As if buying a house isn’t expensive enough, keeping them from falling apart on you is not cheap. Just laid out $700 for a roofer to come fix a spot where water was running off into the wall.
And then there were the English house sparrows…
And then there were the English house sparrows…
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And it had been a vacant rental for a few years due to covid and the owner was a diy guy.
Lots of things cropped up after moved in and used.
the bits that look a bit like Europe - but I guess if over here they can live in Algeria as well as Norway, they’re pretty adaptable)
ROOFER: *clearly thinks I’m nuts* Sparrows? I can take a look, I guess…
ROOFER: *has gazed upon the face of hell* Every single roof tile along the ridge…stuffed full of twigs…
ME: Yup.
ROOFER: When you told me, I couldn’t quite picture it.
ME: Yep.
ROOFER: We took out fourteen nests!
ME: Yep.
my neighborhood aren’t this bad! A pair of House Finches did nest in our front porch light once though. (They were pretty okay tenants tbh)
Zero sales-ppl for years!!!! 🤣 and didn’t sting anybody!!
ME: Sounds about right.
ROOFER: WHAT did you say these were?
ME: English house sparrows. They’re invasive, they bully other birds, and they do this.
ROOFER: Like fifty of them had a meeting on the roof! While we were there!
I guess probably all the other birds are just as aggressive and bullying, if not more. I have been cussed out by robins many a time...
I'm just pondering if all European birds are more aggro than their North American equivalents or if house sparrows are just as bad over here but without me noticing due to living in a flat.
ME: They’re a thing. They kill the babies of other species and destroy their nests.
ROOFER: *aghast* …what do you think they’re gonna do now?
ME: Hopefully go somewhere else.
Perhaps repatriating is a nicer word.
ROOFER: *nods* I don’t know if they can peck through cement but call me if they try.
😂 just to marvel at demonic sparrows!
Though the blue jays will 100% bully the SHIT out of them, for funsies.
Hopefully.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Sparrow/overview
/or not sharing the habitat
/i miss my local asshole birds :(
https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/03/21/the-crevice
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives
They heard our fasteners jingle, they counted the shingles
And waited for us to arrive
And we will all go down together
“oh i try to find inspiration from life”
*monkey paw curls*
If you can find a recording of a hunting pair then even better.
OTOH, it seems likely he understated it
Over here, in the UK:
House sparrows are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take a house sparrow, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.
From https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/775-house-sparrow
Psychopathic, evil birds
But it’s a bit of a gem now. We love it. You’ll get there.
*It was not a nesting space, it was the edge of my roof. No thank you, sirrah
Home ownership isn’t all it’s cracked up to me. Maintenance is a constant drain on your finances.
Roofer: you'd have to pay me way more to get me up that ladder
Plumber: insurance for if the pipe springs a gusher in the wall while you're on vacation
Electrician: sell your house someday without suffering unpleasantness unpleasantness
2) I can do plumbing but have requested a water meter to reduce the 900 GBP annual bill.
3) it's a 1930s house, it has been rewired... but they left the original rubber insulated (and lead-sheathed ditto) in place when they did it. Argh!
3:O(((>
Nowadays you're not allowed to do your own electrics (Part 'P' of the Building Regulations), but I plan to remove it.
I have no plans to EVER return to a typical roof; if I am supposed to be there, it should have stairs and be relatively flat.
Mould is serious!!
Hope the fix works!
YEP.
I begin to suspect the ground level deck is actually concealing patio/slab failure.
Then my insurance dropped me because their inspector said the roof needed to be replaced. $$$ :(
3:O(>
Fortunately I noticed the problem before a minor flood became a major one.
The downside to home ownership.
I am never EVER moving house again. (Unless I win the Euromillions lottery, in which case I will reconsider.)
I side-eye the 20 year-old stove and dishwasher every time I go into the kitchen.
I just chuck a tablet/pod in and use the "No Prewash" setting.
There's no electronics: it just works. 3:O)>