wildlife

WaveOfModulation takes photos of the remains of a falcon snack:

These pigeon wings (and partial spine) fell out of the sky in front of me on Friday afternoon, near the corner of High Street & Battery March in Boston.

Raptor perched on the weathervane atop Needham Town Hall today; while it was there, a flock of pigeons, escorted by a couple of crows and seagulls, kept flying around, no doubt outraged that its normal perches atop Town Hall had been usurped. Can anybody tell from the photo just what sort of bird that is?

Below the weathervane is a large clock that proves the old adage about every clock being right at least twice a day:

The Modern American has the dent in his head to prove it.

The Framingham rest stop on the turnpike is topped with a fake owl to try to keep birds off the roof. Surprise! It doesn't work.

Eric has the photos to prove it.

OKDad and his wife have a charming tradition: They put pieces of paper with state names in a Ball jar on their anniversary, then reach in and see where they'll be going for their next anniversary. This year, they got our fair Bay State. He chronicles his observations, including amazement at the number of Dunkin' Donuts. Also:

... Massachusetts has a severe lack of roadkill. Which is amazing since the entire state is covered in trees. Trees, to me, means abundant wildlife. Abundant wildlife, to me, means roadkill. And yet, our pristine 4x4 ran over not a single dead dog, cat, coyote, deer, opossum, raccoon, armadillo or other nocturnal marsupial. These yankee varmits could teach our local population a thing or two about the rules of the road. ...

Dan reports he's now advertising on craigslist for somebody willing to lend him a cat for a month.

If somebody agrees, let's hope the cat isn't named Tom.

So far, the mouse is winning.

Alyssa is walking in the Public Garden near a young kid with his parents:

"Mommy, that squirrel is naked!" the boy exclaimed.

The squirrel in question was scrawny but average size - and totally bald below his neck. Devoid of all fur. In his birthday suit. ...

The Urban Pantheist discusses the tiny beetles that seem to be getting into his cereal and rice these days:

... They look like plain brown-black bugs until they're under the microscope, and some interesting details are visible.

And yes, of course, he provides a microscope image of one.

Janet posts a photo of a giant spider web in her yard.

Frecklegirl reports:

I walked into my kitchen today to refill my mac and cheese from a pot on the stove and I was greeted by the sight of a wriggling mouse butt squeezing into one of the burners. (cheap gas stove) ...

You'd yell it, too, if you were biking around Jamaica Pond and you suddenly saw one of the Jamaica Pond white squirrels. Fortunately the Urban Pantheist didn't yell it loud enough to scare away the squirrel - letting his companion snap a photo of the wee beastie.

When a couple of pigeons divebombed from across the street into their fifth-story windows this morning, some of the people in Spatch's office taped pieces of paper to the windows to try to warn the birds off:

... I was one of those people, but my Post-It note has a target drawn on it and the words PIGEONS! AIM HERE! WIN A PRIZE! ...

What do you do when a woodpecker keeps pecking the wood of your house?

... I know that they often go after food sources, so I'll be investigating that with the Orkin Man. However, the odd thing is that it appears to be pecking along the cable lines that run along the side of the house. (Maybe the cables are giving off a hum that sounds like bugs are underneath?) ...

Greg and his fiance are waiting for a commuter-rail train at track 3 at Back Bay on Thursday when a train pulls up on track 1 and something explodes with a blinding light and a loud boom:

Nobody.

Said.

A.

Word.

Not one G-ddamned word! Some nimrods who saw the explosion smiled and laughed at the noise. ...

Turned out to be a pigeon exploding on contact with the Amtrak electrical wires. But he wonders why only he, his fiance and one other person did anything to report the problem:

... WHAT THE F*** IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?!?!

We are at Condition Orange, for chrissakes! Intelligence experts have expressed concern about a London style attack on the US for months!

And your response to an explosion in an MBTA station is mute amusement?

You people are going to lose this war for us. You people are the reason terrorists can commit the atrocities they do, because you people are ignoring the f****ng problem! ...