[obol] That darned "H" word

[Paul T. Sullivan]

OBOL:

With all the postings about bird harassing one another, it's tempting to 
jump in with an anecdote about the Eastern Kingbird I saw riding the back of 
a Bald Eagle past my fishing cabin 30 years ago,

but with so many years afield,  I could just as well make a table:

HARASSER                         HARASSEE
redwing blackbird                sandhill crane
redwing blackbird                Paul Sullivan
kestrel                                 red-tail
red-tail                                golden eagle
chickadee                            pygmy owl
Paul Sullivan                        saw-whet owl
saw-whet owl                      Paul Sullivan
that _____tailgater!              Paul Sullivan
etc...                                    etc...

Harassment is a part of nature.  Birds pirating food or protecting food 
drive others away.  Birds defending territory strive to drive intruders 
away.  Birds respond to pissshing (harassment) with alarm (harassment) 
behavior.  Birds suspicious of predators (owls, hawks) mob them to drive 
them away.  This goes on daily in the life of most living things.  This is 
the way living creatures work out survival.

Only humans ( and perhaps corvids) engage in harassment just for the fun of 
it.  Bureaucracies seem to thrive on it too.  Why, I don't know.  Can't be a 
survival mechanism, can it?

Paul T. Sullivan

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