[Jeff Higgins]

I bought a bird feeder. I hung it in a tree next to my back deck and filled it with seed. Within a week we had dozens of birds coming to our feeder. We put up more, with different varieties of feed; even a humingbird feeder. It made us feel good to be feeding them; to have them in our yard for our enjoyment.

But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the deck, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the deck, the chairs, the table... everywhere. Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even as I was trying to refill the very feeder that had attracted them. And others birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food. They didn't seem to know how to find their own food anymore. They had become totally dependant upon us feeding them.

After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back deck anymore. I took down the bird feeder and in about a week the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the deck and in the surrounding trees. Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...quiet, serene; they had either moved on to the next house with a bird feeder, or had re-learned how to feed themselves. Never again...