Great story, Steve. Just the thing after a long day at work!
Bonnie Dundas

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Antell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 3:35 PM
Subject: [VTBIRD] Standoff in Battery Park


>I have been an avid reader of VTBIRD messages and appreciate everyone's
>fascination and joy in all things avian.  Indeed, I have had many memorable
>experiences myself over the years and especially enjoy this time of year.
>There is, however, a darker, mostly unspoken side to the world of birds,
>and I think it only prudent and fair to warn others of the dangers lurking
>out there.
>
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> Actually, thoughts of atlassing and bird song were not even on my mind
> last Friday as I ordered fries and a hamburger from the bus at Battery
> Park.  I was hungry and looking forward to a quiet break from my all day
> conference.  I sat on a picnic table and contentedly began eating my
> admittedly less than gourmet lunch.  Just as I was ready to take yet
> another bite out of my hamburger, I was rudely thwacked on the back of my
> head.  In the split second that it took to begin processing the assault,
> the burger was knocked from my hand, landing on the ground several feet
> away.  A ring-billed gull landed nearby, squawking loudly in an attempt to
> intimidate me further and was quickly joined by several co-conspirators,
> all carrying on loudly.  In the excitement of the moment, I managed to
> spill my fries all over the picnic table.  I instantly decided that there
> was no way I was going to allow such churlish behavior to pay off.  But it
> also occurred to me that the hamburger might have only been a diversion
> and that if I went after it, the fries would quickly become history.  I
> resorted to several feinting moves toward the burger while quickly
> scooping the fries back into the container.  Fries safely back in the box,
> I then gathered up the no longer particularly appetizing hamburger (to me,
> at least) and buried it in a nearby trash container, taking perverse
> pleasure in knowing the gulls would realize it was there but that they
> were not going to be able to get to it.  I scurried out of the park,
> nervously eating the rest of my fries while frequently looking over my
> shoulder, lamenting that I really had not had enough lunch to hold me.
>
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> Could a similar traumatic event have been Hitchcock's inspiration?
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> Steve Antell
>
> Shelburne
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