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| Picture from Wikipedia |
Tonight I came home from work and when I walked in the door, I noticed that Jack was posed particularly alert in the upper hallway between the bedrooms. Then I thought I heard an odd fluttering, walked past the kitchen, and noticed debris on the floor.
There, against the high windows in the kitchen, a bird was trapped in the house.
This was a formidable bird; a Western Scrub Jay. Big and tough, scrub jays are supposed to be among the most intelligent of birds.
Not this one. This guy was a dumbshit.
First, I opened the patio door wide. It was sunset, and light was streaming in. The blinds were all drawn on the lower windows, and it should have been obvious, but the jay kept flinging himself against the clerestory windows.
Most of those windows are fixed glass, but one is an awning-type window, without a screen. I had to fetch the ladder from the basement to reach it, and managed to crank it open. This whole operation freaked the jay out so much he hid behind the vent-hood chimney, and I had to wait a while for him to calm down.
Meanwhile, brave Jack had retreated into the bedroom, and wasn't going anywhere near the kitchen.
Finally, the jay emerged from behind the hood chimney, and I used a broom to drive him toward the open window.
He fluttered in a panic and landed right on the open windowsill!! - but then he fluttered crazily back to dash his brains against the fixed glass window. I stood and watched him, wondering whether he'd find his way. Would it be cruel to use the broom to give him a nudge?
Flutter, flutter, frantic, and then - suddenly he found the opening! Goodbye, dumbshit! Good speed!
Jack was relieved.
That Jay is still smarter than the squirrels around here.
ReplyDeleteThere they are, crossing the road. Almost to the other side, your car comes along, and they turn around and run back toward the tires!
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We have a very loud scrub jay who squawks at Homer and steals cat food.
ReplyDelete"Goodbye, dumbshit! God speed". I've often said the same thing, but mostly to the crazy, unattentive drivers around here.
ReplyDeleteWe get Hummingbirda in our shop all the time. They are attracted by the colored lights in there. Unfortunately they can never seem to find their way out through the 8ft. garage door, and end up dying in the shop. I find it interesting that they can find their way from Mexico to Indiana but they don't have the ability to figure out how to go out of the shop the way they came in,
ALBUG
Oh Jack. That look says, "I am not a cat. Nor am I a bird dog."
ReplyDeleteClaudia made me smile at her comment. Of course, I'm still grinning over you calling the jay such colorful names. :)
ReplyDelete