Puddle Jumping in DC

Pets and their paraphernalia

It's challenging to take pictures of Bug. When I get out the camera, it makes a noise so Bug drops what she's doing and comes to investigate. How many shots of Bug sitting at the entry way to her cage looking at that funny shinny thing are truly interesting? I'm guessing: not many.

Here is a mediocre picture of Bug with some of her favorite things:

• Spitball paper woven through cage bars (front left).
• Danglely tent thing in matching green that Mom bought for sleeping in but, it turns out, is better suited for sleeping next to and chewing on (middle left).
• Treat clip (front right - very recently held half a cherry tomato).
• The sleeping swing (back right).
• The chewy toy (back left).
• The tiny preener (dead center).

Been Distracted

• Left my old job.
• Caught a cold.
• Started a graduate assistantship at University of Maryland in the Office of Community Service Learning.
• Researched bird cages - you don't really want the details - we're going to spend what seems like crazy money to replace Bug's hand-me-down cockatiel cage (right) with worn paint and bent bars (we bent them because she kept finding spots where she could stick her head through - eek). Follow link to new cage.
• Started doing homework (nope - classes haven't started).
• Bug discovered oat groats and blueberries.

Need help finding Bug in the picture to the right even with the circle? Click here for a larger shot of Bug.

Mice

At 8:45 am, a mouse crossed straight across the livingroom.

Cheeky bastard. We've had a problem with mice since we moved in here 5 years ago. The whole block has them (rowhouses). They go in cycles.

We see a mouse. We pretend we didn't.
We see another mouse and start hunting for possible mouse entry points to the house.
We see another mouse and some mouse droppings. We set a bunch of traps and kill some mice.
We find what we think is the elusive mouse entry point and plug it up . . and wait, because sooner or later . . .
We see a mouse.

Bird seed and peanut butter is very effective mouse bait. Steel wool stuffed in cracks under the baseboard and then sealed in there with caulk or joint compound keeps out mice . . . for a while.

Last time we had mice was right before I picked up Bug. I caught 3 mice in one night and Mac discovered a crack behind the refridgerator. Looks like they found another way in.

But Spitballs Are Even Better

Since coming home, Bug has exibited a fear of paper that I felt was unusual for a parrotlet. When I brought her cage home from the bird sitters, I saw what I thought was spitballs and paper shreds in her cage tray. It turns out that it was shreds to the replacement wood that I put in one of her top of cage toys (first pieces lasted 6 weeks). But since I thought it was paper, I took a piece of a greeting card with no ink and wove it into the cage bars. She was very wary of it at first but, now I think it's her new favorite toy.

The Parrotlet & The Mirror, Part 2

Well the mirror "went away" on Sunday night - not as tramatic as I feared. Bug recognized it's absense immediately but seems to be dealing with it fine.