Interesting fact.
Hummingbirds are continuously hours away from starving to death, and are able to store just enough energy to survive overnight. To conserve energy while they sleep or when food is scarce, they have the ability to go into a hibernation-like state (torpor) where their metabolic rate is slowed to 1/15th of its normal rate.
Seems fitting for the summer season here at East Jesus. When the temperatures rise over 100 degrees you will see many people going into a torpor like state in the living room. Of course the hummingbird that has taken up residence in the music room doesn’t have that luxury as she leaves the nest every time another group of people is led thru on tour. Since incubation can last 2 to 3 weeks we should be hearing the young ones around the fourth of July.
Strange place to build a nest but fitting as she can be seen by Charlie’s picture and protected by his memory. The life span of a hummingbird can stretch to over a decade so maybe she has a prior claim to the area. I wonder how much attention she is paying to the goings on here. I’m wondering if she plans on raising her family here. If you sit real still in front of the piano she will hover nearby and check you out.
Living in conjunction with the local flora and fauna is great but there are some drawbacks. Two separate ant colonies decided to swarm towards the kitchen this week and claimed several boxes of cereal as their own. Then there was the rattlesnake who decided to take a nap by the front gate and had to be removed to a safe distance. Word must have gone out as the next visitor was a California King snake which is known to eat other snakes. Him we kept to display among our other denizens like the black widow or the scorpion. And then we have the various birds who believe that they are teaching us a valuable lesson when ever we leave food out on the table. A couple have taken up residence in the giant paint can flowers and dive bomb our friendly German-Shepard Sammy. Then there are the lizards who constantly scurry away and the horse flies who make us scurry away.
Work is confined to those hours of the morning before the heat rises. We have surrounded the battery container with a straw bale wall to provide extra insulation. Still working on Transverse City as well as the constant upkeep and cleaning of the place. Still greeting new visitors and welcoming back old friends and turning new guests into old friends. Most importantly still laughing and enjoying the camaraderie of the struggle to survive in the desert.
Now that the solstice is passed we can look forward to the humid season and the long warm nights but as we have been telling everyone, “Look for the party to restart this fall!”