The Dilemma

Last year I planted trailing geraniums in my hanging planters with the thought that they would once again be a lovely portion of my baskets this year. Looking at the baskets, I berated myself for not cleaning up my planters and watering the geraniums more often. Vowing to do better, I grabbed my hose and with an arc of water pointed one by one at each planter, I began trying to revive my sorely neglected plants. When I reached the third basket, out flapped a bird who flew to the top of the basketball hoop. Hoping against the odds, I checked to see if there were any eggs. As you see, the birds beat me to punch. Now here is the dilemma, do I let the plant die, or should I get rid of the birds and their babies? Help me decide!!!

First, a little information about the offending tresspassers. The birds are Mourning Doves also known as Rain Doves. They are native American birds that are among the ten most abundant birds in the U.S.

When a dove pair decide on a nest location, the female stays at the site while the male flies around collecting the twigs. Once a twig is located, the male brings it back to the female and standing on her back, passes the twig to her so she can weave it into the nest. They almost always lay two eggs at a time and the pair can have 5 - 6 clutches of eggs a year. Rarely are their eggs left alone. The male stays on the nest from mid morning to late afternoon, while the female will be on the nest the rest of the day and all night. These pictures were a little tricky to take however, as I managed to scare the papa bird off all morning as I tried to snap a shot of him. Hence, the egg shot! This afternoon, I was able to get a picture of the momma bird ( I guess even Mourning Dove mommas can be as brave as most mommas of any species). I actually enjoy their plaintive cry, so the noise doesn't bother me. Nor does the flapping, after all, I live in the country, I've seen things much more scary than a flapping dove. The mess they can leave though...

So dear friends, thumbs up or down? Their fate may be in your hands!!!