# Bird feeding, see Poodle earth dog champsin the making



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

No more can I feed the birds. Do you feed birds? I never believed in feeding birds in the past because I thought they should not get lazy and should get their own food. Plus, where I use to live in Idaho, I wouldn't dare feed birds because I lived in bear country. 

When I moved back here I saw how much pleasure my Mom got out of watching the birds come to her feeders, so I got some and took up the hobby of bird watching. I love my little Piliated Woodpecker, a sort of miniature kind and my Stellar's Jays, the little finches and snow birds. They're so beautiful and fun to watch. 

But no more. I had to take this all down. You know why? The Poodles did not (thankfully) show their retrieving instincts, but showed their go to ground instincts and discovered under my crawl space were RATS! :afraid: There was a hole on one side of the house but in a blocked off area from the dogs but boy, did they want to get in there, fascinated with that area which made me look, trying to figure out how to get under the little fenced place.

On the opposite side of the house, I bent down where they were checking out a vent close to the ground and *OMG!* URINE!!! Horrible! Not dog urine. So I right away called a pest control company and the guy came out, saw and showed me signs and then set traps. :sad: It makes me sad too at the same time, but geeze! Before he went under there he warned that the insulation could be ruined and _that_ could cost thousands! But thank goodness, it didn't get ruined. 

He said these critters come under peoples' houses anyhow to get out of the cold, but that my bird feeder _really_ helped invite them in. Duh, :doh: Why didn't I think of that? I know better. I just thought...lots of people have bird feeders. When I said that, he said, "yep, and this is a very common problem." So, it's costing a chunk for the initial treatment, plus every month a chunk for at least 6 months, he will come and check the traps and keep it up until they seem to go away for good, which he thinks they will. 

So, if you feed birds, think again. Because these vermin could have cost me a lot more in damages. Thanks to the Poodles, they were probably discovered fairly early on. :adore:


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## PhoebeAndMe (Dec 25, 2015)

Oh wow I never would have thought of rats being attracted by the birds either. I'm glad the insulation wasn't ruined, it is $$$$. Thankfully, Poodles saved you thousands


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

It's the bird seed and the suet that enticed the rats, not the birds themselves. Also, I had several tiny pumpkins on my fence posts during Halloween/fall season and a couple bigger ones on the porch. When they were through, I tossed them on the side of the house where there's nothingness. And a few in the far corner of my yard where I don't have anything but a no man's land area. The pumpkins there some years seed themselves and I get more pumpkins. (oh, happy day!) But the ones I tossed into the area on the side, between the neighbor's fence and mine is shady so they just rotted, which I thought was just fine. And so did the rats. They, it turns out collected the pumpkin seeds in a little stash. My faulty, skewed thinking was that pumpkins weren't food or garbage. I wasn't putting out food scraps or anything, right? LOL. 

I'm pretty sure my neighbors aren't happy with me because they have them too, it turns out. But I know this from the past and the pest control guy reiterated to me that the bird seed isn't the only reason the rats came. They will come anyhow to get in a warm place, out of the cold in winter. It's just that the bird seed gave them that little extra shove to choose my house and my neighbor's as their first choice. ARggg. I'm kind of going to miss the birds, but not the rats. :ahhhhh:

Yes, without the Poodles, who knows how long it would have been until I noticed something. Well, maybe not too terribly long. That vent really wreaks! And when it gets summer, can you imagine? So, I'm glad we caught it when we did.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Such a shame! We had the same situation here. I loved feeding the birds, but it turned into feeding rats and squirrels... Now I provide the birds with a bath and with places to nest in the garden, but no food.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Yep Zooeysmom...I have bird baths too, but I never see them use them. Oh well. And I put some hair out after clipping the dogs so birds could possibly use it to line their nests. But it's still there on the ground. lol. 

So I'm sorry it happened to you too. It is definitely a shame.

OMG! I just noticed I put this in the wrong place. It should have gone in General or even other animals. There's no training going on here. lol. I hope a mod moves it. :argh:


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## PhoebeAndMe (Dec 25, 2015)

:embarrassed: oh duh! I didn't think of that.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Here in my Apt building we are not allowed to hang bird (seed) feeders because of mice and rats from the canyon......but we are allowed to feed the humming birds! I love my hummers......they have gotten so used to many of us feeding them, that they will come to eat even when we are sitting under/next to the feeders! Beautiful little birds and very amusing when they battle over who gets to 'claim' a certain feeder!


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Oh Molly yes...they are a treat and get so bold and tame. They're actually quite aggressive little birds sometimes. I use to hang feeders but found that you are suppose to clean and change them every 2 or 3 days or something or the stuff ferments and they can die! :ahhhhh: It got to be too much hassle and I found 2, that I didn't need them. I have so many bright flowers in my yard that the humming birds and bees are in abundance. I have big geraniums and all kinds of things that they like. They are indeed fun to watch too and it's nice how they come so close. But dang...well, the birds were going through seed like nobody's business and it's quite expensive so I guess I'll save a few bucks....I wonder when it will make up for how much I have to spend on this pest control service. lol...way past my life time I suspect. lol.


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