Editor:
I am certain I am not the only one with this problem. This is an open letter to all who ‘feed’ peanuts-in-the-shell to crows and jays.
You think you are doing something nice for these birds, who are perfectly capable of finding their own food! But do you have any idea what they do with them? They do not eat them. They save them, for future reference. They do this by digging them into, and burying them, in the pots on my balcony, wherein I attempt to grow some tomatoes, a few vegetables and some flowers.
I have tried everything in the book to distract and/or dissuade them from doing this, but to no avail.
Each day, I must go out there and clean up the mess the birds have made – throwing dirt from the pots all over the place with their digging – and retrieve and dispose of the peanuts-in-the-shell.
This morning, dirt from the pots in which I planted some seeds for lettuce and chives yesterday has been thrown out of the pots all over my balcony.
I am a ‘geezerlady’ with mobility issues, and cleaning up after these peanut-burying birds is becoming more and more difficult for me.
I beg you, please cease and desist providing these birds with the means to make my balcony a mess!
If you insist on continuing to ‘feed’ them because it is fun for you – even though they don’t need the food you provide – then please do so with peanuts already out of the shells. That way, they will probably eat them, and not wish to bury them in my pots.
Pat Tietzen, White Rock