People who seek to lure birds can sometimes get too much of a good thing…or so seems to be the underlying message of a recent Verizon commercial, More Birds. “There’s good more, and there’s not so good more,” intones the announcer. Hubby is outside while the wife is inside, plinking away on a computer tablet and happy that she’s accumulating Verizon bonus rewards points.
“Honey, look! I got one to light on me!,” babbles the guy to his largely-oblivious wife as a small bird lands on his extended arm. “Uh huh,” notes the wife. “You’ve got a buddy!,” says the guy as a second bird lands on his other extended arm. While the woman continues to be completely involved with her Verizon bonus rewards points, birds continue to land on the man’s extended arms. “I’m like a statue!,” he intones, not wishing to scare them away. Trouble is, the birds continue to come, including an owl; things are getting out of hand. The last bird to come appears to be a large bird of prey, and it grabs the guy from behind, literally carrying him away with his work. The woman either doesn’t notice, or perhaps doesn’t care. Familiarity breeds contempt, after all.
Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock was onto something in his classic thriller, The Birds. Then in mythology we also have tales of the giant Roc, said to be large enough to carry cattle and even elephants away. At the very least, birds can poop on you and your newly-washed car, which is horrible enough…
– – The Aflac Duck had seemed almost indestructible up to this point…after all, he’s been bonked by soccer balls, whacked with logs, singed by flames, and even dropped into the Grand Canyon. Now the daredevil duck has suffered the unthinkable, involved in an undisclosed accident with ensuing injuries to his wing and beak! In a new series of television commercials, a “doctor” discusses the duck’s disaster in front of reporters, and we only see the familiar fowl as a small fixed image on the screen. 
– – I, for one, worry about extremely large whiskey-swilling birds of prey terrorizing the neighborhood; they might, for example, lower already-depressed property values, to say nothing of discouraging tourism. 
– – Nearing Labor Day as this blog reaches the 300,000 hits mark, we pause to thank our readers for making this possible. And as we consider dubious achievements, we will also make mention of possibly the worst furry-themed movie ever made…Howard the Duck! 
– – Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock was right; the birds are up to something! A United Airlines Boeing 737 struck a bird as it descended into Denver International airport Tuesday morning, leaving a gaping hole in the nose of the plane. An emergency was declared, and Flight 1475 was able to land safely.
– – Too many people tend to adopt exotic animals as part of a spur-of-the-moment craze, only to abandon them when the realities of their ownership hits home. Sadly owls are one of the latest examples of this trend, with their popularity spurred by the Harry Potter movies and Harry’s owl, Hedwig. 
FOXSYLVANIA 
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