SHOO, SCAT, SCRAM ...

by Pam

Heard these words lately? Been anywhere near Bruce’s boat, the rescue boat or the front docks at WRBC lately? Doug and I were down there with my dog a few weeks back and there was such a thick coating of bird and duck mess on the front docks that my dog was literally tip-toeing through it. You know it’s bad when a dog objects.

Bruce’s boat and dock area have been thoroughly and repeatedly assaulted, and it's not pretty. In listening to Bruce on the various things he’s tried to keep the ducks away, I was reminded of a story I’d heard about a lady that was upset with her neighbors and wanted to encourage them to leave. She was fond of her wine and got to drinking one night and, in her drunken haze, decided she had the perfect solution. She dressed up like a witch and went out into the neighbor’s front yard in the middle of the night and started dancing, singing and casting spells on them. Sadly, her husband, unable to stop her and watching from a safe distance, had become accustomed to such bizarre behavior but her neighbors hadn’t had the pleasure. By the next morning she had sobered up and realized all of her neighbors were still there ... she was so embarrassed that she insisted they put the house on the market and they moved shortly thereafter.

Now, I’ve seen and heard many a thing that’s been tried to get rid of ducks and birds and it borders on the crazy lady story. I know for a fact that when I’m on the docks with my 130 lb. dog, there are no birds or ducks. He runs up and down growling and shooing and so long as he remains, they just don’t come back and he’s particularly fond of defending Bruce’s space. It was rather satisfying to see all the birds in a stand off with the dog on the front docks. It was super cold that day and they wanted on the docks but he wasn’t budging so they had to settle for the water.

So, the challenge this year is to find a solution to the bird and duck problem. I’ve read all sorts of things I want to try. If you have any sane ideas, let me know. We want to keep Bruce on the ‘cool kids’ dock ... because we might not be so cool without him.