Subject: Non-birder hostility/ Pink-siders
Date: Feb 19 15:33:55 1996
From: Patrick Scott - scott931 at uidaho.edu




On Mon, 19 Feb 1996, Russell Rogers wrote:

> shotgun to scare off what I was looking at. People curse at me, blow
> their horns, yell, swerve their cars at me, scream, and so on. I always just
> bite my tounge and wave back with a smile.
>
It's not just Skagit, trust me! Out here (E. Wash / Idaho), the locals
follow some general rules of etiquette that I was unfamiliar with:
If you see a person trying to photograph a bird:
1. If they're parked on the side of the road, they're
probably with the government, so make sure you stop your pickup truck and
try to intimidate them into leaving.
2. Ask as loudly as you can, "Whatcha LOOKIN AT?!"
3. Flap your arms wildly and bang pots and pans (if possible).
4. Let your dog off the leash and say, "Sic 'em!"
5. Four words: "Honey, get the gun."
6. Ask the wackos what they're looking at, then say "Oh yeah,
thems make good eatin'."
7. Stare at them until they're sure you're an axe-murderer.
8. Scream until the bird flies away.
9. Chop down the tree before those pinko-commie environmentalist
Nazis steal your God-given lifestyle away.
10. Honk your horn for 5 seconds. Repeat until people leave.

I'm sure that there are more rules of conduct for the people out here,
but they don't let nature-loving freaks like me play in any logging games...

On a lighter (much lighter: I bet they only weigh an ounce or two!) note,
we spotted our first pink-sided Oregon junco today (2/19) at Sunnyside
Park in Pullman. It was really cool! Also saw a beautiful blue heron,
and went home to get the camera to take his picture. Unfortunately,
Monsieur l'Heron didn't want his picture taken and flew off. I couldn't
help but wonder if he was the same heron that was munching on goldfish
there last year....

-Pat
scott931 at uidaho.edu