Dogs aren't the only ones to worry about...

We recently started remodeling on the back section of our house which includes a new roof. Anyone that's ever had any work done, knows what this means. Loud bangs, loud equipment whirring and sawing and drilling, loud everything. I wasn't concerned about Doobie and Annabelle. They have slept through everything including earthquakes, nothing seems to affect them. Percy, on the other hand, is a different story. He's never done well with new people coming into the house, let alone people coming in and tearing things apart. I knew what we had (and still have) to do. Percy needs to stay in the bedroom with some light classical music on. The blinds are open but only on the upper part of the windows so light comes in and Percy can't see out. Plus, he has a bully stick to chew on.

That one was easy to figure out. But what about the birds? Talk about stress! I have 4 birds. Two small parrots and two cockatiels, one of which is almost 22 yrs old. Birds really don't do well with stress. Feather plucking, or not eating, it doesn't take long for a bird to go downhill. So, what to do? The room they're in is right next to the back of the house -- lots of banging, not good. So I was going to put them upstairs -- lots of banging again, plus being closer to the banging from the roof AND being in a strange room, REALLY not good.

Then one night as I was tossing and turning while worrying about all of this, it occurred to me that when birds think there is danger around, they are quiet. How can I convince my birds that there is no danger or nothing to worry about? I already had the answer and didn't even know it. When I was leaving the next morning, I put itunes on and started playing birdsong radio (www.birdsongradio.com) where the birds are always chirping. There was my answer! If those birds were always singing, there was nothing to worry about. Sounded good in theory. So for the past two weeks, the birds have stayed in their regular room only the streaming bird songs have been playing a little louder than in the past. There has been some major noise going on at my house and not one feather has been ruffled or one seed left untouched. My birds are not showing any signs of stress whatsoever. So, if you have any feathered friends in your home and you need to reassure them that all is well. Try birdsongradio.com or any other streaming bird sounds you can find and see if that doesn't help.

and as for the fish ... We'll save that one for another day