<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Ron, Joan,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Both of you have commented on the predatory
nature of jays, Joan by personal observation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>I wonder if there is some regional
variation in this trait. One of our feeding stations is on the ground
under a apple tree. This morning all at one time, all together, were about
eight jays, a flicker, a pheasant, some doves, many quail, juncos, a free range
turkey, and a young (this year's) deer. They all seemed to be getting
along and sharing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>The Jays and Magpies tease and play with
our dog, Star, a Schipperke. They land just out of her range. When
she attempts to playfully make contact, they move just a little further out of
her range but teasingly close enough to encourage more pursuit and play.
(There is one adult deer who does the same thing -- with the fence
in-between. The deer and star run and play for sometimes almost an
hour.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>The magpies present the greatest
challenge. Star is adept at catching field mice. She attempts to
store her trophies under a low-to-the ground spruce tree. When the magpies
first discover a new stash of these gems, they descend en masse. Star then
chases them away a few times. After this has gone on awhile, the magpies
adopt a different strategy: One swoops down toward the rodent stash
enticing Star by short flights to move a distance away. Then a horde
of other magpies swoop in and clean out the stash.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Does anyone have similar tales?
Please share them.</FONT></DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>
<DIV><BR>Wayne</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Art Deco (Wayne Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>