[OneVike]

It refused to move into the woods and stayed around and demanded food for much too long.

I vaguely remember a story a few years back about some dolphins that got fed by tourists on boats that regularly stoped for the thrill of seeing dolphins. Eventually the dolphins began to expect them and quit hunting for their own food. The government had to stop the cruises from stopping so that the dolphins would begin fishing for their own food again.

Reminds you of the way we destroyed certain segments of our population with all our compassion. Every time I see perfectly healthy people standing on a corner with their hands out, I think about that bird.

[Ditter]

Your story about the Blue Jay flying into the truck window just reminded me of a squirrel that I raised on a bottle. Our dog found this tiny baby squirrel in the back yard and brought it to me (which is pretty amazing). I raised it on a bottle and it lived in the house with us. It would ride around on our shoulders and when you passed another person in the hall way it would jump to the other persons shoulder. One day, with the squirrel on my shoulder I stood in front of a mirror.

You guess it, Rocky jumped into the mirror and broke his back and died.

[Twotone]

Your story reminds me of author Gerald Durrell, who wrote many books about his interactions with animals (my favorite was ‘My Family & Other Animals’). He collected specimens for zoos. On one trip to South America he’d almost finished collecting when funding was lost & he couldn’t bring the animals back. He opened the cages, expecting them all to flee for their lives. Instead, the animals just sat there. They’d all gotten used to free meals & had no intention of giving them up!