My martins hate me!

[Guest]

They do.

They really do.

For those of you who don't already know, I'm the acting landlord for our little colony. My father has always been one of those "live and let live" landlords who never took steps to protect the colony from HOSP. As a result, the colony never really grew.

This season we set up a new pole, plus some additional housing. My father let me take over as acting landlord, and as one of my first acts I began a wholesale campaign of HOSP trapping.

The houses were totally HOSP free. I mean, totally. And with the all-SREH colony, we don't have problems with starlings anymore. The houses are perfect for the martins.

And what do the PMs do? They fly around. They land. They chatter to me. But they never go into the chambers.

Never.

Just sniff at the entrances and move away.

This went on for I don't know how long. The PMs never touched our housing, but what about the crappy, unmanaged housing nearby? Sure! They love them!

Whiskey tango foxtrot, over?! I almost felt betrayed.

Then I get the call, and I have to go out of town for six days. With no PMs at our housing, and the only interest coming from HOSP, I just seal the entrances up. Write it off for the season. Better luck next time.

And what happens today when I call home to see how things are? Oh! Guess what? We've got PMs all over the houses. They want in! So my father is opening the housing up. And I can only imagine the HOSP mess I'll have to deal with when I get back.

My forehead is sore from banging it into the desk.

My martins hate me is all I can figure.

"Okay! He's gone! Let's screw with his head and move in now!"

Is this a standard behavior for PMs? Are they really this cruel to their landlords? Or is it just me?

(I know. They're Longhorns fans!)

[Joe Zorn]

Yep, must be the case, AggieMEEN.

And I'll be leaving town in the morning.

How long were you gone before they let you come home?



Joe

[Guest]

Well, at our house the PMs have to be Colorado fans or they've got to go.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you just have a decent mass of PMs when you get home that they manage to keep the sparrows at bay. A girl can hope, right?

Good luck,

Shel