Sure! Sure!

Our close simian cousins, the Chimps,

are known to use a hollow in a stone

and a heavy rock or an old bone

to extract a tasty seed from its shell.

The Bonobo, 2nd cousins once removed,

solve clan disputes with the Joy of Sex.

(No wonder they are always smiling…)

Lucy the Ape will whine,

then beg forgiveness for her sin

using symbol and sign.

So, sure, humanities genetic line is very smart…

But the birds have taken intelligence

to new heights.

The Brown Headed Nuthatch,

a fellow I recently met at the bird feeders I put out

after I migrated South from the Hudson Valley

(after long suffering in cold winters and ice)

is native to North Carolina.

(That in itself says a lot!)

He uses the rough bark of the Live Oak tree for a vice

to hold in place the sunflower seeds

from my “Free meal Feeding Zone”

to peck open and extract his lunch.

Then he eats each seed by seed

to quench his dietary need.

So, birds know tools

just like our branch swinging cousins.

But, birds have shown me other skills as well.

Because the nocturnal raccoon and opposum

come out at night and in the darkness

have figured out how to navigate

the eight foot tall shepherds crooks

and sliding pirchs on the feeders,

(No dummies either, those guys…)

and will continue gorging until

all the suet and seed are gone,

I, each evening, dutifully empty

each suet grill and seed holder into a bin,

lock the bin and store it on the porch all night.

Then, when I wake in the morning,

I refill the feeders and sit in my pillowed rocker

to watch the tactical approach

of chickadee, bluebird, wren and finch

to their much anticipated, subsidized breakfast entitlement.

And here is where an even greater aviary superiority reveals itself.

If, God forbid, I am late,

sleep an extra thirty minutes

or dare to cuddle with my bride,

to use some extra, (if unanticipated) surge of power

that comes to us 0lderly,

for an unexpected happy hour…

(You get my drift…)

Well!

I am greeted by the stares of dozens of

wrens, finches, thrashers, chickadees and mockingbirds

pirching on the hooks and platforms,

tapping their talons and pecking their beaks

scolding me for making them wait!

Guilting ME! Their Benefactor,

with their lean and hungry looks

and their whimpering whistles.

They have mastered psychological techniques of torture

only recently discovered by our civilized cultures.

Enough to break me, a man who at 75 certainly

has ample experience to know how to deal

with a stockpile of evil deeds that have nothing to do

with suet or seed,

that make waterboarding look like

a pleasant dip in the bird bath.

Humans needed millennia and Adler, Jung and Freud

to create the tools to avoid deep rooted ,subconscious

reactions to our failures and sins.

Birds derail those mechanisms

with a hungry look and a few sorrowful chirps.

The more I learn about animals,

the more I’ve come to accept

how far down the line my place really is!

As Tarzan once said,

“Chita, move over!”