Pets Q&A: Were hummingbirds fighting or courting?
DEAR JOAN — I witnessed a very bizarre incident recently involving two hummingbirds, and I know you will be able to decipher this avian oddity.
The two were furiously circling each other in the front porch area, which is covered by a roof but is otherwise open. At first I thought maybe they were confused and didn't know how to fly just a bit lower to get outside the porch, or that this was some bizarre courtship ritual.
But then I noticed that one kept jabbing, attacking and lunging at the other. I'm not quite sure what to call the action but it looked fierce!
They went around and around for at least 3 minutes, then suddenly one hummer took off, and the other jumped right on the hummingbird feeder hanging from the porch. My spouse and I decided that one hummer considered the feeder his or her territory and fought off the would-be trespasser. Did we correctly solve the case?
Leslie Pahl, Oakland, California DEAR LESLIE: Congratulations. You have earned your “decipherer of hummingbird behavior” award. A war over ownership of the nectar feeder was exactly what you were witnessing.
We often think of hummingbirds as sweet, gentle creatures, but when it comes to territory and a prime feeding source, these refined, innocent birds can turn into viscous fighters. They will slam into each other and use their strong slender beaks like a lance or bayonet. Fights can turn deadly.
DEAR JOAN: My mother lives in Livermore and has a satsuma and an orange tree in the backyard. This year, something is eating the ripe citrus on the tree and leaving the empty peel behind.
From a distance the fruit looks whole but when you go to pick it, it's empty. Any ideas what it is and how to deter it?
Kristina Loquist, Livermore, California
DEAR KRISTINA: You mother's citrus trees are being visited by rats. They have this talent, for lack of a better word, of being able to eat the inside of the orange while leaving the peel almost completely intact and still on the tree. They do the opposite with lemons — eating the peel while leaving the pulp dangling.
Your mom should look at controlling the rats by removing any other attractants, such as pet food left out, water bowls and nesting spots in ivy, wood piles, under decks or in the garage.
Spraying the oranges with — or putting out pots of — hot sauce can also protect the fruit. If lethal methods are chosen, only use snap traps. Poisons and sticky boards kill cruelly and often end up killing other animals, including raptors that help keep the rat population in check.
DEAR JOAN: Do lizards hibernate in the winter? I had tons of them in my yard this summer and fall, but I haven't seen any since it got cold and wet. Elizabeth, Antioch, California DEAR ELIZABETH: Lizards are cold blooded and ecothermic, meaning they rely on the environment to control their body temperature. When the weather gets cold, they head to a warm and cozy den and enter a sort of hibernation known as diapause.
Our most common lizard, the Western fence lizard popularly known as the blue belly, is most active from April through October.