Bird Talk: Greedy squirrels

From the roof of a garden shed, two crows were enjoying watching three squirrels raiding two bird feeders in the same yard. The fact that there were three squirrels and only two feeders made it all the more entertaining because aerobatic and gymnastic displays were interspersed with furious fighting and chattering.

One squirrel managed to make it to a feeder and forced the lid open with his nose. Then he propped the lid up with his head while he fed on the peanuts inside. But another squirrel made a flying leap for the first squirrel’s tail and the two fell together to the ground while the bird feeder swung wildly. Then the third squirrel who had been feeding at the other feeder thought the first feeder looked better somehow and abandoned his perch to have a go at the other one. Meanwhile, the two squirrels on the ground engaged in a noisy fist fight until one of them remembered the bird feeders and refocused on claiming the other one. And so it had been going on for while.

“I’m really glad I don’t know their language,” said the first crow. “Them must be some ugly fightin’ words.”

In nearby trees and shrubs, lots of little brown birds look dismayed.

“I don’t think there’s going to be anything left for them,” said the second crow. “Those squirrels are going to scoff the lot.”

“Too bad,” said the first crow. “Those feeders were just filled this morning.”

“What do you say we chase them off?” said the second crow. “Call it our good deed for the day.”

The first crow nodded in agreement and they flew up from the roof of the shed to get enough altitude to dive bomb the squirrels. The squirrels immediately cleared off, but the little brown birds remained at a safe distance while the crows were around. The crows removed themselves to perch on the roof of the house and the little brown birds cautiously started to assemble around the feeders. They politely took turns at landing on the feeder and taking some food. But it wasn’t long before the good manners were disturbed by the arrival of two black-capped chickadees who muscled their way to the feeders and started bossing everyone around.

“Ack, let’s go,” said the first crow. “I can smell barbecue coming from the park. The kind that’s usually accompanied by those giant bags of potato chips.”

“I like to wait until the bag is half empty,” said the second crow. “And then see if I can swipe it and fly off with it.”

“Let’s go for it!”