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Thursday. It’s not raining, it’s partially cloudy. Not the perfect day to do laundry but if I keep waiting for the perfect day, I may end up without clean clothes. I have a dryer but I’m also stubborn, that means that I refuse to use it in summer unless is totally necessary. Nothing beats the smell of laundry when it’s sun dried. And I like my towels crispy. A soft towel doesn’t dry and that makes me frown. Yes, poor the man who ends up with me (unless he’s as crazy as I am).

Every now and then I go to the backyard and I find what it looks like a bird crime scene. I always hope my younger kids don’t see it because I really don’t like to explain that situation to them. The questions are infinite but my answers are limited.

Last week, when I was preparing breakfast, I looked outside the window and I saw this:

I went quietly to the place to investigate some more.
Judging from the color of the feathers, I could certainly say that the victim was a common wood pigeon.

But, hold on a second. Those birds are HUGE. Their size ranges from 38–44.5cm (15.0–17.5in) and they could weight between 300–615g (10.6–21.7oz). According to my mom, those are not doves, those are chickens! (That’s because the rotisserie chickens you get here are pretty much the same size).

What kind of animal could have taken down such a beast?
Not a cat. At least a hawk or falcon.
That poor bird got me thinking for an entire day. When could that happen without us noticing? I sleep just above the bird feeder and I didn’t hear any strange noises.
I have this curiosity about nature. Some things may seem cruel but that’s how it is. I want my kids to understand that. The big fish eats the small fish. But of course, there is the perfect moment to teach them that.
I can’t tell my 6 years old daughter that some animal caught the pigeon and peeled it like a banana in front of our living room without her panicking. I have a vivid imagination and if she’s like me (very likely), she could clearly see a ninja rabbit dissecting a squirrel with its sword. She’s not ready for that yet.

I went to sleep thinking about the bird. Next morning, I looked outside the window but this time I noticed that on the glass there was a tiny feather still attached. (And it’s still there because I just took a picture to show you).

When I moved a bit to see better, I could see the marks of several feathers, like printed on the glass.
Aha! So that’s what happened! The poor bird tried to fly through the window because she got confused when she saw the mirror I hung on my kitchen to make it look brighter.

I put a mirror in a special way so when I sit on my favorite place, I can look up and see the reflection of the trees.

After the impact, that it was for sure quite hard, the pigeon fell dead or agonizing and then another animal moved it a little further, plucked the feathers and ate it. Or partially ate it because a few hours later I saw a magpie eating what was left of a bird on my neighbors lawn.

Mystery solved. Don’t tell me I’m not a great detective!!

I’m truly amazed about nature. I’m sorry if that was a bit disturbing for some. (Be grateful I didn’t take a picture of the magpie having lunch).

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source:

wikipedia.org

~ by DotedOn on August 20, 2015.