if you build it, they will come

This little blog will be a follow-up to the baby bird story. So..What do I know? Maybe it's not so much a 'if you build it' situation as a 'if you invite one, they will follow' situation. Baby birds are long gone and presumably released into the wild to lead happy little lives. I let them build nests two years in a row, so I guess I had it coming when fate dealt the family a bad hand and they got pushed through the vent and into my hands. My pleasure to do it. They really are cute after all. In doing so, however, I think I invited the rest of the neighborhood's wildlife into my life. Not two days after bidding the birdies farewell, I have a rather well-fed raccoon (not that I've ever seen a skinny one) on my back doorstep. Funny thing is, when I first saw it, it was peering right where the nest was built. I don't think raccoons have much interest in birds, do they? More likely, it's interested in an overgrown patch of rhubarb. Away, mooch! I have jam to make! So now this brazen little fellow frequents the yard and the yards of the neighbors without fear and I haven't got the heart to shoo it away, so I can't complain if Bambi makes an appearance, now can I? Not that that's happened..yet.