As a Rye homeowner, I have reported my tales of woe adjusting to suburban living after nearly a lifetime in Manhattan. From ant invasions to water tank malfunctions, I thought I had lived through it all until last week when a bird flew into our house.
By Georgetta L. Morque
As a Rye homeowner, I have reported my tales of woe adjusting to suburban living after nearly a lifetime in Manhattan. From ant invasions to water tank malfunctions, I thought I had lived through it all until last week when a bird flew into our house.
It all happened in a flash, through a back door open for just a few seconds. Immediately, my son and I raced outside like big chickens fleeing the coop. You see we’re not “bird people.” It’s not that we’re anti-nature, but we are fearful when creatures come too close and particularly when they have wings. So we remained outside and left the door open hoping the bird would leave the way it arrived.
But that didn’t happen. What do we do? Fortunately, I had my phone, so I began calling around for help. Could a friend bring her dog over to find the bird? Could the kids down the block give it a go? I detected a silent chuckle on the other end of the line.
My spouse was not reachable, which was fairly typical of these situations, but eventually a text came through to suggest closing the doors to the room where the bird was located, opening windows, and guiding it out. My son searched Google from the phone and found similar instructions, which were equally unappealing. At that point, the bird could be anywhere inside.
Should I call the police? Surely, the police had bigger crimes to conquer, although I did contact them last year upon discovering two dead squirrels in front of the house. I was convinced they had been electrocuted from the wires on the ground next to them and that we would be too if we walked near there. But the officer said these weren’t the dangerous wires. I never knew what caused the fate of those two squirrels.
Back to the bird. Should I call the Nature Center or a pest control company? My neighbor on Howard Place, a bird lover, would have been the perfect one to save us, since he is the proud owner of two parakeets – but he wouldn’t be home for hours. Time was marching on, bugs were now coming in through the open door and my phone battery was running low.
Fortunately, my neighbor across the street, an expert, came to the rescue. She had recent experience chasing a flying squirrel out of her home and successfully, but not without difficulty, removed a family of geese from their swimming pool. Once she entered our house and encountered the bird — perched on the top of the stove of all places — she gently shooed him out with a dishtowel. Bravo.
My family keeps reminding me that the cute chipmunks, bunnies, and birds of Rye are nothing compared to the pigeons and rats in New York City. Yet should any creatures enter an apartment, help comes in the form of a super.
I guess it could all be much worse. On the same day of our feathered guest, a bear showed up in a Greenwich backyard.
