Seasonal Alarm [Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος]

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Somebody's pre-emptive proximity alert[1] has been going off behind my house for the past few hours. Loud, high-pitched, and AFAIK, it can't be turned off except for a timed sleep-mode or the presence of a predator overhead. I don't know enough to identify the make and model[2] from the sound, but I'm pretty sure that's what I'm hearing. I expect to be hearing it every day until autumn.

[1] Rather than sounding when a potential malefactor gets too close, it continuously sounds a warning that the area is defended and others are not to approach, regardless of the presence or absence of anybody to be warned off.

[2] Er, I mean genus and species. But I'm fairly certain it's one of the pocket-sized models, or at most one size up.

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There are 17 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

I know there's a universal remote to turn those on; I've been wondering if there's a way to employ it to turn them off.

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Well, if there's a reliable way to summon raptors to the area, that might do the trick. I could be mistaken, but I think that shuts them up.

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Locally, folks are using artificial owls to discourage pigeons. I don't know if that works or if it would work to your application.

It occurs to me what you really want is a raptor-shaped shadow, and that suggests a kite. The kind on a string, not the kind which is a raptor.

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Ooh! Why didn't I think of that? And many days lately there's been a steady enough breeze to hold one up.

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According to my warning ticket for running a red like on a bike (which I have thrown away), the fine for operating one of those in Cambridge, MA is ~$500. I'd recommend seeing if ballmur folks feel the same.

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Er ... but in this case the unit and the operator are the same entity, and will be somewhat difficult to drag into court. Maybe if he were the same order as us, but he's not even the same class.

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No, it's a fine for letting your alarm run when there's nothing wrong. I'm assuming it goes to the owner of the vehicle, like a parking ticket.

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Oh, sorry, spacing on the whole animal vs car thing. I blame the rhinovirus.

Yeah, I think animals are kind of born bankrupt.

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is therea law / notice regarding Noise Pollution?
Or Disturbing The Peace?

Katheryne

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I see that I was being much more subtle than I'd though I was. (I don't think that this particular culprit is subject to our laws.)

Though the advice to check for statutory solutions is something that I should check into regarding the human-owned / electronic alarms that are also in that general direction. (The owner of the one that I posted sheet music for a few months ago has dialed way back on the volume -- to the point that I'm not sure it can be effective at this point, but hasn't fixed the sensitivity problem.)

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I got it. Of course, I live next door to one, which I was all worried about when it moved in, but it turned out to be exquisitely well tuned and doesn't do pre-emptive alarms. It now recognizes my tread in the hallway and ignores me.

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*nod* And you tossed back the same kind of subtlety. I confess, I'm still trying to figure out the universal remote you first mentioned -- my best guess so far is the sunrise (though some start up before I see false dawn). Am I close?

This one seems to be living in the tree in my back yard that started out as a large weed with a woody stem that I lacked the energy to deal with. (I do sometimes go long stretches without observing my back yard at ground level, so it's possible the tree is a separate organism that choked out the weed, but that weed was already approacking small tree size when it still looked like a weed.)

The other day, there was another clinging to the grape vine that's trying to eat my house, somewhere above my kitchen or dining room and below the office.

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Am I close?

Nope.

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(I don't think that this particular culprit is subject to our laws.)

Sure they are. It's just that the punishments prescribed for those lesser classes tend to be limited to either death or banishment. :)

*** Ponder

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Other than a) unusual circumstances, and b) one family of arthropoda, the other classes tend not to be subjected to state action, AFAIK ... though any that aren't state-protected are subject to vigilante ... well, private anyhow ... actions with the same two outcomes. Most of the other species I can think of that are the subjects of laws or government budget-items are members of our class.

Er ... on second thought, there may be case law regarding roosters, which are the same class as my back yard beastie, though other examples in aves aren't coming to mind right now.

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I assume you are not discussing the sort of critters we
have in our neighborhood (i.e., roosters)?

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Oh no, much smaller than that, fortunately. As I said, from the sound he appears to be right around pocket-sized. I've been wondering how he ever manage to use his mouth for eating, what with being busy proclaiming his territory all day. (In addition to the one I wrote about, I'm also hearing several that sound like the itty bitty finches I've seen as pets, but I haven't seen anything that small (other than a large dragonfly, which AFAIK doesn't have a call) flying around here, but maybe I'm hearing nestlings of some slightly larger species, or maybe something sparrow-sized makes the same sound?)

The largest I've seen land so far this year have been crows, though I've seen gulls or terns, a raptor I couldn't identify, and vultures, all aloft.

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Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Seasonal Alarm

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Seeing how far we can stretch the law analogy

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