No more birds or squirrels

I had a second restless night - didn't sleep well at all. I arrived home this morning and found a note under my door that was from the apartment management - after 4 years, I have now been officially told that I "must cease and desist feeding birds and squirrels and any other creatures on my patio because it draws pigeons and rodents." Well, squirrels are rodents, so, yeah, duh... I am feeding the rodents and drawing them here by having food for them - the pigeons have only started visiting recently, and I agree they are messy. The bottom line is that my bird feeders are no longer hanging - as we are expecting 2 to 6 inches of snow this afternoon and evening, I dumped what was left of the sunflower seeds and "no-waste" bird seed, and the last pound of dry-roasted unsalted peanuts onto my patio floor. - My last nose-thumbing gesture for the birds and squirrels....

Poor little Max drove me crazy last night - he's the dog with no hope of climbing the stairs, and he's the guy who drinks copious amounts of water and then has to get rid of it... About 10 minutes after he went downstairs yesterday afternoon, I brought him back up; 10 minutes later he wanted out... this went on for 7 hours... I let him and Ginger out at midnight, and went down at 12:15 to get them in: Ginger ran and I had to corner her and pick her up to get her inside, then Max pulled the same stunt, and as soon as I got him inside, he wandered all over the kitchen and living room, urinating everywhere as he walked.... I had to wash and mop both floors before I could go to bed. I think it was meant as a revenge on his Mom, who left him with me - but I was the one left with all the clean-up.

My kits will be deprived of the fun of watching the birds and squirrels... as will I. One thing I can do is see how long the birds continue to return in hopes of getting fed; and also keep an eye on the squirrels as well. I will need to remove the iron hooks that the feeders were hanging on; a lot of birds have already landed on them and looked around for their food... I will miss the cheery sound of the sparrows and finches fussing about who gets to eat first; and I will miss seeing the male birds feed " special treats" to their mates. And I will also miss seeing the young birds visiting the feeders for the first times, and trying to figure out how to feed themselves. I guess I'll have to leave either the radio or the TV on to entertain the kits from now on...