Near where I live there is a field that is technically part of a hospital’s land area, but it gets pretty overgrown during the summer. There are a few medium-sized trees and lots of high grass and wildflowers. I walk through the area whenever I have a doctor’s appointment, to avoid having to cross the main road.
A couple days ago, I went through and I saw a big, grey, flapping, loud monster descending toward me. “How weird,” I though to myself, “that bird must be sick or dying.” Then yesterday I had to go back to pick up a prescription, and this time, the very same bird (or one very, very similar to it) met me even closer to the road than where it had before and began flying around me making horrendous noises.
I came home for lunch and looked up grey birds and eventually discovered that it was a Northern Mockingbird, and that they are Satan’s spawn, basically squirrels who fly: Northern mockingbird - Wikipedia
Has anybody else ever been air-bombed by a bird? I don’t know why it picked me, but I assume it has a nest of babies somewhere near and was trying to distract me from them…it was so LOUD, recorder-like, even.
They are highly destructive rats with furry tails. They have cost me a lot of money in the damage they have done to my house. I have trapped hundreds of them.
Yeah, but what species, red, grey, fox… I would suspect reds up your way. They do love to chew on/or in houses. Greys in the southeast aren’t nearly as destructive.
It’s nesting season and many birds including these are very territorial and protective. He’s trying to tell you something, all you have to do is listen.
Yeah, I’ve figured that out now. But while it was happening and I had no idea what was going on, it was super weird. It’s not every day you get assaulted by a flying recorder.
A few years ago I had blackbirds that would attack me every day on my morning run. I didn’t understand why then, but do now that I’m really into bird photography.
I have a standing rule about wildlife. If it doesn’t run away instantly and shows any sign of aggression, I assume there are little ones nearby somewhere.
This isn’t true for a lot of snakes. I find snakes all the time who want to eat me alive but don’t have any babies (they generally don’t even offer parental care at all anyway).
It use to be that my rule about wildlife was, if I caught you brothering it, I’d give you an invitation to federal court, at least for some species. And that would have included Mockingbirds.
What’s the problem with squirrels?
