You wascly gwackle!
Posted on 05/19/2005 5:20:08 AM PDT by Dog
HOUSTON (AP) - Like a scene from the horror movie "The Birds," large black grackles are swooping down on downtown Houston and attacking people's heads, hair and backs.
Authorities closed off a sidewalk after the aggressive birds, which can have 2-foot wingspans, flew out of magnolia trees Monday in front of the County Administration Building.
"They were just going crazy," said constable Wilbert Jue, who works at the building. "They were attacking everybody that walked by."
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.
It appears that the birds are protecting their offspring. On Monday a young grackle had fallen out of its nest and adult birds attacked people who got too close, Jue said.
Another bird attacked a deputy county clerk.
"I hit him with a bottle," said Sylvia Velasquez. "The other birds came, and one attacked my blouse and on my back."
Two women came to help her after she fell to the ground, and the birds attacked them as well. The group escaped by running into the building.
"This is a very Hitchcock kind of story. Very Tippi Hedren," said downtown worker Laura Aranda Smith, referring to one of the stars of Alfred Hitchcock's move "The Birds."
Also posted here
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1405660/posts
They went for the lawyers first...:-)
Bring your umbrella!
Good thing Hillary! wasn't there, or it would've been Grackles vs. Cankles.
...and carry your tennis racket... ;-)
if you dont shoot yer eye out first....the answer is ""I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range
Model Air Rifle!"
Interesting report. I have personally observed this behavior in Grackles for many years, but as the target was normally the head from behind, i assumed that the birds were after prime nesting materials.
I'd say "concealed carry" of a TC Contender with a .410 barrel and a bandolier of shells loaded with number 9 shot (since this is in an urban area, and number 9's don't carry far) is in order here, especially given that this happened in Texas.
"They went for the lawyers first...:-)"
I was just thinking of a lawyer joke..
What do you have when a lawyer is up to his neck in sand?
NOT ENOUGH SAND.
Well, in this case, we need a lot more Grackles in this country.
...or a tennis racket.
Dang, I guess I should have read a couple more posts before responding. My apologies.
Wonder how they knew it was a lawyer, probably by smell.
Other than having a cool name and a humorous appearance as they walk across a lawn, grackles are only notable for their propensity to behave as this piece indicates, and taking delight in crapping on humans. My experience with them has been more like "High Anxiety" than "The Birds."
Compare SJackson's sweaty, all nighter series of posts to Dogs' Grackle Alert.
Three guess's who is the type"B" personality.
Hey, two FReepers in perfect agreement!! Why apologize? ;-)
she ll be going to jail soon for animal cruelty
Grackles are flying rats. Unchecked they can devistate an orange orchard in a few days. Scientists should be researching wheather or not they can be ground into petrolium products or composted into fertilizer. ;o)
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