It happened that i had Kaiya (6 years) today and no twins (3 years) so we could do things that we usually can't, therefore, a hike in the Mountains was in order. We went up one of the local mountains to a small lookout and had ourselves some high-end chocolate as a way to say to the world we are the greatest. Looking down at the city we notice the quiet and just go explore for a while... I note that there are many berries in the bushes, we try some but they are getting past their prime.
We come to a spot where i see a Canada Jay, also know as a Grey Jay or Whiskey Jack and i remember an old trick even though its not really my thing i give it a go for my kids sake. I hold out a piece of a granola bar and the bird comes flying down into my hand in front of Kaiya and takes the food. Normally i would't do that for the main reason that the bird feet could be a hub for parasites, but my daughter, is impressed but yet instinctively says "should a bird eat human food ?", to which of course the answer is no for a few reasons. You ever hear about that mouse study where they fed wild mice, or moles perhaps human food and they developed the wrong kind of fat.. you see there is brown fat and white fat, and if you are in the wild you need the brown fat to survive. The point being animals should get naturally occurring food (if there is any left after humans have devastated the natural world)... actually while we are on that note Kaiya said on the way up on the path "is this man made, and if man made it would they make it like this"... i said no "man would find a way to screw it up"
anyhoo, there we are on the mountain me with one hand that has touched bird foot and we decide to feed the bird one more time... the bird is way off up high in a tree about 100 yards away so i hold up the food and start clicking... she asks me if i can talk to birds as earlier i flushed a thrush out of the bushes with a Phsss phsss phss sound... once a birder always a birder so i call the bird down and we observe the flight path down to my hand and the bird takes the food and flies away... and then the rustling in the bushes as a bear comes out to see who it is that is giving away all the food. Reason 2 not to give small wild animals food... because big wild animals might be watching.
we beat a hasty retreat and Kaiya thought it was a good lesson for her... I agreed.
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