Evening star., 1944-06-07
This and That
Bu Charles E. TrdcetDeH.

If you want to get rid of mice, keep
chipmunks around your place. This Is
the advice of H. B., who writes:
"Chipmunks are generally very tinid,
but we found that family of them
lived in a woodpile during the summer
right near our cottage.
During the late fall, while closing up
for the winter, saw one peering at me
under the house.
ct gathered half box of large acorns
and left them In the box under the
house, and the next spring found MOTH
ing but shells, and strange to say, no
sign of mice, which had given us a lot
Of trouble during previous winters.
1.-THE box was an ordinary canned
goods box which held three or four gall
longs of acorns.
(. 1--WE never left the place another WIN
ter without leaving plenty Of acorns and
sunf1ower seeds for them"
"BRoxBURN DRIVE.
Dear Sir:
"Your column has been most informa-
tive with respect to the local birds and
we have enjoyed it very much. Among
other birds, you have helped us to
identify the fox sparrow Ca fine fellow
and the towhee.
"As newcomers to this area your lines
have been most helpful.
During these spring months we have
had a male cardinal that, out of some
perversity, attacks the basement win
dows.
HE gets in the well portion and fiut-
ters against the panes. Occasionally he
flies to a nearby tree for rest. His
merry, mad interludes do not seem to
interfere with his normal life.
1--WE have been awakened many times
by the bump-a-bunp Of his body against
the glass.
1--WE have read Of others who have
had the same experience, one of whom
was Col Lawrence of Arabia, who was
once plagued for several days in the
country while he was trying to write.
It became necessary to shoot the bird.
"Of late days Don Quixote has slack
ened In his efforts. but he still comes;
we had thought that he might desist al
together with the oncoming of the nest
ing season.
$50 far as we know the cause of these
attacks (Which are not confined to any
one species) has never been explained.
I'VE should like to know If others
hereabouts have been so troubled.
Last summer we watched three crows
hectoring hawk. In valid disdain, and
leisurely, the larger bird circled upward
Time and again the threesome clam
bered overhead and, in turn, swooped
down; at the last moment a swerve took
them safely out of reach. The hawk
outranging them, the crows quit the
pursuit and tapped away across the
blue of the sky. The episode lasted some
20 minutes.
Very truly yours, E. B. E."
The chipmunk is one OF our best
small animals, yet many persons who
have them want to get rid of them.
1t is probable that large number of
them would prove a nuisance, but Ger
tainly two or three would be an addition
to any place.
While it is true that now and then
they get bird eggs and young, this does
not happen often. Mice will be kept
away, as our correspondent says, be-
cause the chipmunks eat the same food,
| and can be very dangerous to mice.
AS to birds beating against windows,
this is easily prevented.
Col. Lawrence knew his Arabs better
than his birds. If he had soaped the
outside of the window, or had placed a
large piece of paper on the outside, the
bird would have gone away.
1t is generally believed that this ac-
ton is caused by the bird seeing its
reflection and thinking it is a rival.
This column has carried several in
stances of blue jays fighting their re-
fiection in the shiny hub caps of auto
mobiles.
In thus noting themselves in a mir
ror, birds show superior intelligence to
house cats, which normally are unable
to ~" themselves in looking glass