Penguin wars

 Due to the landslips caused by torrential rain from two hurricanes back in January, we had to move my office (it is a 10 by 14 foot wooden building). So yesterday, David, who works for us around the boatyard, was doing some final clean up – removing the last bits of earth that had fallen against the back of the building. All of a sudden he let out a scream then actually started giggling.  I went out to see what was causing the fuss. "Talk about weird, I was just getting ready to slam the shovel down and bit into a big chunk of clay when a penguin popped out of the dirt," David said. "Luckily, I stopped my shovel just before I hit him. Darned bird won't move out of the way now."  I went out and looked under the office where, in a space about 8 inches high, two blue  penguins had begun building a nesting place. These birds are about 14 or 15 inches high and tough.  They hissed and attacked us every time we tried to gently move them out using the shovel and long pieces of wood. "Leave them be,"  I finally said. "I can put up with the noise they make if they have to nest under there."  Fortunately, once the earth that had been forming a sort of back wall to their nesting place, had been moved, the penguins left of their own accord.  As cute as it may seem to have a penguin family living with us, I am glad they are gone.  Our neighbor once had penguins under his house. When spring came and young ones began to feed the whole place smelled like rotten fish. Worse, each time the parent penguins came home from fishing, it sounded like an Irish pub gone wild.