Conference misery::feline

    I found the story fascinating...especially since I know how Blue Jays
    can be.  Some of the blue jays work in tandem with our neighborhood
    squirrels (the ones I feed) to fool Miss Lucy, the cat across the
    street.
    
    I don't know if it is possible, but they just might have put the baby
    back in the original nest, or it was healed enough to learn to fly.
    
    K.C.

	Hi Roberta!  What a neat story - hope the little bird was ok :^}

	Our cats don't go outside, but we've recently seen our local blue-
	jay population terrorizing one of the neighborhood cats.  I know
	she's a hunter, as I've seen her coming out of the field proudly
	carrying a mouse in her jaws.  It must be that the blue jays get
	very protective right about now.  When this cat comes out into the
	open, she crawls on her belly until she gets under cover again.

	I've also seen grackles gang up on a cat that got too close to 
	their nesting area.  They won't hurt the cat, but will scare the
	poop out of it :^}

	Sandy

    Bluejays are very protective against their young.  I remember years
    ago one of our cats had "snatched" a baby bird...and the Bluejays
    attacked our kitty.    Our cat got "pecked" on the head...and it
    turned into a very bad abscess.
    
    The bluejays didn't go away for weeks....they are very revengeful!!
    
    

    If you think blue jays are bad, come on up for a visit!  We have 
    swallows that will dive bomb just about anything that moves.  :^)

    We have a bird house out back that's on an 8' pole.  About a year ago,
    Lea figured out a way to climb on top of the house.  She thought
    nothing of spending a sunny day on top of the house, peering down into
    the hole where the nesting birds were.  The swallows got absolutely
    livid with her.  I've never seen birds attack like these!  Later that
    day I was out planting a clematis vine alongside the pole and sure
    enough, one of the swallows came swooping down and brushed up against
    me.  My blood curdling scream was loud enough to wake the dead but that
    didn't stop the birds from carrying on their antics.  (to this day they
    still dive bomb both Lea and I)  Personally, I don't care for their
    displays of affection towards me but I would much rather have swallows
    in my yard than blue jays!  They are mean birds.  Also, I believe that
    a large population of blue jays in your yard will be enough to keep
    smaller birds away.  I tend to prefer finches and sparrows in the yard
    because they are "eye candy" for the cats to enjoy.  :^)

    Maybe Yonee could elaborate on the bird topic since she's quite an avid
    bird watcher.

    Ok, I'll bite! Thanks Ver! ;-)
    
    Blue jays are very raucous and vengeful critters! They can terrorize a
    yard for weeks as has been said!
    
    Luckily, my cats have not angered the ones that come into my yard. I
    hate when they start yelling outside the window at the crack of dawn!
    ;-)
    
    I've had swallow swoop down on me, but not because I was near their
    nest. Just because I might have had a tasty mosquito near my head! I've
    actually heard the mosquito stop buzzing abruptly next to my ear after
    one of these dive bomb attacks! I look at it as the bird saving me from
    getting bit! ;-)
    
    I have however been dive bombed by a Goshawk! That's pretty scary! I
    was fishing on the Quabbin reservoir in a small boat, and I guess we
    got too close for comfort for her, and she swooped down VERY close to
    our heads a few times before we could make our way clear or her
    'territory'. Those talons look REALLY big when that close to you!
    
    BTW, for those of you who don't know, a Goshawk is a medium sized hawk.
    It's smaller than the red-tailed hawks that most of us have seen
    soaring, but still a good sized bird!
    
    My cats have been aggravated a few times by the mockingbird that hangs
    around the house. I don't think it has a nest, I think it just likes to
    see Furby take off like a shot! ;-)
    
    Y 
    
                                         

      My wife's boss's wife has been undergoing medical treatment for the
    past three weeks to fix injuries caused by a family of Bluejays that
    attacked her when she got too close to their nest... She was severly
    scratched....one scratch occuring in the corner of her eye which became
    infected and has been the major reason for the medical treatment...
    
    
      An aside....over the past few days I've seen more than one news
    report of the Mockingbirds in Washington DC, Maryland and parts of
    Virginia literally DIVEBOMBING people as they walk down the streets.
    Videos have shown frequent attacks--usually occuring from the rear
    against unsuspecting pedestrians...these birds actually HIT the people
    on the head...sometimes repeatedly...
    
    John McD

    Maybe we have rabid birds?  ;^)
    
    
    Roe-
    
    There was an article in the Westboro News about a family who nursed
    a bird back to health.  Tufts Wildlife was interviewed because they
    wouldn't take the bird in.  They suggested the same as what you stated
    in .1....put the bird back.  I guess the family raised the bird by hand
    and set it free, only to find that it kinda likes hangin' out with
    them.  Tufts said that the mom or dad bird won't kill the young if it
    was touched by humans.  The best we could do would be to put it back as
    close as we could to the nest for the parents to find.
    
    I feel bad for Nikki though.....

      Just this morning I saved a baby robin from the clutches of one of
    the neighborhood cats.  It was a fledgling, probably fell from the
    nest.
      I remember many, many years ago when I still lived in my apartment,
    my Ruby caught a baby blue jay that was trying to learn to fly and fell
    flat on its face.  I saw the bird fall from the tree as we were sitting
    on the porch.
      In about a fraction of a second, Ruby was at the bird.
    
      "Ruby!  Don't! Put that bird d  "
    
      never got to finish the sentance, in one swallow, the bird was
    consumed.  I had never seen him do anything like that before and was
    more than surprised.  he just casually licked his chops and sauntered
    back over to the porch, where I was still standing with my mouth open
    in shock.  But what really hurt was the mother bird.  The sounds she
    was making were almost human.  She was screaming in great pain and
    agony.  The sadness in those cries went right to your heart.  She was
    looking all over hoping her baby might still be there after all.  Those
    cries though!  My gosh! They were so sad.......
    
          Denise

    Last night I decided to go for a run by the water (aquatic park which
    leads into the bay).  Anyway I had to stop because there was a flock of
    Pellicans in the cove and I hadn't seen them hanging in side there in
    years - so I watched them for a while and then continued on to the end
    of the pier where I noticed a couple of swimmers and 2 guys on paddle
    boards - so I'm checking this out when I see about 5/6 more Pellicans
    coming into my line of vision and one's about ready to do a dive - only
    this big fella isn't after fish - he's heading for a swimmer - no it's
    another one and he's going for the guy on the paddle board.  This
    little scene drew an audience and I don't know that I've seen 4 people
    churning water so fast as to get out of harms way.
    
    My husband used to pilot swims out in the bay on a board years ago and
    had told me of Pellican attacks and I just used to laugh thinking he
    was pulling my leg - well I guess he wasn't.
    
    .......Hitchcock anyone?
    
    Giudi

    
    I watched one of my cats get dive bombed a couple of years ago.  he
    was just sitting in the back yard minding his own business when a
    bluejay started dive bombing him.  He let it go on for 7 or 8 dives,
    then just jumped up (must have gone 4 feet in the air) and came down
    with the bird.  He obviously wasn't hungry or interested as he let
    it go (he was a hunter who brought home mice, moles, birds, rabbits,
    and anything else he could catch).  Never saw that jay again.
    
    Reminds me of the time, this loud reverberating thumping sound
    at my front picture window (my last house was a slab ranch and
    the window was only 2 feet off the ground on the front porch).
    When I investigated it was my cat throwing a mouse up at it.
    There he was, proud as could be to show me his treasure.
    
    We have only indoor cats now!!!
    
    J