Strange Creatures Suddenly Appear

One day this huge raptor’s nest appeared on my front porch.  It must have blown in with the last big windstorm.

In it were three strange hatchlings.  Judging by all the egg shells, some of the creatures had already left the nest.  One large egg remained unhatched.

The three hatchlings were a nightmare from the bowels of the underworld.  They were like nothing I had ever seen.

Okay, actually they were kind of cute in a nerdy way.

But what were these creatures?  I found an expert on paranormal wildlife who told me that I had a nest of wacko dactyls.  They always hatch around Halloween.  And they are beneficial to the garden since they eat ghouls and goblins.  Just don’t get too close if you’re wearing a Halloween costume.

At least this is what I plan to tell the trick-or-treaters.

How the Wacko Dactyl Was Really Hatched

I was at my local nursery looking at the fall pumpkins and gourds when I came across some small gourds that resembled wacky birds.  So I decided that this year birds are the new jack-o’-lantern.

The Birds

I used a black marker to sketch their eyes.  And I used four T-pins on each gourd as “legs” to make them stable.

The Egg Shells

I just painted clean cracked egg shells with a roughly 50/50 mix of Mod Podge and folkArt acrylic craft paint in Wrought Iron.  The Mod Podge helped strengthen the egg shells a bit and also added a nice sheen.

For the large unhatched egg, I used a small gourd, which was actually called an “egg gourd,” and painted it to match.

The Nest

The birds would need a nest – a large one worthy of raptors.  So I got an inexpensive natural twig wreath from the craft store and set it down on the rim of a terracotta pot.  Then I wrapped the pot with hop vines from my garden to conceal it and make it look like part of the nest.

I placed a stone platform inside the nest to set the birds on.

And then I just added natural raffia as the nesting material to hide the birds’ ugly legs.  I added the egg shells and a few other natural touches to the nest.

These hatchlings need molten lava to stay warm.  Since I don’t have any, I am using battery-operated orange LED lights.  This is also a good way to warn visitors to approach with caution.

The Runaways

So what happened to the wacko dactyls who had already left the nest?  Strangely, they turned up at my mom’s house.  She found them trying to hide in her fall floral arrangement.

They seem pretty content.  But she’s not keen on having them in the house, so she is trying to re-home them.  Any takers?

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