What the pigeon told the squirrel

 

A very odd thing happened the other day. I was out in the garden working when a pigeon flew by and landed only feet away. I stood still so as not to disturb it. It ignored me and continued walking here and there, bobbing its head left and right like pigeons do, and totally unperturbed by my presence. And I tell you, I do have a presence when out gardening, or at any time come to think of it. But the pigeon was not impressed.

I decided to continue digging the garden. The pigeon was not concerned by my movement and continued walking nearby picking something to eat from the ground. 

I moved slowly towards the bird table, picked up a few seeds which I placed carefully on the ground. The pigeon was only two feet away. He moved closer and ate the seeds.

Then he started talking to me. He said, "Brrrr ... Brrrrr ..." like pigeons do when they are cooing. 

I did not understand what he said because I don't speak pigeon language. Besides, I did not know what part of the UK he was from and what accent he was speaking in. A pigeon from Glasgow in Scotland sounds totally different from a London Cockney one, or one from Liverpool. Although the latter one may have a guitar and sing, "Yeah Yeah Yeaaah!!!"

Anyway, this set me thinking. Do pigeons tell each other stories they've heard, I wonder? Would this pigeon tell other pigeons that they can get a good meal if they visit my garden?

It is a known fact that bees and wasps communicate with each other. They tell each other where the best pollen is. Ants too apparently. Many animals and insects communicate with each other. They warn each other of danger or tell each other where good things are. They are not selfish. They share.

I once found a bee going "ZZZZUB ... ZZZZUB ... ZZZZUB ..." It was reversing at the time.

When the pigeon flew away a squirrel visited my garden.

He spoke to me in a local accent. He said he came from the park nearby. 

Here are some facts about squirrels you may not know. They don't always bury their nuts in the ground. Sometimes they pretend to bury them in case some other squirrel is watching. Then they move elsewhere and bury their nuts there. They keep their nuts in their mouths and pretend to bury them two or three times until they find a suitable spot to hide them.

Often, they forget where they've buried their nuts, because they don't have a good memory like elephants. Although I'll admit, I don't believe this elephants have a good memory thing. I've never received a birthday card from an elephant. So much for their good memory!

The squirrel then proceeded to eat the seeds on my bird table. "This is a good eating place!" he said, "a pigeon told me!"

I wonder, do we tell each other the good news when we read a good Blog; just to encourage each other?

The other day Mevely put me on to a good Blog to read; she also advertises my book on her Blog. Also Jan let me know that figs contain wasps. (See HERE). And Jack often mentions me on his Blog. Other readers like Martha  Mariette and Lulu have posted Customer Reviews of my books on Amazon; as did Mevely. Brian, on the other hand, posts my Blog articles on another social media website. Linda shared my books with her readers.

To all of you, as well as many others whom I may have missed, or who have my Blog on your side-column, thank you so much.