Wonderland 2021

D. Advice from a Caterpillar - #2 "Pigeon and Serpent"

#2 "Pigeon and Serpent"

Safe House

A tiny house sits on a log in the garden, where I anchored it tightly My little wren friends make a home there. I hear chirping. A little family's born.

But one day when I check, the tiny house is on the ground. It is in pieces, the nest is scattered, feathers all about. The family is gone, eaten.

My garden is guarded. Guarded from nasty beasties that go bump in the night. Beasties that jump six feet straight up. That nibble and gnaw on every plant in sight.

But I haven’t guarded it against things that slither and slink. Things that crawl and creep. How can I keep these wily creatures out of the way?

I call in the big guns. No more rational means. I erect a tall fence, made of spikes. The spikes are three inches long, stainless steel, imbedded into plexiglass in rows, every inch. This is formed into a tube. This tube is 10 feet high and embedded into the ground four feet deep.

My little project has taken about a month to complete. Once it was finished and installed, I now feel that the birds are safe. They can now fly into the bird-safe tube, raise their young without worrying about things that slink and slither, creep and crawl.

W/C 216



Queen Norma Jean