because I couldn’t enforce “the right to refuse service”. Let me explain. This summer (2022) a banded pigeon took shelter and refuge in the cafe I had created for the local Magpie population. Okay, I thought. After all, I’m an open-minded free spirit who believes in compassion, etc. and so on. Freedom is perhaps my most precious value. Welcome pigeon. Rest, recuperate, eat, and be on your way.
However, the bird took up residence. Indeed, it rested, recuperated, and ate.
And shit, everywhere! Not only that; but he/she/it was sort of a bully. One time, one of my beloved magpie even tugged on its tail trying to get it leave the feeder. In other words – “please, my friend, let’s take turns.”
Trauma Victim?
Maybe. I read up on banded pigeons after consulting with my grand niece, Joslin. She is a domestic bird expert. A raiser and lover of chickens. Ja identified the bird right-away.
They, the pigeons, are an abused bird, by wicked, evil men mostly. As it turns out.
But What Of Me
and my friends? The magpies, finches (Farrah), the doves? My garden balcony? Not even to mention my people-neighbors who live below me? There was bird doodoo everywhere!
Struggling with what to do, I tried driving it away with a stick. I thought of shooting it with my bow and arrow. Nothing worked and nothing seemed doable. And so I closed the cafe. Or, stopped feeding the wild birds.
The Result
is – they don’t need us. People. Me, in particular. The wild birds will be just fine. (They are.) In addition, my balcony garden is thriving.
The Message
is, what? We humans cause the problems? We think about what we want, what makes us feel good. Beauty? Compassion? Helping other living things? The environment?
Hey, pass that bottle over here, please. We’re the ones who “paved over paradise”.