Posted on 05/18/2005 9:01:25 AM PDT by Asphalt
HOUSTON (AP) - Like a scene from the horror movie "The Birds," large black grackles are swooping down on downtown Houston and attacking people's heads, hair and backs.
Authorities closed off a sidewalk after the aggressive birds, which can have 2-foot wingspans, flew out of magnolia trees Monday in front of the County Administration Building.
"They were just going crazy," said constable Wilbert Jue, who works at the building. "They were attacking everybody that walked by."
The grackles zeroed in on a lawyer who shooed a bird away before he tripped and injured his face, Jue said. The lawyer was treated for several cuts.
It appears that the birds are protecting their offspring. On Monday a young grackle had fallen out of its nest and adult birds attacked people who got too close, Jue said.
Another bird attacked a deputy county clerk.
"I hit him with a bottle," said Sylvia Velasquez. "The other birds came, and one attacked my blouse and on my back."
Two women came to help her after she fell to the ground, and the birds attacked them as well. The group escaped by running into the building.
"This is a very Hitchcock kind of story. Very Tippi Hedren," said downtown worker Laura Aranda Smith, referring to one of the stars of Alfred Hitchcock's move "The Birds."
LOL, that's what I thought too!
We did this in our neighborhood a few years ago, and it worked great. The birds don't come back for several years. Maybe next spring we'll have to repeat it.
Well done! Robins can be nasty, too.
I wouldn't try it.......State Bird you know. Once a mocking bird got after our cat. The cat just sat there while the bird swooped down time after time. Then (with a Morris kinda look on his face), SLAP! No more birdy. The cat just sat there, didn't even bother to eat it.
I, for one, welcome our new Grackle Overlords...
See, if we put the Army on the border, just like O'Reilly wants, none of this would happen. Evil Mexican Grackles!!!
They have long been an issue at the University of Texas campus where they truly can take on Hitchcockian proportions. What's funny is watching the University try solutions while maintaining political correctness. They won't try poisons or guns or any loud noises. They have tried putting fake owls in the trees and probably passed a resolution denouncing when the birds relieve themselves on the statue of Martin Luther King.
The grackles are still there. They are basically harmless birds unless provoked.
There must be a Cajun recipe for these things.
That would be a darn good idea.
Tennis racquets may work, but it would be more appropriate to use a badminton racquet. They are designed to hit "birdies."
Go for it.
"They are basically harmless birds unless provoked."
Tell that to your car's paint. (Not really, but you know what I mean.)
Wal-Mart Birds is an apt description.
"The grackles zeroed in on a lawyer who shooed a bird away before he tripped and injured his face, Jue said."
You would think that, besides the LSAT, law schools would require that law students be tested for being able to shoo away a bird and walk at the same time.
"Very adverb abuse. Very 21st C. Very annoyance."
Thank you. Righttackle44 is an English major.
I wonder whom the lawyer will sue.
They're just doing what American birds won't do!
I don't know if these are the exact guys or not, but when having lunch on San Antonio's River Walk birds like this will steal your food.
Probably protecting their nest and babies.
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