Wildlife – 3. Humans – 0.

 

Now that winter has unmistakably and irrevocably arrived, my bird feeding addiction has completely taken over my life. I scatter tons of sunflower seeds on the ground beneath my deck. I order roasted peanuts from Amazon and spread them liberally on the deck railing. I cut up small pieces of suet for my “little” birds and bigger pieces for the Whiskey Jacks. I fill a suet cage to its brim and keep it filled.

At least that was what I did at the start of the season, but a brazen Pine Marten has changed my life. The saga began a week ago. My hubby and I had settled into our normal winter pattern—when the day is done, we settle in our comfortable chairs in our cozy house and read or watch tv. It’s relaxing and quiet Although sometimes the northwest wind howls.

One such evening I heard a small thud. Was that a noise on the deck? Nah., I figured my hubby had set down his coffee, thus making the noise and continued reading. Later in the wee hours of the morning, I heard the sound again but amplified. As earlier, I wondered if something was out on the deck, but was too sleepy to leave my warm bed to take a look.

Next morning when I checked the outside thermometer my eyes strayed to the suet cage. The door was open, hanging loose, and all the suet was gone. figured the suet thief had to be a Pine Marten. Our resident fox was unlikely since the suet cage was fastened to a deck pillar. I wasn’t sure how athletic a fox was, but I knew a Pine Marten could climb.

We were ready for our furry thief the next night although I hoped, if frightened enough, it would give up and go away. Again, in the wee hours of the night, thumping noises woke us. We ran to the front window and turned on the outside light. Sure enough. There was the furry thief, actively stealing our suet. We shone a flashlight and opened the deck door. The culprit finally ran.

Back to bed we went. I nestled in my warm bed, foolishly thinking the battle was over. It wasn’t. An hour later, thumping noises emanated from the deck. This time, our Pine Marten friend succeeded in grabbing the suet chunk and running.

The middle of the night is not the best time to make decisions, but before we went to sleep, we decided it was time to either quit putting out suet, which would deprive our feathered friends or to remove the suet at night and return it to the suet cage during the day which is what we did.