL!

This week in the store we are running a special on Hummingbird Feeders!  We have a large selection at this time.  From hand blown glass to plastic feeders, you can be sure you will find what you are looking for.And if you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of the Raven that hangs out in our bird tree.

Until next week
Ruth
Store Manager

www.thebirdhousecloudcroft.blogspot.com
www.cloudcroftwebcam.com/beta

A Wicked Sense of Humor

When we moved here years ago I was totally shocked at the size of these birds up here.  I thought they were giant crows that were involved in some type of nuclear fall out.  I can only guess their weight but I would guesstimate an average of 20 lbs...some larger some smaller but all huge! I was told later on they were Common Ravens.  Shoot, there is NOTHING common about those birds as far as I am concerned.    In the last few years I have come to believe the Common Raven must have a sense of humor.   This past winter, one of the Ravens that hangs out at the top of my backyard Pines got a big chuckle when he witnessed my dogs’ surprise of the first snow this winter.

Every morning my dogs have a ritual, which consist of, CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT THE DOOR AND BARK MY BRAINS OUT! Pacing, pacing can't wait. They run as FAST as they can, down a 45ft porch and jump off the end with an attitude that should scare even the meanest of squirrels! Then turn with a puffed out chest to look at the door to see if anyone was watching. They are proud beast, my Mutt and Jeff. (Chi Chi and Sims)

 This morning was a tad bit different. Can't wait, Can't wait! (the same) Ready set GO (the same)....run, run, run (the same)... the little one (7 lbs Jeff) gets to the end of the porch first but things are DIFFERENT! White stuff EVERYWHERE! He puts on the brakes right as he gets to the end of the porch.....PLONK! He flew off alright but not in the manner he was accustomed to. Pride was............GONE.

The BIG one (70+ lb, Mutt) was hot on his trail. There was no way that little one was going to beat her. Her mind quickly changed as she watched him fly then land hard in the snow. She tried with everything she had to stop. Too late, the snow and ice started about 15 ft from the end and she was already in it. BRAKE, BRAKE, BRAKE you could just see her mind yelling it. She did manage to slow down before the big finish, which lead to an agonizing slow motion crash. She felt ever step she hit as she was going down. The little one watched at first with horror and moved out of the way before she squished him. Then he appeared to be basking in pure joy to see the big dog epically fail. Both of them got up. No barking, no looking back with pride........they did their business and came back to their nice warm beds and licked their proverbial wounds.

When I walked back to the den I noticed there was not only the one Raven at the top of the tree, there were now about five or six Ravens clucking  and chuckling like little hens.  I guess the one at the top call for the others to watch the entertainment.  Yep, I think the Common Ravens have a wicked sense of humor.

At the store this week, we were fortunate enough to purchase some humor of our own to sale.  We picked up a little Chihuahua, peacock, cowboy ant, and googly eyed ant.  They are humorous handmade yard art and door stops made with steel and  river rocks by a southwestern family owned business. They are sure to bring a chuckle to you too.  Stop in and check them out.

Next week Raven part deux.....  they were not finished with me yet

Until next week,
Ruth
Store Manager
www.thebirdhousecloudcroft.blogspot.com
www.cloudcroftwebcam.com/beta

“I need hiking boots for this…”

The last ten months have been particularly hard on me and the people I love.  It feels like it has been one devastating ordeal after another.  If it were not for my friends here in Cloudcroft and my family, I am not sure I would have made it.

One of those friends suggested we take a break.  Get all the girls and take a mini vacation.  We needed to go somewhere close to home with beautiful scenery.  And I have heard there is nothing like a vacation in your own back yard or in this case your own state.    My three dearest friends and a recently new friend decided to spend some time bonding in a huge condo in Ruidoso, NM.

Oh my goodness!  To say we all had the time of our life would be an understatement.  We watched chick flicks, played games, soaked our bones in the HOTTEST hot tub in the world, went dancing and Geo Caching.  We were so busy with all that stuff we did not even get to shop until we were heading back home and then we only stopped at one store.  Can you believe, five women and three days of non-stop shopping right in front of us and we decide instead to spend it together bonding.  By-the-way this trip was supposed to be a birthday celebration for my dearest friend but they turned it around and made it a “you need to be happy again” weekend for me.  There is no place on earth like our community, the wonderful people that live here and my beautiful loving friends.

I am an avid Geo Cache hunter.  All my friends know I do it but they had never tried it nor did they know what it was.  I took this together time to introduce them and now they are HOOKED too.  Geo Caching is like a treasure hunt.  You go to the website type in the zip code you want to hunt in and it pulls up different locations of hidden treasures or small boxes to record your hunt.  If you find a regular size box, it will have several things in it to select from.  If you take something, you must put something back in.  If you find a micro container, you take out the log and sign it then replace for the next hunter.  This is an awesome way to get out and explore nature.  It can take you on a hike way back in the mountains or just a short drive in town.  It can take you to places you might not have even known existed. It stimulates your brain cells and along the way reveals the beauty of our earth.  You can do a little bird watching along the way meet up with different critters and other Geo Cache hunter along the way.  Some hides are so clever it seems to reveal a little bit of personally of the hider.  

All you need to do for Geo Caching is to pull up the website, register, put in a zip code, get a GPS, grab your backpack and go.  Don’t forget to put your camera and binoculars in your bag.  Binoculars not only make bird watching easier on your quest you may even need them to find the cache.  If you need binoculars, stop by The Birdhouse and pick up a pair.  I would love to hear where you have been or where you are going.  Hey while you are here, check out all the new Merchandise we just received.

Until next week,

Ruth Lane 

After all that hunting one of my friends said "I need hiking boots for all this……"

And I am happy to report my happy is back!

www.thebirdhousecloudcroft.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bird-House/122175521166994

Tastes like Chicken

In 2005 my husband, daughter, son and three dogs moved into our family built home.  At first, we had construction ground.  Ya know, dirt, grass, dirt, grass, bump, tree, dirt, grass, etc.  My father in law did all the excavating and to his credit he left more grass than dirt.  This lead to a full grass lawn within a year and a half.  And that is when it all began.

One afternoon my husband and I were cutting the grass.  Every time I got off the mower, I would fall into a hole.  These holes would always have an underground tunnel attached to them which was evident from the turned up dirt on top of the ground.  Some of the holes were small and some, like the ones I kept falling in, were huge.  I could not figure out what type of animal would make both large and small holes.  Finally, I decided it had to be moles.  Being from the south, that was a critter I was familiar with.   However, these trails were so much longer and wider than what I had been accustomed to.  I hike a lot around my neighborhood and I would spot thousands of tiny holes with underground trails attached to them.  DANG!  We were infested.  When I hike I almost always take my dogs, Mutt, Jeff and Lucy.  (Their names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.)  They love to go any place outside and I like their awareness, it keeps me on my toes.

This particular day I was trying to get home before the rain started.  I was hootin' and hollerin' for the dog to keep up.  As I got to our driveway, I looked around for the them.  They were no where to be seen.  Lucy was my oldest, at 17 pounds she was one of the smallest, and the love of my life.  We were perfectly in sync with each other so for her to not be at my side was unusual.  There had been some sightings of mountain lions close to our neighborhood and I was not about to lose one or both of my dogs like that.  I had to back track.  They were not on the road so that meant getting back in to the woods.  I followed my footsteps back until I spotted them, well one of them.   As I turned the bend, I noticed Lucy jumping up and down into the air then she would dart back and forth like an out of control wind up toy.  I could see her stop and run back over to the other dog, Mutt, and soon after it would start all over again.  I had never seen either of my dogs act like this before so to say I approached cautiously would be an actuate statement.   As I got closer, I saw my Lucy covered in dirt.  I'm not talking 'bout a little dirt;  I'm talking dirt stuck to her wet nose, in her runny allergy eyes, in her ears and all over her body.  It was stuck to and in every cavity she had.  Then I saw why she was in such a state.  My big dog, 70 pound Mutt, was digging in the dirt like a high speed auger.  Dirt was flying as far as four feet back and at least 2 feet high.  I watched them for a while to try to figure out what they were after.  I would notice that every time Mutt would tire the little one, Lucy, would run to the big hole and start sniffing.  It was not one of those dainty sniff, sniff, kind of sniffs.  It was the kind that you would see on the cartoons.  Ya' know, the animal would sniff the hole so hard it would suck up everything under the ground into its nose.  Hence, all the dirt on her nose, which was now caked so thick that she'd lost her nostrils.  As soon as they saw me, they went into a frenzy.  Mutt jumped up and started digging like the wind with an occasional pause to see if I were watching her.  Lucy was running after the dirt trying to catch it in mid-air.  Then all of a sudden I saw some kind of critter fly by as if it had been shot out of a cannon.  Lucy was all ready in flight when she caught it.  Then she ran like the devil under a bush.  Big dog, Mutt, had no idea that Lucy had claimed the prize and was off enjoying the fruits of Mutt's labor.  Mutt was still digging, digging and Lucy was munching, munching.  It was not long before Mutt stopped to smell the hole.  Immediately her head pops UP and she looks around for Lucy.  She knew she had been duped.   She starts running in circles trying to find her.  Soon they were both in the bushes.  Out they came, Lucy was caring what looked like a big ole' fat tailless rat with Mutt hot on her paws.  I made her stop and drop.  UGH! A half eaten something.  It looked like a grayish, stubby tailed ratlike-thingy.  I gave Lucy the go ahead and by the time we got home she had eaten it all.  Poor Mutt couldn't do a thing but watch all of her hard work go down Lucy's throat.  Lucy was looking at Mutt, with those cute twinkly eyes, as if to say, "Tastes like chicken." 

 After I got home, I asked my husband, a native born Cloudcroftian, what the heck it was.  He called it a Vole.  It turns out these critters eat tree roots.  They leave hundreds, if not thousands, of holes and trails all through your yard.   It is suggested that a trap be used to catch them.  Or you can use poison....UGH!  Or you can do like me and turn your dogs on them.  No ucky traps to empty, no killing of innocent critters with the poison, just good old fun for your dogs.   You may even experience a decrease in your pet food budget.  Of course, there is that little "large holes to fall into" problem. But hey, the dogs are happy.

As for the moles, I've been told you should place pinwheels in the ground.  It's said that the vibrations from the pinwheel spinning will disturb the moles and cause them to search out food in other areas.  We carry a large selection of pinwheels both large and small at The Bird House so come on in and check them out.  They will not only be chasing away the moles, they will look awesome in your yard. 

A sad note: Kazooie, aka Lucy, died November 20, 2010.  It is a hard thing to lose one's shadow.  I still love, remember, and miss her antics. The best dog I ever had.  I love you sweet baby girl.

Until next week,
Ruth
www.thebirdhousecloudcroft.blogspot.com
www.cloudcroftwebcam.com/beta/

O My Hurry Hurry!

One evening a couple of years ago, I was sitting in the living room watching TV.  My husband was in the den fully engaged with something on the computer and my daughter was in her room doing homework, well that is what she was told to do.  As I sat there watching TV, I heard a huge thud on the large picture window, which was right behind my head. My first thought was, 'That was a huge bird.'  Then I thought it was a bat but it was the middle of winter no way would a bat be out now.  I then settled on an owl.  That had to be it.  It was a big thunk certainly as big as a very large owl.  I got up to satisfy my curiosity.  And to administer any kind of help I could give to that poor, poor little creature.

I flipped on the porch light.  I immediately noticed the porch was illuminated but the door area was dark.  Dang maybe one of the light burned out, no bother, for now my attention was on the little owl. I ran around the couch and over to the big window.  I looked out but I didn't see it.  I looked and looked but nothing was out there.  That seemed impossible to me.  That owl hit that window so hard it made me think the glass could have shattered or it could have been knocked out.  Maybe it was under the wicker couch on the porch....it had to be.  While looking for the bird I saw that the light near the door had not burned out.  It was as bright as the other two lights that was shining on the porch.  Weird!

I decided to go on the porch and check under the couch.  Not only was it cold we still had snow on the ground.  That little creature would freeze to death if left out there.  I ran around the couch again to the door.  All of a sudden I noticed the door was still dark.  What the heck?  I leaned back to view the picture window.... lights were on but yet the door was dark.  My dogs were GOING crazy.  I leaned into the beveled glass to try to see what the problem was.  All I saw was my dog's hair reflecting in the glass.  I decided I would deal with the light issue as soon as I got the bird taken care of.  I turned the lock on the door knob and preceded to open the door when all of a sudden this huge shadow moved and light started pouring in the front door's beveled window. OMG what just happened?  I left the door shut and ran to the front window again.  And there it was!  No, not a bat nor a bird not even an owl,  it was a huge black BEAR!!!!!!!!!!  And it wanted in my house!  More precisely, it wanted me!  I ran to the den shouting BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! my husband was still so involved working on the computer that he never even looked up...."okay" is all he said.   UGH!  I ran back to the porch window.  The bear was now standing straight up and looking at me...ME!  I screamed BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! and ran to get my daughter.  She was all involved in her 'homework' which was really a computer game and her response was "okay mom in a minute".  I ran back to the window.  I did not see it anywhere but I did noticed the door was dark again.  I ran to it, all the while screaming BEAR BEAR BEAR  THERE IS A BEAR ON THE PORCH.  OH MY HURRY HURRY HONEY!.... no one responded.  I checked out the beveled door's window.  OMG that was not the dog's hair reflected in the glass.  IT WAS  THE BEAR'S HAIR AND HE IS TRYING TO TEAR THE DOOR DOWN!   Now I am screaming so loud even my dogs can't compete and they head for the bedroom with tails tucked.  I look out the window again...bear is on the move...to the BACK YARD!  I have a doggie door.  It is not big enough for the "BEAR" to get in but its head or paw could get in.  I run to get the dog door cover located behind my husband's chair and slide it into place. 

It was about then my hubby looks up and says, "What are you doing?"  I scream "A BEAR,  A BEAR IS TRYING TO GET IN THE HOUSE!"  "What?", he says with a dazed and confused look on his face.  Then it hit him and he sprang into action.  He ran to the front window and said, "There is no bear out there."  "I know!", I said, "It went around the back!"  He runs to the back and opens .....THE DOOR!  I run for the bedroom with the dogs.  Along the way I pass my daughter in the hall and yell, "A BEAR!".   After what seems like at least 15 minutes all was calm and I came back out.  There was no bear anywhere.  I guess he went to our neighbors.  Daughter was back in her room and hubby was back working on the computer.  They were not impressed.  The dogs were still in hiding under the covers and I was left with an exciting memory of an owl, I mean "BEAR!" 

Who knew that bears wake up early around here? 

Oh! and the next morning I saw the big old paw print that he smacked the window with.  It was at the same height as my head would have been sitting in the chair!!!  Thank God for thick glass.

And if anyone is interested, we have a fly through feeder that is advertised as BEAR proof.  It is made of steel and very heavy.  And best of all it is on sale right now.  I think it might work on your bear problems.... that is if you have any.  

Until next week,
Ruth
www.thebirdhousecloudcroft.blogspot.com
www.cloudcroftwebcam.com/beta