I think I’ve got everything I need to make one with recirculating water, including an overnight shut-off timer.
Looks like it’d need a pipe up the middle, a very slight lip around the edge for a very shallow pool, and of course it would need to sit in something holding the feed water and the aquarium pump…
We have lots of hummingbirds in the desert, is why it got me thinking.
They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
Little Bear 2009-2018
Laddie the Amazing Torso Boy 2011-2020
"Freedom Outlaw. It’s not what you do; it’s how you do it. It’s an attitude — from which actions always follow. It’s a do-it-yourself occupation. And a lifetime vocation."
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Aristippus passed Diogenes as he was washing lentils.
He said, “If you could but learn to flatter the king, you would not have to live on lentils.”
Diogenes said, “And if you could learn to live on lentils, you would not have to flatter the king.”
Sandy Hook was a Gun Free Zone. So was the Westroads Mall. And the Aurora Theater. And Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Should I go on? They were all Gun Free Zones.Â
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If ever a man should ask you
For your business or your name
Tell him to go and fuck himself
Tell his friends to do the same.
For a man who'd trade his liberty
For a safe and dreamless sleep
Doesn't deserve the both of them
And neither shall he keep.
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We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
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I had lots of hummingbirds in the desert too… and none here. That, however, is probably due more to the lack of flowers than the lack of birds, but I don’t know. We do have meadowlarks this week!! First sign of actual spring here.
In any case, about your pond, I put out tubs of water for a while, for all the birds in the desert. Attracted lots of birds, of course, but also a lot of cats and birds of prey. I finally took in the pans to stop the carnage. The ants would occasionally overwhelm the pans and drown in their thousands too. The birds tended to avoid the water in those cases. It’s a mystery…
One of my neighbors built a lovely little water garden/bird waterer out of a stock tank until the morning she found a mountain lion drinking from it. That was years ago and the grandkids were still small, so the water hazard had to go.
Yeah, that would do it. 🙂 When my sons were small, the bobcats in the hills above us used to come regularly to drink from the horse water trough. I knew when they came (early morning or late evening), and watched for them, not letting the boys out until I knew they were gone… but my rifle was never far from my hand then in any case. And the boys knew perfectly well that they were not to go out into the horse pen anyway. But, life happens.
Simple! You just put an official little sign on your birdbath that says “Hummingbirds Only”. That will keep out the rats, squirrels, cats and other riff-raff.
LOL!!!
Oh Gawd, you and my wife with the hummingbird things. Two years ago we put in a butterfly/hummingbird garden. Last year we added hummingbird feeders to attract more and now you post this. I’m glad my wife doesn’t read your blog. It was bad enough when my wife came across Claire’s blog post about building a path, that caused me days of actual work and numerous mosquito bites… Kidding aside this looks cool and I’m going to run the idea past my wife. We’ve wanted to add a water feature to our gardens but haven’t been able to decide on what type.
After looking at the video one thing came to mind. If you put one of these in it would be interesting to see how long it would be before the cows that roam the area found this new water source. Yep, best put up the hummingbird only sign.
Hey, why not do it the easy way and just fill the cows’ water trough with concrete up to within an inch of its rim? Make sure the shutoff float ends up in the down position, embedded in the concrete, and your pear tree can get watered at the same time!
}:-]
I was gonna say that thing looks like a drinking fountain for cattle . . .
This won’t be an impediment to other birds, but I’d wager a certain amount of elevation would eliminate, or reduce, other critters using it. The only issue I see is “do you want to just assist the hummingbirds, or do you want to watch them using what you built for them.” And, how easy it would be to keep clean at X feet AGL.
I have no idea how high it would have to be to prevent your local fauna from jumping up to it; that may be the disqualifying factor.
But a few strands of barbed wire place around it at an appropriate height and separation should take care of that problem, Norman. And would probably deter the cattle from making their personal fountain as well…
Mark, have you ever seen cattle out in the brush? Here the telephone and power poles must be protected with heavy metal tubes on the support wires, and even then they are brought down at times by cattle scratching themselves. Cows can and will damage the darnedest things, and barbed wire only gives them a wonderful scratching place. 🙂 I’m glad Joel doesn’t have to deal with buffalo… nothing stops those idiots for long. Fence? Barbed wire? Piffle