... sometimes the woods come to visit.
Several days ago we were startled by what sounded like rolling thunder on a storm-free evening. A quick peek out back revealed the cause. We knew the tree was dead, and has been so for many years, but we like to leave standing deadwood for the benefit of the insectivorous birds. We have seen four different types of woodpeckers from that deck (Downy, Red-bellied, Red-headed, and Hairy) plus some 40+ other species of birds over the years. Those recurrent joys fully justify the occasional hassle of cleanup duties in the yard, woods, and now the deck.
We've been less happy with visits from local raccoons. Having trees near the house is not a significant risk factor for raccoon molestations, because those critters are fully capable of scaling a brick wall at the corner. Once on the roof they look for accessible soffits, and with those dextrous paws they can rip the soffits off in order to gain entrance into crawl spaces and attics. We used Havahart traps for a while, but eventually contracted with a company called Skedaddle that sent out a crew of five young women with ladders, tools, and wire mesh to render the soffits raccoon-proof.
Now I have to find a neighborhood kid with a chain saw...
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