POPO2023 Day 17

17 Alice Helwig Seurat The Circus woman on horseGeorges Seurat, “The Circus”

Killing Blackbirds

Small black-feathered bodies plummet
one by one; bb gun begins at dawn.
Seeing their comrades fall does not deter;
their gluttony of suet continues.
Cardinals and chickadees watch and wait.

Note:  this is a fiction/fantasy.  No blackbirds were harmed.

23 Comments Add yours

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you. Thankfully those blackbirds decided to move along after I left the feeders empty for a number of days. Now all of the other birds and even more variety are able to share the food at the feeder.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sadje's avatar Sadje says:

        Yes, I’ve read other people facing the same issues with black birds.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

          I wonder if they were migrating? First (and last, at least so far) time seeing them around here. We have quite a few crows in the area but they avoid the feeders. I think people around here shoot them so they are scared of humans (and with good reason.)

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Sadje's avatar Sadje says:

            Perhaps that is the reason. Crows here have no fear as no one shoots at them.

            Liked by 1 person

  1. Glad it’s all fiction. There’re some real lunatics out there with guns…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Oh I know. You mean like my neighbors 2 doors down?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I recall you mentioned them – frightening!

        Liked by 1 person

  2. memadtwo's avatar memadtwo says:

    Bird feeders are a delicate balance. I remember that from the ones my mother had. How do you keep the squirrels out? Always a challenge. (K)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Having a carport helps. The hooks they hang from are so far under that the little …. can’t reach them, except for one and that one is a large cylinder with a dropaway floor. Only the small light birds can get seed from it. The squirrels, chipmunks, mourning doves, etc. get all of the stuff that falls under. Not sure if you saw where something was opening the metal garbage cans to get to the seed? I had to pull those into the foyer.

      Like

  3. Badfinger (Max)'s avatar Badfinger (Max) says:

    That picture is like it’s out of a dream to me.
    Squirrels get into our bird feeders.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      It’s the last or one of the last paintings he did before he died. Maybe he had a vision of where he was headed? About your squirrels, I’m sure I shared a link before about how virtually impossible it is to keep them out. They’re crafty little buggers. It’s only because mine are under the carport so far they can’t reach them that they stay out and that plastic tube is too wide for them to get their arms around (along with the fallaway floor for any but the lightest birds.)

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Badfinger (Max)'s avatar Badfinger (Max) says:

        They are bothersome….one year they climbed under our jeep and chewed some wires…I had a time fixing that.
        Oh cool I’ll check out the link

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

          Ugh on them chewing your jeep wires!

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Badfinger (Max)'s avatar Badfinger (Max) says:

            Yea one of the neighbor tries to shoot them…I can’t do that. They are so cute.

            Liked by 1 person

      2. Badfinger (Max)'s avatar Badfinger (Max) says:

        This is hilarious so far

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

          I *love* this guy’s videos. He’s done some amazing things with the squirrel challenges and with his commentary. He’s also rigged glitter boxes to put on steps where thieves steal them and get a big surprise when they open them.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Badfinger (Max)'s avatar Badfinger (Max) says:

            Oh I ‘ve seen those videos! I knew it was familiar..he gets real scientific about it. .

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

              He also now does science toys for kids where you can have them sent every so often. When my grandbaby gets a little older I want to have them sent to her. Can’t wait :)

              Liked by 1 person

              1. Badfinger (Max)'s avatar Badfinger (Max) says:

                That is really cool. I need to watch him again. It’s been a while.

                Liked by 1 person

  4. Carol anne's avatar Carol anne says:

    glad to hear the blackbirds are safe :-)

    Liked by 1 person

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