Leaving Dog Fur for Birds
When the weather is nice, I prefer to brush Mauja and Atka outside. Not only do I enjoy the sunshine, but clean-up is so much easier. I pick up most of the fur because I don’t want it to blow into a neighbor’s yard and they’d definitely know it came from us! We’re the only ones with white dogs on the block 😉 However, I can just grab the larger chunks and it’s not a big deal if I leave a bit behind.
Over the years, I have seen several bird nests that were made with the fluffies’ fur. It always makes me happy to see that it’s going to good use! Recently, I was actually able to see a bird grabbing some fur for the nest. How cool?!
After seeing a bird collecting their fur, I wanted to leave more out for them; but again, I didn’t want to be “that neighbor”. I thought about leaving the fur in a bag for them, but it didn’t look good and I worried the birds wouldn’t go near it. I was out of ideas until I was wandering through Target and found the bird feeder section.
Perfect!
A bird feeder would work perfectly. I’d be able to hang it up for them while keeping the yard looking nice. At first, I was just going to get a simple feeder and use it only for dog fur. As I was grabbing my choice, I noticed a really cool bird feeder with wiring on the side for suet. I could put their fur in those and have food for them, too!
So, I set out to brush the fluffies. When I was finally finished, I bagged the fur and set it inside, completely meaning to put it in the bird feeder right away. Well, I got distracted and forgot, so the fur sat there all day until Nick came home.
Nick: Hey, I’m going to take the trash out. Anything you need me to take?
Me: Nope, we’re good. Wait! Is that the dog fur you’re carrying?
Nick: Uh, yeah. Why?
Me: No, no, no don’t get rid of it! I need it for the birds and I still need to take pictures for a blog post!
Nick: *laughs and rolls his eyes* I just love being married to a pet blogger!
#petbloggerproblems #sorrynotsorry
Anyway, I put the fur in the feeder and hung it outside waiting eagerly for the first bird to appear (apparently, I thought it would be some kind of bird magnet?). When nothing appeared, I was slightly discouraged, but knew it what silly to expect a bird so quickly.
I checked the next day and…. it worked! The birds love it.
Now every time I brush Mauja and Atka, I add some more fur to the feeder. I think I’ll set up my Vimtag camera to see if I can capture a glimpse of a bird in action.
Next step – find someone to spin the fluffies’ fur and make something for me 🙂
Do the birds love to grab your dog’s fur too?
That’s adorable. In this area they don’t do grass pick ups so we went to a composting mower years ago. So, for years like you I’ve brushed the dogs outdoors in the warmer months and let the hair go free. What the birds don’t claim, gets composted in with the lawn mowings next time DH mows the lawn. It is funny when you see clumps of Sheltie hair sticking out of a nest.
I do this with Pike’s fur whenever he blows his coat! I love stumbling across a fur nest.
Those baby birds are going to be so warm and cozy!
Short and unique post. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the idea I have a Newfie that I’d like to set his fur out and was wondering the best way to do this thanks for the idea