Feeder

Jeff had mentioned to me that the hummingbirds were back at my feeder finally. But I hadn't really seen one yet. So today I got a chance to sit outside, let the cat explore the front yard, and read. And in the process saw about eight hummingbirds. It is amazing how often they come with me sitting not five feet away. I can hear their little chirps and even hear the buzz of their wings. Anyway, a hummingbird picture. Sadly this is not one from today but one I took at my parent's house one afternoon. I love the tiny gauzy wings and the total lack of feet when flying.

And a gratuitous cat picture. (I thought about using a different word but figured it would pull a very different type of traffic to the site.)

Killing ants

I have an ant problem. A relatively frustrating ant issue. Now I'm a big believer in letting things live. I try not to hurt bugs in general but these ants have made things personal. The worst part is that that they are not even in the house. Yes I'm killing ants outside. 

Before you start asking no there is no magnifying glass. No poison. I'm using water. The problem is that I have started feeding hummingbirds. Hummingbirds eat sugar water, as do ants. I had absolutely no problem when they just came to the feeder, ate from the outside and went away. I even told people that I didn't mind feeding everyone. Then they started climbing into my feeder. Literally into the little whole in the feeder and dying in my sugar water. Let me tell you there is nothing more disgusting then coming home to find a layer of dead ants floating on the surface of my sugar water. I have to clean out the feeder, along with the ants still alive inside the feeder. It's awful. 

So I'm waging war. I have added a bit of water to a cup that sits above my feeder. An ant trap. The ants go into the water and drowned trying to get to the cord. No more ant problem. My hope is that the water will simply scare away the ants and I won't have all those tiny ant souls on my conscience. :-)