Date: 4/29/24 12:31 pm From: Don Simons <drsimons56...> Subject: Murder in Paris
>> A case for Hercule Poirot Not. A group of crows? Not this time. Although I regularly see and hear both Fish and American here in Paris, AR.
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>> While the three of us were watching feeder birds from a large living room window, we witnessed a murder in our Parisian yard. A “Murder Most Fowl”? Rather, a “Murder Most Squirrel.”
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>> A fresh-out-of-the-nest Fox Squirrel was braving his new world when a Gray Squirrel jumped on and off the youngster. It laid there, motionless. Two Gray Squirrel cautiously, tails twitching nervously, approached the victim. Was one of them the assassin? We could not pick one in a lineup.
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>> I’ve read that squirrels sometimes kill and eat young nestlings of territorial rivals and birds but, usually, it is serendipitous. This was our first encounter with “squirrelacide.” Well, after all squirrels are not more than tree rats. But they do taste good. Especially, in a gumbo my momma used to make.
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>> Such incidents are much more common than any of us are witness. These days, I find watching wildlife interacting with wildlife and the environment more interesting than just list ticking.
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>> Keep watching,
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>> Don off the Mount
