Today, while raking the back lawn, I found a dead bird. I think it used to be a red headed woodpecker, but I didn't want to look too closely. I admit it, I'm squeamish. I hate when things come to my yard to die. Luckily, my wonderful husband isn't squeamish at all, and he doesn't complain about disposing of dead things. He has disposed of a field mouse (the dogs were rolling in it), several opossums (I started calling the garden "The Secret Opossum Burial Ground"), and a baby groundhog.
The first dead thing he got rid of for me was an Iguana, way back when we were dating. I first saw the iguana on a warm sunny October afternoon, while I was working in the garden. I noticed that my Borzoi was stalking something. (She may have been stealthy, but I always knew when she was up to something.) I ignored her, as I figured whatever it was could either fly or scamper away, or was on the other side of the fence. To my horror, I saw her snatch a large lizard off a tree trunk where it had been sunning itself. She started capering around the yard, tossing, catching and shaking the lizard. Although I hated to ruin her fun (she did look very cute), I ran over to her and demanded in a stern voice, "Drop the lizard!" She did, and I dragged all 85 pounds of her into the house. I then called the police department to see if anyone reported their iguana missing. I was told by the operator at the police department that, as it was a Sunday afternoon, I needed to call 911 to report that I had an iguana in my yard. I felt a little silly, but I made the call. A short while later, the doorbell rang. I answered to find a uniformed police officer with his police car's emergency lights flashing. With a straight face, he asked, "You reported an iguana in your yard?" I took him out back, but the iguana was gone. I assumed it had left my yard. I thought that was the last of the iguana, but no. It had gotten very cold that night and the iguana must have been injured, because in February, I noticed what looked like a black garbage bag in one of the Forsythias. On closer inspection, I discovered it was a freeze-dried iguana. Yuck! That evening, my husband (then-boyfriend) came over and removed the iguana for me. He did admit that it was rather disgusting.
I guess finding dead critters is just a part of gardening, but it's one that's rarely mentioned in garden writing. I wonder why?
10 comments:
Its the yuck factor. No one likes to write about the yuck factor.
We have had a couple of dead possums and a few birds. Yuck Skunks get killed by cars near our house often. That is a big stinky yuck. The smell can overpower you if you venture out after a skunk kill. UGH
Now an iguana is unusual. It certainly would be around here anyway.
There's just no garden glamour in the dead stuff - although I must say an iguana dead or alive is pretty special. I had to dispose of a goose (feathers everywhere - looked like it had exploded) last spring and I'll have to look back because if I was blogging yet, I'm sure I would have mentioned it. (I just can't help myself sometimes) I don't think I would have included a picture though either...
Lisa - how awful that you have to deal with roadkill skunks! There are skunks around here, but fortunately my street is quiet so no roadkill. My Borzoi was stupid enough once to roll in skunk musk or spray. I had to air out the whole house for 3 days.
Kris - I can't imaging trying to get rid of something as large as a goose. I'm lucky that they stay on the other side of the fence.
Thankfully I haven't encountered anything dead around here other than a baby bird that fell from the nest. I discovered that when I saw our golden, Lilly, rolling around on something,(dogs can be so gross).
Hi there, Mr McGregor's Daughter :-)
Yes, sadly I have encountered dead birds in my garden too. Sometimes they stun themselves on my window and don't recover other times it's the cats that catch them and leave them to die.
I don't like to handle dead birds either (we only find birds in our garden) and often it is my husband who lifts them. However, recently I had to use a garden spade to lift a wood pigeon out of my tiny pond after it fell in (either old age or sick). It didn't have the energy to get out or keep itself upright. It was heavy and a struggle but I got it out and put it in a plastic box (one side open) and tucked it hidden under a large shrub and hopped it would recover and walk out. It didn't :-(
I do post on diseased birds in my garden so others can see and be aware of it. I have posted some horrible photos .
Robin - At least Lilly wasn't playing with the dead bird! My Borzoi once caught a baby bird & she and the mutt were tossing it back & forth to each other. I had to go out there & get the bird away from them. It was still alive, but died shortly after being rescued.
Shirl - my question about why garden writers don't write about dead things was facetious, but it's great that you are raising awareness through your posts about diseases. A couple years ago, West Nile Virus finally reached the Midwest, & there were dead crows & blue jays everywhere. The crow population still hasn't rebounded. I haven't seen a single 1 on my street since then. (There used to be a flock of them that hovered on garbage day.) I know it is part of the natural world, but seeing dead birds always makes me sad. I'm sorry your efforts to save the wood pigeon failed.
You seem to have had more than your share of the yuck! It's often very sad to find something dead (and wonder what happened), like the mother robin that was on the ground below her nest...
But, maybe it's the shock factor, but I think discovering something alive can be very disconcerting... as in, reaching to weed and nearly grabbing a garter snake! ;-)
There are dead things around here all the time. Birds, squirrels, mice, snakes, one time an opossum. the possum was particularly sad because she had two babies with her who were extremely confused as to what they should do.
Death is just part of the picture, for me. I'd rather post pictures of the pretty stuff.
I am not the least bit squeamish. One thing I cannot stand is to see a beautiful raptor dead beside the road. All too often the big owls flying low on their hunt crash into a truck during the night. When I see their bodies blowing about in the wind of traffic at the edge of the pavement, I stop and pick them up and either move them far off the road into the brush where they can decompose in peace, or bring them home and bury them in my labyrinth or in the quiet corner behind my pond.
"The first dead thing he got rid of for me was an Iguana, way back when we were dating"... now there's a line you don't see much in stories.
Don
Shady Gardener - I'm easily shocked. (Certain people around here find that amusing.) Even though I like having toads in the garden, because they blend in so well, I'm frequently shreiking in startled shock when 1 hops out.
Healing Magic Hands - how compassionate of you to bury the big birds! Fortunately, I've not had any die in my yard, I just get to enjoy watching them soar overhead. It's hard to know what to do with orphaned wildlife. Some rescue groups will take them, but often, because there are so many of some species, they recommend letting nature take its course.
Don - Yeah, "The Iguana Story" is 1of those stranger than fiction things. We never did figure out where it came from or how it got into my garden.
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