Musings: Backyard cafe now closed
Rats had discovered the free meals awaiting them on the ground, under the bird feeders, a reader writes. Credit: Randee Daddona
My usual daily routine needed an adjustment. Usually, I’d get the morning coffee going, collect the newspapers from the front lawn, lower the backyard bird feeder and refill it as my feathered friends awaited in a tree for me to raise the feeder back onto a limb.
The adjustment was precipitated by my backyard neighbor, who came over to inform me that both her feeder and mine were feeding the unwanted.
Rats had discovered the free meals awaiting them on the ground, under the feeders. Since birds do not use plates and sort through the offerings, some seeds fell to the ground. My neighbor told me that she not only saw rats chomping away on my backyard lawn but also traveling in and out under my deck.
This development, though, came at somewhat of a good time. I was about to place an order for 30 pounds of birdseed.
So, alas, my daily routine has now eliminated something I always had enjoyed — viewing the birds. Aw, rats!
— Philip Grella, Rockville Centre
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