Wild things like cozy places for their nests

Last spring, my 18-year-old grandson lifted up the hood of his car and found a large bird's nest sitting on the engine. It looked like it had been a long time since Taylor had checked his oil. I think wild things, like mice, birds and squirrels, often find cozy places such as in vehicles to build their nests. A similar thing happened to our neighbor Jim Finch many years ago, but it was a much bigger problem because birds had chewed on the wires of his irrigation pump and destroyed it.

There have been other times when mice and birds and squirrels have become problems for us. After three days of tent-camping in Sequoia National Park, my husband opened the hood of our car and found a pack rat in it. The big rat was busy building a nest on the engine compartment of the car. Just last week, we saw lots of chipmunks while we were camping at June Lake. These cute little varmints were trying to get into our trailer. You could see them struggling to climb the stairs to the doorway.

One time my sister found a whole bunch of itsy-bitsy baby mice in the back of her truck. The cute little things were all cuddled together and Bonnie had a hard time getting rid of them. I think she hid them behind some sagebrush.

And then there was the little house mouse that kept running back and forth between the food pantry and the front door entry closet. I finally discovered what was going on. It was winter time and I wanted to go play out in the new snow. When I found my big snow boots in the back of the closet, I found something else interesting in there too. The boots were filled with rice! That little mouse must have been running back and forth many times with his mouth filled with rice " and you guessed it " there was a hole in the bottom of a 10-pound bag of rice.

Locusts make great desert trees

There are 25 very interesting black locust trees growing alongside Finch Road out in Fish Springs. I don't know exactly how old they are, but probably more than 27 years. The special thing about these trees is that they have survived so many years in drought and poor soil " and with no water. That means no water other than occasional rain and snow. They are not close to any lawns or other trees or shrubs " just dirt, weeds and sagebrush are around them.

These tough trees are tolerant of both acid and alkaline soil and they are very hardy to the wind, cold, heat and drought. Most of the locust trees have thorns on the new growth which makes them a good barrier against coyote and mountain lions. Others, like my purple robe or white robe locusts, get beautiful large clusters of colorful flowers. According to the "Sunset Western Garden Book," these deciduous trees make good desert trees. I guess so! No watering in 28 years sounds like they're great desert trees.

n Linda Monohan may be reached at 782-5802.