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Updated 9:31am - Mar 18, 2010
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Opinion Gopher Gulch: The trouble with windows
Gopher Gulch: The trouble with windows
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The thump of a feathered form against the front window came simultaneously with the sound of a pickup passing on the gravel road. It happens all too often. I feed birds on the ground in the front yard, since that’s where I can see them and come running out to chase the neighbor cats. I’ve tried to convince the cats I’m dangerous, but they’re not fooled. They know I’m fully aware of the karmic price of harming them. They slip through the fence to return the minute I turn my back. One rotten little calico with big beautiful eyes is smart enough to chase birds into the window. She then snatches them when they fall, stunned. I’d love her if she wasn’t such a pain in the butt. She knows the sound of a bird hitting the window and comes running, but this week I’m faster than she is. Inches ahead of her, I snatched up the white-crowned sparrow, gasping through open beak, eyes blank. I have a first-aid station ready, a platform the cats can’t reach tucked into foliage a couple feet from my bedroom window. I can watch over them and check on their progress without stressing them further.
This little fellow took nearly two hours to first roll onto his belly
and hold up his head, breathe easily, get his legs under him and
eventually make that first short flight to a branch. I breathed easier,
too. I hate to see them get hurt and have tried all sorts of things to
keep them from hitting the windows.
Scott emailed me last week hoping for help with the same problem, and I know we’re not alone. Most humans are beginning to realize that we’re not the only species on this planet and we have some responsibility to the others who live here. There must be ways to stop birds from running into the windows. After all, they don’t run into walls. They’re flying into a reflection. If we keep curtains closed it would help, as would shade cloth, a cloth that prevents reflection. I know the problem is me, but I’m hooked on the most beautiful view in the world. The front of my house is about 80 percent glass, so I've had lots of opportunity to try preventive tricks as well as elementary first aid. I’ve stuck stickers on the window and hung sun catchers. Things on or against the window do help, as long as you’re not using hanging plants, which only makes the problem worse. I have a lovely old German cow bell hanging in front of one large window, a CD in front of another. Having done a bit of research, I’ve decided that my best bet is a life-size silhouette of a hawk. They can be purchased for under $10 or cut from construction paper for virtually nothing. But I’ve got paint and a sudden desire to exercise my meager artistic skills by painting on the windows. |
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