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Starlings and sawdust point to other troubles

Q: I have a bad case of starlings all around the house, up in the trees. On one side of the house we find sawdust near the windows. The house is freshly painted, so the sawdust is easy to see. We clean it up and more appears. I am worried about the birds damaging the house, maybe eating the siding, particularly around the window sills. Would I call a pest-control person for this?

A: The starlings are really just a red herring. And by that I don't mean a flying fish. The problem you describe sounds more like a wood-destroying organism such as carpenter ants or beetles. That's the likely source of the sawdust you are seeing at the window sills. And carpenter ants make tasty starling food. So yes, call a pest-control company about the sawdust. The starlings, however, are another issue . Nuisance wildlife-control companies, and possibly the same pest-control business, may be able to help you with them.

Q: Relating to your column last week about crawlspace nightmares: I am reminded of a recent event in my life that may be of benefit to others. When I was selling my condo, the buyer had it inspected. The inspector found that all the crawlspaces beneath the building were connected, and each unit had a removable trapdoor-like hatch that was not fastened down. In other words, a person could gain access to every unit in the building from just one hatch. This seems to invite theft. Indeed, I understand this happened once in our complex. A neighbor was missing some jewelry and found that another neighbor had gotten in through the hatch. I have heard of attics being opened in a similar way.

A: Several years ago I encountered someone living ("squatting" would be a better term) in a crawlspace, and I wrote about it here. This person was quite comfortable, with sleeping bag and pillow, toothbrush and several pairs of clothing laid out neatly. He even had craftily disconnected a nearby heat duct for warmth. When the residents were gone, this person opened the hatch and found the fridge, the shower and other amenities.

So what does one do in a situation you describe? I would store my portable safe, free weights and lead collection over the hatch — or invest in a hasp or latch. In condos, attic hatches are typically built of drywall, so these can be a bit more complex to secure. If the hatch doesn't get opened regularly, there's no reason you couldn't seal it with adhesive caulking and paint it shut. This would keep the riff raff out and the heat in.

Q: In a recent column you mentioned that gas fireplaces with electronic ignition would not light during a power failure. I can't speak for all gas fireplaces, but mine has a battery pack that allows me to flip the switch and have flame ignition when the power is out.

A: Absolutely correct! For whatever reason, this slipped my mind until you brought it up. No need to use fresh batteries during a power outage; even an old pair will do.

To test this, I took two D cells out of a very weak flashlight, put them into the battery compartment and turned off the power to the house. I turned on the wall switch and it lit up immediately.

Q: In your column last week your correspondent stated that rats have no bladders, supposedly why they use insulation as toilets. Awhile back a student of mine reported this same "exterminators tale" when talking about her family's rat problem. I suggested she bring one of the dead rats to school so that we could dissect it. She did, we did, and the bladder was right where it should be, complete with functioning kidneys.

There are several reasons that animals spray urine, including territorial marking, sexual display and a lack of tiny flush toilets in the crawlspace. Perhaps you could pass this on to your readers in the interest of scientific accuracy?

A: OK, for argument's sake, let's say that maybe rats do in fact have bladders. I'll give you that. Well, so do baby humans, but that doesn't keep them from peeing anywhere and everywhere, and there's definitely no territorial marking, sexual display or lack of flush toilets in those cases, now are there?! Not buying that, are you? OK. Yeah, it was a weak argument.

Thanks for the visual on the rat dissection, and for giving us more information than we wanted.