Sharing space

Whom would you share your home with?

We like to think that all of our consultants get along with animals.  While none at present has a pet, we’re aware of the living beings surrounding us: the birds nesting in the area, the ubiquitous squirrels; and along the river there is a greater variety.  Of course we prefer to stay away from annoying or dangerous species, like mosquitoes, biting flies and venomous snakes.  But in general we’re happy to live around other forms of life.

Sharing living space is another matter.  We’re not talking about domesticated animals like dogs, cats and caged birds.  They almost count like other humans; that is, they are welcome or not on an individual basis.  It’s the wild things that get our attention.  There are some apparently harmless beetles that like to hang out on our bell-pepper plants.  One consultant has a mouse who puts in an appearance every few months, as if to remind him that humans don’t really own the planet.  Now, mice can carry diseases, and can be a threat to one’s food supply, but this one has left no sign of its presence and the pantry remains un-nibbled, so our consultant has not looked into traps or poison.  (The couple downstairs, with a two-month-old baby, might have different ideas.)  The wasp in his kitchen was, however, carefully directed to an open window.  He figured that, even if the insect was of a pacific temper, it would find a better life outside.

[There is a question whether cats are in fact domesticated.  We have seen learned articles in Science arguing that in fact they are feral animals who barely tolerate living with humans.  We’re not going to weigh in on the matter.]

The mouse-hosting consultant, however, found an unwelcome visitor last week.  His apartment has chimneys that have been decommissioned.  Birds sometimes nest in them and the flues that close off the fireplaces sometimes get disarranged.  So one Monday morning he found a black bird, about as big as his hand, flapping around the apartment.  Unfortunately, the available window openings were small and hard to find, so the flapping continued for several days.  The bird didn’t do any serious damage and in itself didn’t appear dangerous.  However, the apartment contained little or nothing of sustenance for a feathered animal and the close proximity of a human appeared to be disturbing.  We concurred that it would be happier outside.

Well, our consultant was feeling a bit responsible, and was about to look into sources of birdseed and maybe a stand to perch on, when the visitor disappeared.  He realized he didn’t mind having it around, as long as it didn’t mind being around.

So he wound up drawing his wildlife-hosting line between a wasp and a bird.  Where would you draw yours?