This morning I discovered that Earl Grey had another bit of old sock stuck in his toes. It was a smaller piece than the last time so we weren't sure we'd be able to catch him in daylight. But after a minute or two of chasing him back and forth with a piece of old sock dangling from his toes, he got worn down enough to get caught. This time, it was a partially unravelled strip of cloth, instead of an intact square; this time some threads got wrapped around his toes, instead of his toenail piercing the material.

For those of you keeping track of dangerous things to give birds for nesting material, today's mishap was typical of cloth-related injuries. This was a more delicate operation, because you have to be sure you get all the fibers unwrapped from the bird's toes. Otherwise, they might wrap up tighter, cut off the circulation, and the bird could lose toes or even a foot. Let's hope we got it all, eh?

Earl Grey seemed none the worse for wear.

Meanwhile, I've started to act like a Finster, and am stealing any pieces of cloth that I find on the floor of the Finsterium. This happens quite frequently, since the Finsters are constantly stealing nesting material from each other, and rearranging their own decor. Cinnamon and Wasabi (Peas) regularly steal from each other. Usually, Cinnamon is stealing from Wasabi (Peas)' box at the same time that Wasabi (Peas) is stealing from Cinnamon's box. It's fun to watch!

I should note that Wasabi (Peas) is building in Earl Grey's nest box, and probably sleeps there with Earl Grey and Oolong. Earl Grey and Oolong have also participated in the nest building. Cinnamon and Ginger are building and sleeping in their box, and Szechwan (Pepper) and Cassia are building and sleeping in theirs. In general, the males spend more time building than the females.