Posted on 07/16/2019 10:34:50 AM PDT by ransomnote
Stephen Vedder used to enjoy peaceful lakeside runs near his Marlborough, Mass., home. This spring, after years of coexisting with an ornery neighbor, those tranquil outings came to an end.
It started with a whack to the back of the head. Next, Mr. Vedder was divebombed. Then clawed.
The culprit was a red-winged blackbird.
More than 250 million of the birds live across North and Central America, and this summer some are feeling extra aggressive toward human neighbors—driving them to change walking routes, wear protective headgear or furiously wave arms above their heads as they jog.
“You talk to people about being attacked by birds, and they look at you like you’re crazy,” says Mr. Vedder, a 60-year-old programmer. “This is ‘The Birds’ all over again, but it’s real!”
Many people who have long lived in harmony with the birds have noticed an uptick in their aerial assaults this season. Bird-on-human attacks are growing more common as people encroach on their habitats, says Lori Naumann, information officer at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
It has been a few years, but I had a crow stalk me for several minutes while I was out for a walk. It didn't dive bomb me, but it flew from tree to tree until I was no longer a threat. Maybe it was something I was wearing at the time that looked like a threat.
I saw this movie about 6 months ago for the first time. I thought it would be homey, but it was really creepy & suspenseful. A very strange movie.
Hokey
I was just last night watching a male wren attack anything within 20 feet of the nest box.....Mostly other birds.
Those Hitchcock movies showed a California which is now forever gone.
As a side note, there have been lots of the red wings, grackles and cowbirds at my feeder this spring and summer....I guess the word is out that I feed really well.
Hitchcock didn’t come up with idea for The Birds,it was from a story by Daphne Dumaurier..
Carry a tennis racket when you walk.
Good kitty!
Spring is here
A-suh-puh-ring is here
Life is skittles and life is beer
I think the loveliest time
Of the year is the spring
I do, don’t you? ‘Course you do
But there’s one thing
That makes spring complete for me
And makes every Sunday
A treat for me
All the world seems in tune
On a spring afternoon
When we’re poisoning pigeons in the park
Every Sunday you’ll see
My sweetheart and me
As we poison the pigeons in the park
When they see us coming
The birdies all try an’ hide
But they still go for peanuts
When coated with cyanide
The sun’s shining bright
Everything seems all right
When we’re poisoning pigeons in the park
We’ve gained notoriety
And caused much anxiety
In the Audubon Society
With our games
They call it impiety
And lack of propriety
And quite a variety
Of unpleasant names
But it’s not against any religion
To want to dispose of a pigeon
So if Sunday you’re free
Why don’t you come with me
And we’ll poison the pigeons in the park
And maybe we’ll do
In a squirrel or two
While we’re poisoning pigeons in the park
We’ll murder them all
Amid laughter and merriment
Except for the few
We take home to experiment
My pulse will be quickenin’
With each drop of strych’nine
We feed to a pigeon
(It just takes a smidgin!)
To poison a pigeon in the park
-Tom Lehrer
The movie was released in 1963 just in time for it to hit all the drive-ins in the early summer. I turned 16 that March and probably saw the movie, or parts of it, ten times with various dates. All the girls were pretty grossed out at some of the scenes. I had a major league crush on Tipi Hedron.
Well . . . a seagull stole a piece of calamari from a squid sandwich I was holding. He lived to regret that thievery. And the other day my car was carpet bombed by a squadron of pelicans. On the other hand a pelican allowed me to hold him as I removed a fish hook from his hide, and a fledgling bluebird hopped into my hands. So, it goes both ways.
“The Birds” appeared “Spellbinders in Suspense”, one of the short story compilations under Hitchcock’s name in the late 60s, long after the movie. Roald Dahl’s “Man from the South” was also in it, IIRC.
Recently I’ve watched some of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents dramatizations, and I’ve been surprised at how many of the old mystery and horror stories made it to Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Including “A Man from the South”, and another Roald Dahl, “Lamb to the Slaughter”, about a woman who conks her husband dead with a frozen roast lamb, then feeds it to the cops who show up to investigate.
Forty years ago, an eastern kingbird used to dive at my head every morning as I walked under its nest and once tangled its claws in my hair.
Carry an old wooden tennis racket... or an 870
My car has been covered too. It is so bad that I have to wash it before I use it or be shamed by the sight of it in the parking lot at the store. I don’t remember it ever being anything close to being this bad.
I have a theory that birds are creatures of habit and follow the same flight path while they “relive themselves.” I have moved my car a couple of spaces down and haven’t been hit yet. Crossing my fingers!
Don’t trespass in birds’ backyards.
Crows have long memories, and will attack someone they’d attacked a year earlier.
Okay, Mr. Wildman ; )
My hubby found her beautiful too. She was very reserved and mysterious. And yes it had several gross scenes.
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