Owl and the Mockingbird

The Owl and the Mockingbird..this almost sounds as if it could be the title of an Aesop's Fable. Sorry, it is not. This is the story of a fake owl that is supposed to keep birds from the garden. It is supposed to be a humane way of deterring birds and squirrels from devouring all of the fruit and berries. It is supposed to scare birds and squirrels..or so they say. By "they", I mean the wily salespeople at the garden centers. These are touted as "life-size, realistically hand-painted" owl scarecrows! No, I did not fall for their claims of pest-free gardens and buy one of these super heroes of plastic birds, I was donated two of them by Hurricane Katrina. (It is amazing what you find in your yard after flood waters leave ten feet of debris stacked against your house! I could either be devastated by the stuff or look at it as a treasure hunt..I chose the treasure hunt!) Anyway, back to the story! Since I fell as the unlikely heir of two "life-size, realistically hand-painted" owls, I decided to place them on the posts in the rose garden just to see if they really worked. They had been sitting in the in the corner for long enough! These "life-size, realistically hand-painted" owls needed to be put to work! Up on the posts they were to go! This in itself was not an easy task as each owl is filled part way with sand and weighs about ten pounds. Hoisting a ten pound plastic owl higher than my head is not that difficult, what was difficult was fighting the rose bushes to reach the post. Maybe, just maybe, this was not the brightest idea that I have ever had! I was determined and finally succeeded! Then my brother walks up and asks "Why are you putting them in the rose garden, birds won't eat roses." As if I did not know this! My goodness! I proceeded to tell him that it was a test..only a test. I actually chose this area since I could view both owls from the window and they were close to the birdfeeders. I was sure to have plenty of both birds and squirrels near. One of the owls was in perfect condition but the other was missing its beak. It did not seem to be quite as menacing as the other but I wondered if the other critters would notice that. I finally got both birds situated, went inside and sat at the table near the window. I slowly sipped my coffee and stared at the owls..nothing..maybe it was going to work! Maybe I could use these in the peach garden or near the blackberry fence or even near the blueberries! This would save me the trouble of having to shoo the birds!

Ok, after I finished my coffee, staring at plastic birds bored me! They were not doing anything exciting..just sitting there. I went about my daily chores and forgot about the owl test. I picked

grapefruit, did the laundry, baked cranberry/cream cheese bars, and made a few pieces of jewelry. I forgot about my test until I went out the door to haul in firewood for the evening.

There sitting on one of the owls, staring at the twin plastic bird, was a mockingbird. It was sitting right on TOP of my "life-size, realistically hand-painted" owl! The mockingbird did not look frightened at all! As matter of fact, I think he was settling in for the night! I think he was roosting on my "life-size, realistically hand-painted" owl! So much for using these things as critter deterrents! If it was going to be used as a roosting place for this bird, chances are it would not scare anything away from my blackberries! My blueberries nor my peaches will be safe! I guess the "life-size, realistically hand-painted" owls will be kept as Halloween decorations and not as a garden aids!