\n Bonita Daily News\u00a0–\u00a0Jul 11 12:47 AM
\nBy Melanie Peeples (Contact)
\nTuesday, July 11, 2006
\nYou have to wonder about the first bird that flew inside the Lowe\u2019s on Naples Blvd., looked around the big-box store, stroked his little bird chin and said, \u201cOh, yeah. This is for me.\u201d Sure, maybe it was an accident, but you\u2019ve got to give him credit for having the forethought to stick around.
\nInside Lowe\u2019s, it\u2019s a constant, temperate climate. It never rains or gets too hot. There\u2019s an endless supply of seeds over in Aisle 23, and the warehouse-style exposed steel rafters provide plenty of places for perching.
\nWord was bound to get around to other birds, and tweet-tweet, flutter-flutter, Lowe\u2019s has gotten a lot more interesting.
\nFrom the opening swoosh of the electric doors, there\u2019s more than cool air-conditioning greeting customers. There\u2019s swooping and birdsong overhead, a lovely little twitter for folks stopping by for nails or lawn mowers or utility sinks.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s kinda neat,\u201d Jeff Kreamer says as he pushes his shopping cart under a pair of male and female house sparrows building a nest in the rafters above 1A. \u201cI see them flying and chirping every time I come in here,\u201d he says without missing a step.
\nThat\u2019s how you can tell the repeat customers from the novices. Those entering Lowe\u2019s for the first time tend to stop and look up, frequently with jaws agape. The birds flock near the front doors and along Aisle 23 where Lowe\u2019s keeps the plastic bags of birdseed.
\nA pair of doves proves the exception to the rule, eschewing the seed buffet on a recent afternoon for the lighting department, perhaps longing for the street lights of their youth. (A later, closer inspection reveals an assortment of small Zen water fountains nearby.)
\nctivity in Aisle 23 is brisk. Perched on the rafters above, a cluster of house sparrows watch shoppers stroll past ears of dried corn and sunflower seeds, waiting for the humans to clear the row. Then they send in the sentry.
\nTwo females land on the floor, hop-hopping down the lane side-by-side like soldiers patrolling an empty city block. All\u2019s clear. Almost immediately a male lights on a cardboard display box of sumptuous seed. He cranes his little gray-capped head around and a bevy of females joins him before disappearing into the display box while he stands guard.
\nThey scatter as soon as another shopper heads down the aisle. A later inspection of the display reveals a tiny little hole barely bigger than a pinprick in the top sack of birdseed.
\nEddie Rozman, an employee in the lawn and garden center, says that, yes, they do tend to break into the bird seed. But the tiny holes the birds make are nothing compared to the big gouges that customers create.
\n\u201cPeople think they\u2019re helping (by tearing holes),\u201d he says, shaking his head. \u201cThey do fine on their own.\u201d
\nIn fact, the birds\u2019 holes are so tiny \u2014 they\u2019re almost invisible \u2014 the seeds don\u2019t spill out and the bags can still be sold to customers.
\nThirst inevitably follows hunger, and after feasting there\u2019s the matter of beverages to procure.
\n\u201cThey go outside for water,\u201d Rozman explains, pointing to the electric doors leading to the outdoor garden center. He says the birds have learned to hang out in the rafters near the doors until humans trigger the electronic eye that swooshes open the doors. Then they slip out.
\nSome aren\u2019t that patient.
\n\u201cIf you hang around here long enough, they flutter around in front and wait for the door to open,\u201d Rozman says. \u201cI\u2019ve seen them flutter in front of the electric eye and zoom!\u201d he says with a hand motion that looks like a plane taking off.
\nIt seems impossible.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re smarter than you think,\u201d he explains.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re really quite clever,\u201d confirms Steve Carbol, environmental education manager for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
\nSitting at a picnic table in the outdoor garden center looking toward the doors that lead into Lowe\u2019s, he studies the sparrows.
\n\u201cThey\u2019ve been closely associated with people for thousands of years,\u201d he says, explaining why the birds would choose to live in Lowe\u2019s rather than in the woods. House sparrows have always preferred to live right next to humans, building nests in the eaves of houses. But with the proliferation of big-box retailers like Lowe\u2019s and Home Depot, they\u2019ve sort of hit the jackpot \u2014 and are taking up residence in stores like this one all across the country.
\n\u201cThey\u2019ve just adapted to new conditions,\u201d Carbol says. As he speaks, a female flits by, swooping left to right, just above the doors. Nothing happens and she crosses back, again, just above the doors. She repeats this a few times before giving up and landing on an overhead pipe to wait.
\nMinutes later a customer approaches and the bird slips in.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s just the next step in their living with us,\u201d Carbol says.
\nThen another house sparrow appears with something in her mouth. \u201cA katydid,\u201d Carbol points out, without raising his binoculars. This bird has it figured out. She flies in front of the doors, making swoops like the first bird, but slightly lower, right in front of the electronic eye. One, two, and swoosh, the doors open and she takes the bug prize in to waiting offspring.
\nIt\u2019s hard to believe a bird with a brain the size of a pebble has mastered motion-detector technology.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re tenacious, adaptable, smart, little animals that have learned to take advantage of us,\u201d Carbol muses, fully appreciating the moment. \u201cIt\u2019s disconcerting the way they use our technology against us.\u201d
\nAnd since the birds have figured out how to get in and out at will, and since there\u2019s water nearby \u2014 including a cluster of large water fountains in the garden center just perfect for bird bathing \u2014 it\u2019s not that easy to get rid of them.
\nLowe\u2019s corporate spokeswoman Karen Cobb says the company\u2019s policy is to live and let live. \u201cWe only take action to catch and release whenever there are complaints from customers,\u201d she says.
\n\u201cWe realize with having our open lawn and garden centers,\u201d Cobb says, \u201cthey\u2019ll be attracted to that.\u201d So since they sort of lure the birds in, Cobb doesn\u2019t seem inclined to punish them for knowing a good thing when they see it. \u201cWe peacefully co-exist.\u201d
\nIf someone were to complain, Cobb says, they\u2019d hire a pest-control company to trap birds that become a nuisance and move them 60 miles away. There are horror stories about other big-box retailers around the country using glue traps to kill birds.
\nGiven the phenomena of birds taking up residence in big-box stores all across the country, what\u2019s surprising isn\u2019t that birds are living in Lowe\u2019s in Naples, but that they aren\u2019t living at any of the Home Depot stores in Naples or Bonita Springs.
\nJust a couple flaps of the wing from Naples\u2019 Lowe\u2019s \u2014 that\u2019s about a half-mile for you and me \u2014 is the Home Depot on Pine Ridge Road. Walk in that store and it\u2019s conspicuously quiet. Not a peep or twitter. Assistant Manager Brian Hollenbeck says they\u2019re not doing anything to the birds. They just aren\u2019t choosing to live there.
\nHollenbeck says in the five years he\u2019s worked for Home Depot in Southwest Florida, he\u2019s seen only a couple come through his doors. \u201cUsually one or two have a nest and then leave.\u201d He says he has no idea why they haven\u2019t taken up permanent residence there.
\nMaybe it\u2019s the music playing in the background. While the house sparrows and doves enjoy living in close quarters with humans, perhaps it\u2019s possible they just don\u2019t care for our taste in music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bonita Daily News\u00a0–\u00a0Jul 11 12:47 AM By Melanie Peeples (Contact) Tuesday, July 11, 2006 You have to wonder about the first bird that flew inside the Lowe\u2019s on Naples Blvd., looked around the big-box store, stroked his little bird chin and said, \u201cOh, yeah. This is for me.\u201d Sure, maybe it was an accident, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[413],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n