Accessory before the fact

[rolanni]

We feed the birds off our deck. It's one of those pleasant, harmless things that one does, and while there are hunting cats on the gore -- and sometimes on our deck -- they don't seem very able birders, though Scruffy has a very deft touch with a chipmunk.

This evening -- mere moments ago -- Scruffy nailed the upside-down bird (this would a "nuthatch" to the wider universe). I like most of the birds who come to the feeder (with the sort of general benevolence one feels for the gentle creatures of air and wood when they're not actually doing something destructive), but the nuthatch was my favorite. He would hang upside down from the wooden bird feeder and pull seeds out one at a time; he would stroll the deck stakes, unconcernedly perpendicular. He had a perpetual air of unassailable and faintly ridiculous dignity. He made me laugh.

And if we didn't make a habit of feeding the birds off the deck, he wouldn't have been in harm's way today.

I feel like a murderer.

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I'll second the squirtgun suggestion. "Mittens" took a house finch off our feeder, 4 or 5 feet off the ground, quite a performance. Mittens hasn't camped out in that area since "showing the instruments" with an accurate squirtgun. I like cats, but am prepared to offend catdom if necessary.