Hostile Grackles [birds] Attack People in Houston

My Way News ^ | May 18, 2005

[76834]

I think that they become used to you over a period of time.
Like I said in a previous post, I have never been attacked by one.

Gotta say something positive about a bird that both protects it's young and attacks lawyers.

[Xenalyte]

They do that already. We're sort of used to it.

[Tall_Texan]

How many weeks was that car parked there?

[Jaded]

Too funny. But how do they taste?

[Dog Gone]

It can look almost that bad overnight if you park under one of the trees in west Houston. For some reason they seem to love supermarkets.

[humblegunner]

While I chuckle
hardly caring at the lawyer
at whom we're staring
He who is sprawled devoid of bearing
blocking the Metro bus's door..

Senseless he, with poop a'shoulder
blocks the path like stygian boulder
blocks the path that was so clear before.
Reeling did he cower under
the fear of Grackle, knocked asunder,
to grovel so on night's plutonian shore.

Quoth the raven...

[Xenalyte]

That is just beautiful, man.

[Flyer]

but let one lawyer slip. . .

The lawyer's dilemma is whether to sue God or mother nature.

[Dog Gone]

ROFL

[Xenalyte]

Ooooh, dilemma dilemma. Which has deeper pockets?

I know Mother Nature can fit a Parkay tub in hers.

[humblegunner]

ROFL

My apologies to Mr. Poe and GOOD lawyers. ;-)

[Dan from Michigan]

I always laugh at the birds that try and fly through windows and end up as dog or cat meat.

[Dan from Michigan]

The range is wrong unless it's a different grackle. We got em here too.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Just carry an old tennis racket. Problem solved. And new sport discovered.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Great minds think alike! Post #94.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

And verbing weirds things.

[Tall_Texan]

After a rainstorm maybe. That car doesn't look like it has Texas plates though.

As a parrot owner, I can tell you birds will poop every 15-30 minutes they are awake and are most likely to go right before they take off. It makes sense when you think about it - they are lightening their weight just before they have to sustain it in flight. You can also potty-train birds in a limited way so there are designated places to poop in the home and they can be taught to use those places.

[Tribune7]

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.

Hee hee hee hee hee hee. Somebody is training those birds.

[Dog Gone]

I'm sure that photo was of a car parked somewhere in Europe. I just wanted an example of what I see at the local Krogers and Randalls supermarkets frequently.

It's usually not that bad, but the parking stalls certainly are.

Why any nitwit would pull into a parking slot that's white instead of black baffles me.

[Ichneumon]

Aha! I always thought they WERE crows. Hmmmm, wonder if these are the same birds that come out every spring and completely cover your lawn.....looking for who know's what?

Quite possibly. Either grackles, or maybe starlings -- both tend to show up in groups and check out lawns.

Starling:

The starlings tend to be more methodical about their yard searches. Starlings are not a native North American bird, by the way. Several decades ago some were on display in Central Park in New York City (part of a "birds mentioned in Shakespeare" exhibit), and the starlings got loose. They were so successful in the wild that they're now one of the most common birds in North America, displacing a lot of native birds, and are a real pest in some areas. And they can travel in huge flocks:

Like pigeons, they're sometimes denounced as "rats with wings", but they have a few saving graces -- they're rather cute, and they make amusing noises. If kept as a pet, they can even learn to talk pretty well, like a mockingbird or parrot.