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A bird care catalogue just started offering alfalfa and timothy hay. For birds! For playing with, snacking on, and making nests. Since we've run out of raffia, we decided to try some.
Yes, Peanut has Mind Controlled me on behalf of the Finsters. Occasionally, even I am weak.
We got the timothy (why? because I have a nephew named Timothy). It's, you know, grass. It smells like grass, looks like grass, is grass. Dried grass. And despite the fact that the package doesn't have any birds on it, the Finsters like it quite a lot. They play with it, snack on it, and make nests with it. Boy howdy! do they make nests with it!
I believe the raffia is more popular than the grass for nest building, although it isn't always easy to tell. Part of the appeal of the raffia is that it dangles so nicely from the tip of your beak, and the ends can be frayed into pretty decorations. And depending on how I cut the raffia, the pieces can be longer than the grass — at any rate, the raffia remains longer, for longer, than the timothy does, since the grass tends to break up into smaller bits.
And as we all know, the longer the grass, the better the Mating Aid.
But some of the pieces of timothy are strong and long, and are very good for dangling from the tip of your beak while you're trying to wow the girls in town. And they're also good for building nests. Except that they don't bend very well, once they're maneuvered inside.
Yesterday Szechwan (Pepper) got a nice, big piece of grass up and into his nest. But the end stuck out of the entry way, so Cinnamon pulled it right out again. He had it dangling from his beak while standing on the perch, and was just about to take it into his own nest box, when Szechwan (Pepper) came out of his nest and stole it back. He got it into his box, but since the end was sticking out of the hole, Cinnamon grabbed it and pulled it right out again. He hopped along the perch to get into a good position to take it into his own nest, when along came Szechwan (Pepper) to steal it back again.
Well, you get the picture. Good times!
The Finster Log
Redecorating
Posted on: 05/24/06, 21:53:10
Yes, Peanut has Mind Controlled me on behalf of the Finsters. Occasionally, even I am weak.
We got the timothy (why? because I have a nephew named Timothy). It's, you know, grass. It smells like grass, looks like grass, is grass. Dried grass. And despite the fact that the package doesn't have any birds on it, the Finsters like it quite a lot. They play with it, snack on it, and make nests with it. Boy howdy! do they make nests with it!
And as we all know, the longer the grass, the better the Mating Aid.
But some of the pieces of timothy are strong and long, and are very good for dangling from the tip of your beak while you're trying to wow the girls in town. And they're also good for building nests. Except that they don't bend very well, once they're maneuvered inside.
Yesterday Szechwan (Pepper) got a nice, big piece of grass up and into his nest. But the end stuck out of the entry way, so Cinnamon pulled it right out again. He had it dangling from his beak while standing on the perch, and was just about to take it into his own nest box, when Szechwan (Pepper) came out of his nest and stole it back. He got it into his box, but since the end was sticking out of the hole, Cinnamon grabbed it and pulled it right out again. He hopped along the perch to get into a good position to take it into his own nest, when along came Szechwan (Pepper) to steal it back again.
Well, you get the picture. Good times!
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