When the stray cats adopted us, Jim took an old washing machine and
made a cat house out of it.
It sat on the back deck under cover and made a good place for
them to sleep. They have since become a little more friendly so we put kitty
doors into the screen porch…now they sleep there so we decided to make a house
to put in the woods for the critters.
This table leg has been sitting around for a couple of years…we
don’t throw anything away…just in case.
Jim put the door on the front.
A few minor adjustments and it fits on the stand. It is aluminum so
it shouldn’t rust out for awhile.
He put a small overhang to help keep the rain out. Since it will be
in the woods it shouldn’t get a lot of blowing rain unless it’s a big
storm.
Now we need to keep it out of eyesight. We had some old black paint
so I gave it a coat.
Jim added some tree limbs…this should camouflage it a bit. Had an
old ramp out back so painted that too.
This is part of our view when having coffee on the porch in the
morning. You can hardly see the house.
We have at least 4 teenage Raccoons who come in each morning…maybe
one of them will move in.
I keep binoculars by my chair to see what the bees are bringing
in and will be thrilled to have a Momma Raccoon move in and raise some little
ones. Jim wants a Bob Cat to move in…says if he sees one eyeing it he’ll cut the
doorway bigger for it…
I hope it is back in the woods far enough so the Honey Bees
don’t decide to move into it when they swarm in the spring…but if they
do..well..they will be back out of the way and we have a beekeeper down the road
who would love to have them.
Jim decided to get artistic.
We did away with the original ramp. Used one of the boards to
block the screen, it now has eyes and used the other board to make a ramp right
to the entrance…it now has a tongue.
I even put one of the old cat beds inside.
I’ll be looking forward to a resident of some sort.
Looked out tonight and he had changed it….guess he was afraid
the bees would head for the red or it might scare off his Bobcat..
It does blend in better.
Love my critters.
Another quality habitat for wild life by Jim. Very fancy design. Isn't it neat to anticipate a surprise tenant? I would be really surprised if racoons use it as they seem to like to climb higher to rest. But I've been wrong so-o-o many times before. I'll be watching for a follow-up bulletin.
ReplyDeleteHi Carol...I commented on one of your Oct blogs but I don't see it today so Im thinking it might not have gone through...anyhow, I have been raising monarchs in my garden for several years and have begun to have problems with flies/wasp predators so I would like to bring the caterpillars into my house to protect them and I love your smaller caterpillar house. Im hoping you can give me some guidance about what has worked for you and some more information about how your husband build the house that you have...it looks perfect for my needs. I live in San Diego and am raising monarchs right now :)
ReplyDeleteHe built it with 2"x2"s fiberglass window screen...the bottom is also screen with boards across it for the pots to sit on.
DeleteThanks Carol! Can't wait to try something similar:)
Delete