Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with nest

Incey Wincey

Megami — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:35:57 -0800

Are all spiders of the same species equally adept at spinning webs? Watch any nature documentary about spiders, and you can't help but be amazed at how spiders seem to just 'know' how to spin their webs. But I was wondering - are all spiders as good as each other? For example - some humans seem to have more ability at certain skills than others. Does anyone know if this is also the case with other animals? I would also be interested in the same question for things like birds and their nests.

Note: I know that spiders can get parasites or diseases that affect their nervous system that will mean they are unable to spin webs properly.

Roasted Rodents?

saradarlin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:45:22 -0800

There are mice nesting in our BBQ!! What do we do? We use the BBQ every week or every other week and in between uses mice keep rebuilding the nest that we keep removing. How do we get them to stay away? If it matters, we've been keeping the cover on the BBQ between uses and this only seems to be a problem in the spring/summer and not in the winter. We cannot get a cat and have no mouse problems in the house. Any tips?

Rehome the bunnies or get ready to take lots of pics?

nobeagle — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:36:17 -0800

Our beagle discovered a nest of bunnies in our backyard. A few are dead or dying, but most are undisturbed in the nest with one with only apparent minor external injury. Humane society is closed until noon today for training; now what? We're in Kitchener, ON. We like bunnies. Our budget allows for vetcare for the dogs and cat, but with a beagle on painmeds, a recent bacterial infection of the other dog, and flea/heartworm meds, and rabies shots/checkups in the near future, with three boys and a single income we do not have the room to pay for vet care.

While quick web searching, things say we can move the nest up to 10 feet, but 10 feet away is our neighbor, who dislikes all wildlife, or more of our yard. The nest is in our fully fenced back yard, which is a *great* convenience for us for relieving full dog bladders. We don't have a front lawn, so otherwise we're walking the dogs to the nearby park (granted it's only 1/2 block away, but the three kids make things seem really busy). Online sources say it will be 3-4 weeks until the bunnies are finding homes of their own. Is there a realistic expectation that the bunnies could be rehabilitated? Looking at pictures, and knowing the beagle nose I suspect these bunnies were born last night, or the night before.

Re dead/injured bunnies: the one that has only minor external scrapes I donned my earthy gardening gloves and moved near the nest, and it circle/burrowed back on top of it's sleeping nestmates. The grievously injured one I suspect will be dead before VioletU returns from dropping off the little one at school. Currently for the sake of not knowing what's best we left it where it was; about 3 feet away from the nest. The dead one I assume will be best to just move to the different side of lawn and bury.

What I'm asking: should we move the slightly injured one back out of the nest? Should we move the greatly injured one (if still alive) back in the nest and let momma bunny decide? Can we realistically hope to have the bunnies successfully brought up outside of our yard, and are there any good resources beyond the KW humane society?

How to start a nest egg?

marclar — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:57:14 -0800

Now that I have a little extra money, how should I start saving it? (I don't have a 401(k)) For instance, what's an IRA and why should I care? Or what about this thread talks about high-yield savings? Or this one about index funds? While I *am* young, I'm mostly concerned with creating a nest egg, not playing the stock market (read: I'm more interested in low-risk that will hopefully allow me to afford a family and eventually retire). Thanks!

nyc pigeon saga

martini — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:04:58 -0800

PigeonFilter: The neighbor across the small alleyway (4th floor, nyc apartment) feeds the pigeons several times a day and lets them in to their apartment, resulting in crowds of dozens of pigeons around our windows at all hours. Now the pigeons have built a large nest on our window air conditioner, with an egg. What to do about A) the nest and B) the neighbor? While the pigeons are pretty gross I respect the nest, but it can't stay there as the AC will be going on soon. Should I try to scare them away by turning on the AC once in a while? Moving the nest would be pretty much impossible as the bottom portion of the window is bolted shut to the air conditioner.

Both buildings have the same landlord so would it be appropriate to complain to the landlord about this being a health hazard, or to make a complaint to 311?

Birds are procreating in my petunias!

halogen — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:54:34 -0800

A pair of mourning doves have started a nest in the flower box outside my 3rd floor bedroom window. How do I reconcile our conflict of interest? Our 3rd floor balcony has a wall of French doors with a faux balcony railing on which we keep several flower boxes of petunias, and I just noticed this morning that a small mourning dove has started building a nest in it. Now, I don't mind having birds raise a family there (in fact, I'd love to photograph the younglings if I get a chance, and the whole thing would just make me happy regardless), but it really isn't an appropriate spot for a home: I like to open the windows at night and during the day when the weather allows it, and I need to regularly water my flowers.

The nest is still very small: should I move it somewhere, and would that be equivalent to destroying it? I just read here that doves are notoriously quick to abandon their nests (including eggs and young offspring) when they perceive danger--should I just keep opening my windows as usual and hope that the doves won't come back and seek build another nest elsewhere before the female lays eggs? One of them quickly flew away when it saw me walking around this morning, that's how I noticed the nest in the first place.

I feel rather guilty about inquiring how to evict the young family, so I'd like to do what I can to help out: would installing a birdhouse on my uncovered roof terrace attract any birds (doves or otherwise)? There aren't any suitable trees on our property, just several 6' tall Italian cypress trees. What else can I do to ensure that birds keep coming to my city?

Are there dangers in using an uncovered public toilet seat?

matkline — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 11:18:21 -0800

My friend is shocked to learn I don't make a "nest" when I use a public restroom. Are there any real dangers to sitting on a uncovered toilet seat which has been used by others?

Hello, Starling.

neustile — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 11:53:54 -0800

Moved into a new place and was awoken the first morning by a starling that had nested in my wall, coming in through an old dryer vent that's no longer in service. I could hear it tweeting and warbling and generally making a huge racket right next to my bed at 6 a.m. I can't fully see all the way down the vent duct. I covered it up after he left (he was watching me from a nearby tree) but am paranoid I've locked some of his egg-children in there. I love birds (when they are not sounding like loose desert spider crabs near my headboard at dawn) and understand starlings are the jerk-asses of the bird family. I found a site (since lost it) that said their breeding period is late summer (I'm in the eastern US at the moment) so does that mean there's no possibility there's eggs down this wall? He tried to get in this morning again but eventually flew away, and I feel bad.

How do I get rid of a bees' nest in the top of a tree?

waldo — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 13:11:58 -0800

At the top of a 50' tree hanging over our house, there is a very large (perhaps 1' by 2') bees' nest. Enough bees live there that it's become quite a problem for us. It is impossible to climb anywhere close to where it is. How can we get it down? We live on 24 acres of forested mountain property -- solutions that might bother the neighbor or potentially injure bystanders are not likely to be a problem here. We're tired of getting stung, and we'd like to be able to sit out on our porch, now that it's spring. I've read up on the actual process of dealing with a nest, it's just reaching it that's the problem here.

Ants ants everywhere!

jdroth — Sun, 11 Apr 2004 19:00:59 -0800

Carpenter ants. My wife and I are finally winning the war against sugar ants (thanks to a wonderful product called Terro which works better than our $300 exterminator did), but now we have a carpenter ant infestation. The nest (main nest? will there be multiple nests?) is located in some rotten 2x6 boards framing our raised beds in the garden. However, their current ant highway leads to a vent under the house. Any of you Mefites have carpenter ant experience? What worked? What didn't? Do we need a professional? If they're foraging under the house, does that mean they've probably already set up a colony there? I hate ants. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them.