When I moved into this house, one of my first improvements was the addition of a swamp cooler on the second floor, tied into the upstairs ductwork.
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If you live in a dry climate, a swamp cooler (or evaporative cooler) is a great alternative to air conditioning; it cools the air by blowing it through wet pads, much like hanging a damp towel in front of a fan. It uses much less electricity than AC and you don't have to seal up the house.
It does mean I have to climb into the attic twice a year to turn it on or off and rearrange the ducts, but that's not arduous.
This spring brought a little surprise, though.
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Remember those darned pigeons that were nesting
under the deck? And then building
over the front door? Well, they thought they'd finally found a viable alternative: a fold in the cooler cover. The wind had flipped it over because I didn't tie it securely enough last fall.
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When I got up on the ladder and flipped the cover back, Whooosh! a pigeon came shooting out. "Whoa!" I shouted, scaring the Sergeant. I had to reassure him I was OK.
I'm sure the pigeons would've thought it poetic if I'd fallen off the ladder.
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I felt sorry, but not enough to leave the nest. Did you know that pigeons produce up to five sets of babies a year? This pair will just have to try again somewhere else.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I decided to see who you were and checked yours. My Dad mentioned using wet blankets in front of a fan when he was in the Air Force barracks. Your description of the swamp cooler brought back that memory. Love your dogs. I have a Poodle..tiny little thing. On Oct 5,2010 I posted "My First Chrysalis" it has a video of a caterpillar pupating (changing to chrysalis) http://wildlifearoundus.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-first-chrysalis.html
ReplyDeleteDid you whip up some culinary delight with the pigeon eggs or did you feed the to the pigs?
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