On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 20:03:26 -0500, "~ Windsong ~"
wrote:


"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
.. .
I woke up, and on my walk to the car this morning I saw a terrible
site in my (above ground) half whiskey barrel pond. After five
months, it finally happened: a bird, either a robin or mourning dove,
drowned in there. And if it wasn't already ill, if they're that
insistant to get water I might just have to finally get a bird bath.
Figured that this would happen eventually. My cat could be next, I
think. Does anyone have any ideas to make the thing safer? One
suggestion was to put wire on the top, so that it closes out the
surface.

## I have 3 barrels full of water. I lay twigs across the water so birds
and other small critters that fall in can escape. Frogs that cannot escape
up the sides will also drown/starve/exhaust and die in these barrels.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Not floating, right? From one
edge of the barrel rim to the other? About how many twigs do you use
and have you had the pleasure of seeing critters be saved by them?

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 20:03:26 -0500, "~ Windsong ~"
wrote:

snip
===
===## Free rocks and stones would work.
snip
Free rocks......I sure would love to find some free rocks.Rocks in my
area of the country are as valuable as gold it seems...... The local
garden centers sell rocks. They get $1.00 ea for rocks up to the size
of a softball, and football sized run $5.00 each or more depending on
color and shapes. The rocks I used around my lagoon section of my
pond I brought back from Pennsylvania on a trip I made there a few
years back to make a circular firepit in the back forty for the son
when he was in cub scouts when they used to camp out on our property.
Those couple of rocks would have set me back well over $150 to buy
around here. Since he is now grown, and the rocks did not wear out,
I re-utilized them for the lagoon wall. I just may have to make
another run someday and leave the suitcases at home and bring back a
pickup load of rocks.....even at todays price in gas I would be ahead
in money saved......and I would have rocks!
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 20:03:26 -0500, "~ Windsong ~"
wrote:

snip
===
===## Free rocks and stones would work.
snip
Free rocks......I sure would love to find some free rocks.Rocks in my
area of the country are as valuable as gold it seems...... The local
garden centers sell rocks. They get $1.00 ea for rocks up to the size
of a softball, and football sized run $5.00 each or more depending on
color and shapes. The rocks I used around my lagoon section of my
pond I brought back from Pennsylvania on a trip I made there a few
years back to make a circular firepit in the back forty for the son
when he was in cub scouts when they used to camp out on our property.
Those couple of rocks would have set me back well over $150 to buy
around here. Since he is now grown, and the rocks did not wear out,
I re-utilized them for the lagoon wall. I just may have to make
another run someday and leave the suitcases at home and bring back a
pickup load of rocks.....even at todays price in gas I would be ahead
in money saved......and I would have rocks!
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

"Karen" wrote in message
...
In article , Daniel Phillips
writes:

it finally happened: a bird, either a robin or mourning dove,
drowned in there

I know the feeling, I've pull 3 dead sparrows out of my pond this summer
and I
have 3 bird baths.

You can lead a bird to water, but you can't make him not sink.
If anyone watches CSI you should know that the apparent cause of death may
not be the real issue. They may have been sick when they came to drink and,
errm, croaked, in your pond.
If you have West Nile in your area check with the local health authorities
and see if they want the bird bodies. Take standard precautions when
handling the little corpses. You can put your hand inside a shopping bag,
pick up the dead bird, and pull the bag over your hand to wrap it in the bag
without touching it.
--
Crashj

"Karen" wrote in message
...
In article , Daniel Phillips
writes:

it finally happened: a bird, either a robin or mourning dove,
drowned in there

I know the feeling, I've pull 3 dead sparrows out of my pond this summer
and I
have 3 bird baths.

You can lead a bird to water, but you can't make him not sink.
If anyone watches CSI you should know that the apparent cause of death may
not be the real issue. They may have been sick when they came to drink and,
errm, croaked, in your pond.
If you have West Nile in your area check with the local health authorities
and see if they want the bird bodies. Take standard precautions when
handling the little corpses. You can put your hand inside a shopping bag,
pick up the dead bird, and pull the bag over your hand to wrap it in the bag
without touching it.
--
Crashj

"Karen" wrote in message
...
In article , Daniel Phillips
writes:

it finally happened: a bird, either a robin or mourning dove,
drowned in there

I know the feeling, I've pull 3 dead sparrows out of my pond this summer
and I
have 3 bird baths.

You can lead a bird to water, but you can't make him not sink.
If anyone watches CSI you should know that the apparent cause of death may
not be the real issue. They may have been sick when they came to drink and,
errm, croaked, in your pond.
If you have West Nile in your area check with the local health authorities
and see if they want the bird bodies. Take standard precautions when
handling the little corpses. You can put your hand inside a shopping bag,
pick up the dead bird, and pull the bag over your hand to wrap it in the bag
without touching it.
--
Crashj

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 16:38:27 GMT, "Crashj"
wrote:

"Karen" wrote in message
...
In article , Daniel Phillips
writes:

it finally happened: a bird, either a robin or mourning dove,
drowned in there

I know the feeling, I've pull 3 dead sparrows out of my pond this summer
and I
have 3 bird baths.

You can lead a bird to water, but you can't make him not sink.
If anyone watches CSI you should know that the apparent cause of death may
not be the real issue. They may have been sick when they came to drink and,
errm, croaked, in your pond.
If you have West Nile in your area check with the local health authorities
and see if they want the bird bodies. Take standard precautions when
handling the little corpses. You can put your hand inside a shopping bag,
pick up the dead bird, and pull the bag over your hand to wrap it in the bag
without touching it.

Thank goodness I don't see mosquito larvae and whatnot in there! The
two fish must be taking care of mosquitoes, but even go so far as to
eat my mosquito dunks (with no ill affect, apparently). I put in a
dunk, and three days later it's scattered all over water surface.
Early this year, while the fish were still moping, the dunk stayed
afloat!

Thanks for the suggestions. No, I just put the bird in the trash can.
I used a paper towel to pick it up, unfortunately, but naturally kept
my hands away from ears/eyes/mouth until I gave them a good cleaning
afterwards. Next time, and I hope there won't be one in the immediate
future, I myself will use a plastic bag and follow your suggestion
about calling the health dept.

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 16:38:27 GMT, "Crashj"
wrote:

"Karen" wrote in message
...
In article , Daniel Phillips
writes:

it finally happened: a bird, either a robin or mourning dove,
drowned in there

I know the feeling, I've pull 3 dead sparrows out of my pond this summer
and I
have 3 bird baths.

You can lead a bird to water, but you can't make him not sink.
If anyone watches CSI you should know that the apparent cause of death may
not be the real issue. They may have been sick when they came to drink and,
errm, croaked, in your pond.
If you have West Nile in your area check with the local health authorities
and see if they want the bird bodies. Take standard precautions when
handling the little corpses. You can put your hand inside a shopping bag,
pick up the dead bird, and pull the bag over your hand to wrap it in the bag
without touching it.

Thank goodness I don't see mosquito larvae and whatnot in there! The
two fish must be taking care of mosquitoes, but even go so far as to
eat my mosquito dunks (with no ill affect, apparently). I put in a
dunk, and three days later it's scattered all over water surface.
Early this year, while the fish were still moping, the dunk stayed
afloat!

Thanks for the suggestions. No, I just put the bird in the trash can.
I used a paper towel to pick it up, unfortunately, but naturally kept
my hands away from ears/eyes/mouth until I gave them a good cleaning
afterwards. Next time, and I hope there won't be one in the immediate
future, I myself will use a plastic bag and follow your suggestion
about calling the health dept.

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

"Crashj" wrote in message
hlink.net...
"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
...

Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."

My friend says, "The good ones were already taken when you met them."
Persevere.
--
Crashj
================================
LOL! For anyone over the age of 21 this is surely true. Fortunately I'm
already married. )
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Crashj" wrote in message
hlink.net...
"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
...

Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."

My friend says, "The good ones were already taken when you met them."
Persevere.
--
Crashj
================================
LOL! For anyone over the age of 21 this is surely true. Fortunately I'm
already married. )
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Crashj" wrote in message
hlink.net...
"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
...

Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."

My friend says, "The good ones were already taken when you met them."
Persevere.
--
Crashj
================================
LOL! For anyone over the age of 21 this is surely true. Fortunately I'm
already married. )
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 20:03:26 -0500, "~ Windsong ~"
wrote:

## I have 3 barrels full of water. I lay twigs across the water so birds
and other small critters that fall in can escape. Frogs that cannot
escape
up the sides will also drown/starve/exhaust and die in these barrels.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Not floating, right?

## Yes, they're long enough to either stick up out of the water against the
rim or they bend down and touch the water - laid across the barrel. Use a
curved or multi twigged branch. These are best for birds who will use them
to take a drink without falling in. If they do fall in they can scramble
out and fly away as can a lizard, snake or frog.

From one
edge of the barrel rim to the other?

## Yes, or stand it upright with a few branched twigs at the water surface,
leaning against the side.

About how many twigs do you use
and have you had the pleasure of seeing critters be saved by them?

## That depends on the size of the branches or twigs. Usually one will do.
Yes I saw a bird fluttering in a panic (he must have fallen in trying to
bathe) and before I could get to rescue the poor little critter it scrambled
to a twig on the branch, hopped over the rim and managed to fly away. I
have seen small green frogs on them. If there are lilies in the barrel
frogs will use them to escape - but I doubt they would work for birds.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 20:03:26 -0500, "~ Windsong ~"
wrote:

## I have 3 barrels full of water. I lay twigs across the water so birds
and other small critters that fall in can escape. Frogs that cannot
escape
up the sides will also drown/starve/exhaust and die in these barrels.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Not floating, right?

## Yes, they're long enough to either stick up out of the water against the
rim or they bend down and touch the water - laid across the barrel. Use a
curved or multi twigged branch. These are best for birds who will use them
to take a drink without falling in. If they do fall in they can scramble
out and fly away as can a lizard, snake or frog.

From one
edge of the barrel rim to the other?

## Yes, or stand it upright with a few branched twigs at the water surface,
leaning against the side.

About how many twigs do you use
and have you had the pleasure of seeing critters be saved by them?

## That depends on the size of the branches or twigs. Usually one will do.
Yes I saw a bird fluttering in a panic (he must have fallen in trying to
bathe) and before I could get to rescue the poor little critter it scrambled
to a twig on the branch, hopped over the rim and managed to fly away. I
have seen small green frogs on them. If there are lilies in the barrel
frogs will use them to escape - but I doubt they would work for birds.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 20:03:26 -0500, "~ Windsong ~"
wrote:

## I have 3 barrels full of water. I lay twigs across the water so birds
and other small critters that fall in can escape. Frogs that cannot
escape
up the sides will also drown/starve/exhaust and die in these barrels.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Not floating, right?

## Yes, they're long enough to either stick up out of the water against the
rim or they bend down and touch the water - laid across the barrel. Use a
curved or multi twigged branch. These are best for birds who will use them
to take a drink without falling in. If they do fall in they can scramble
out and fly away as can a lizard, snake or frog.

From one
edge of the barrel rim to the other?

## Yes, or stand it upright with a few branched twigs at the water surface,
leaning against the side.

About how many twigs do you use
and have you had the pleasure of seeing critters be saved by them?

## That depends on the size of the branches or twigs. Usually one will do.
Yes I saw a bird fluttering in a panic (he must have fallen in trying to
bathe) and before I could get to rescue the poor little critter it scrambled
to a twig on the branch, hopped over the rim and managed to fly away. I
have seen small green frogs on them. If there are lilies in the barrel
frogs will use them to escape - but I doubt they would work for birds.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Whenever you meet a man who would make a good husband,
you will usually find he's already married."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~