A Bird Brain; Wondrous Intelligence

Thursday telephone call; A story from Maryland --

(This story was written by the Grand Mother, as told to her by the Far Fetched Son, recently retired and now busy planting orange trees and flowering shrubs in his yard in Florida.)

Our grandson, Ray, recently was installing some insulated windows. Working high on a ladder, he noticed a bird chirping nearby. The sounds got louder and more frantic. Looking around, Ray spotted a nest in a near-by tree. He could see some eggs in the nest and also saw the Mama bird nearby making all the noise. In a soothing voice, Ray spoke to Mama Bird, reassuring her he was not going to harm her nest or eggs. Still the chirping went on and grew louder and more frantic.

Ray's boss and his wife were below and had also heard all the noise. Looking up, the wife saw a snake crawling up the tree, approaching the nest. Frantically she called, “Ray, there is a snake crawling up the tree to get the bird's eggs. Can't you do something?!”

Quickly Ray looked around and soon spotted the snake slithering up the tree. Climbing down the ladder, Ray quickly climbed up the tree. When he was high enough so he could reach the snake, as quick as a flash of lightning, he grabbed the snake by the tail and flung it harshly to the ground. Ray's boss promptly killed the snake

When Ray climbed down, the wife profusely thanked him for his bravery and quick reactions. Ray's boss remarked, "Ray, you're crazy!"

Ray told his boss he wasn't really crazy as he had previously had some experience handling snakes. The boss commented, "You knew it was a Water Moccasin when you saw it, didn't you?"

"Yeah", Ray replied. I knew that, but remember I have had experience handling snakes."

"You're still crazy!" growled his boss.

Ray went back up the ladder and resumed his work. After a short while, he glanced again at the nest nearby. There sat Mama Bird, looking at him in a contented way, and perfectly quiet.

If that is an example of a bird's brain, I'd say the bird was quite intelligent.

From a Grandmother's perspective I would comment, "Ray, you better take better care of yourself or I won't let you keep you!" (Old Family Saying)