Yesterday, while driving around in
snowbound Helena, the authority having jurisdiction (a woman formerly known as
“that girl”) and I stopped at Lowe’s Home Improvement Center. I wanted to see about finding a telescoping
snow rake. I need something to drag snow
from where it collects atop the modules of my solar photovoltaic array.
We found a display of exactly such rakes
just inside the front door. They were close to
what I wanted, but I had hoped for something a bit less bulky and less
expensive. The authority having jurisdiction
asked a store employee if there might be other options. The employee, a woman of about our age, suggested
we check along the west wall of the store near the snow shovels.
After only a few steps down the aisle
along the west wall, about a dozen LBJs dropped from the open bar joists above,
pirouetted as a group in midair, and then dispersed in several directions. Four of them landed on the racks a few feet above
our heads.
I snapped a photo with my
smarter-than-me-phone.
For those unfamiliar, LBJs (little
brown jobs) are any kind of smallish and not particularly colorful passerine (perching)
bird you have not exactly identified.
The birds enjoy some pretty
good digs in the Lowe’s store. A bunch
of live plants are on display nearby. They
have busted into huge bags of birdseed and also have occasional whatnots
dropped by passing toddlers to eat. I’m guessing
store employees provide them with water.
The same employee who directed us to
the west wall later told us a few birds spend their winters in the store every
year. “If too many get inside,” she
added, “we capture them with nets and throw them back outside.”
“I like seeing them in here,” I admitted. Having just come inside the store after
trudging through several inches of snow, I said: “You can’t blame them for
taking up residence in here.”
-- Mitchell
Hegman
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