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A very pheasant Christmas in the Back Bay
By adamg on Fri, 12/25/2015 - 7:45pm
MC Slim JB spotted this pheasant by the Loews Hotel on Berkeley Street today.
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Oh No!
The Brookline Turkey is not going to like the Back Bay Pheasant (or should it be called the Copley Pheasent)
Adorable!
a glimpse of the world without us (humans).
Ringneck pheasants are not
Ringneck pheasants are not native to this country and thanks to their habit of roosting close to the ground they would soon be extinct here without continued releases.
Also: what now swans, geese, partridges, French hens, & turtle doves are no longer optimal ?
Turkey gentrification
hasn't swayed that Pheasant to move.
What is it With All These Peasants in the Back Bay Anyway?
The Back Bay is not for peasants. It's for rich people. We don't want these peasants scaring away all the rich people with their grubby little hands. And did you ever see them in the cold with their rags on their feet and runny noses? Whats the matter with these people? Can't somebody give them a tissue or something? It looks like a snail crawled up their sleeves!
Huh what's that you say? They're not peasants? Pheasnts? Oh like those birds the rich people shoot when they dress up in those short pants and funny hats?
Oh that's different.
Never mind.
At the dawn of conflict we
At the dawn of conflict we took our Canada and Mallard brethren under our wings as native brothers in the fight against the invaders. Shortly thereafter those fowl water loving quislings betrayed us for breadcrumbs!
When the proud Pheasants, with the regale livery, were introduced here by our colonial oppressors, they too knew oppression in bondage as their lives and deaths were institutionalized blood sport for the gentry class of colonial 'hunters' under a regime organized by 'game wardens'.
We took them in under our wings as brothers. As silly and vain creates with a knack for bravery we shared a common bond and quarrel with our foes.
But again we were betrayed as the usurpers and spread far and wide across our land without taking the fight to our would be oppressors. They would rather run, hide, and preen than take up arms, and by opposing end the bloodletting against them.
Over the centuries it has become clear; Our fight is our own. There is no cavalry coming. Only a growing strength in our spirit and numbers can overcome the tide coming in against us.
WE SHALL NOT GO QUIETLY!
WE SHALL PERSEVERE!
WE SHALL PREVAIL!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEE!!!!!
Good feathers?
Were you cooing with my bird?
Phabulous!
1) Pheasants don't fly far, just very quickly in short bursts-- they prefer to run. Which means this guy walked/MBTA'ed/Ubered here.
2) Not only are pheasants not native to MA (or the Americas, for that matter) but there also aren't any recorded stands of pheasants that have been imported for hunting naturalizing in eastern Massachusetts. Which means this fellow probably escaped from a canned hunt.
Good going, kiddo!
Post Script: My dad's farm in VA had a, well, "feral" doesn't seem like the right word, but naturalized cluster of pheasants for a few years. He never bought them himself, so they seem to have made a home after fleeing other farms and wildlands where they had been introduced for hunts. Eventually they were poached or driven away by local dogs and raccoons. This is not far from the North Carolina border, near the coast, so
it stays above freezing most of the winter.
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/hunting-fishing-wildlife-watchi...
https://www.pheasantsforever.org/Habitat/Why-Habitat/Pheasant-Facts.aspx
That depends upon what you
That depends upon what you mean by canned hunt. Thousands are released on public lands every year in Massachusetts by the D.F.W.
Perhaps then, "jarred" not "canned"
Not quite as pasteurized or shelf stable, but still artificially easy to do.
Nice
I like how the ISO noise from the camera's sensor gives the image a very impressionistic feel.
Wish I could say that was an artistic choice, but this is
a greatly enlarged iPhone shot taken quickly from my car on Berklee Street at the Stuart Street red light. He was already attracting a little parade of followers, clearly didn't care for that.