Sunday 19 February 2012

Beware of booby trapped mince



Or Greeks bearing gifts, so says this wise old buzzard I filmed today. It is amazing how this totally wild bird knows that sometimes when something seems too good to be true it often is, what a pity many of us advanced apes at times do not realise that too!

If you watch the video you will see how it is wary of the camera lens, but far more wary of the tempting 800g of mince that has mysteriously appeared in the woodland. How does this bird know it could be a trap? Has it previously been caught in a trap when on the lookout for an easy meal? Extremely unlikely as it would not have survived to tell the tale. Maybe it was taught to be cautious of such things by its parents when it was a chick? Possible but how would they communicate such a message without language? Maybe it is inherited instinct passed down through the buzzard bloodline because they have been persecuted for centuries. Is it nature or nurture which makes it so cautious? I do not know the answer but it would be fascinating to find out.

11 comments:

Moshe Pitt said...

Great quality video, thanks for sharing!

Could it possibly have been that it thought it had stumbled across another predators kill, and was expecting the rightful owner of dinner to still be around?

Anonymous said...

That is a plausible theory MP. It certainly looks as if it is up to no good but it is obviously a very intelligent bird.

Anonymous said...

Beware of booby trapped, political leaders.
Don't allow yourself to be dragged along with them.
Don't send them money, post leaflets for them. Let them sink on their own.
In the end, political thuggery and corruption always get found out.

Anonymous said...

I didnt know we had eagles around these parts.

Anonymous said...

lots of them

Gordon McDonald said...

Interestingly the inventor of Subbuteo, Peter Adolph, named the game after the Latin name for the bird Hobby which is a small falcon, 'Falco Subbuteo'. He did this after his initial request to the Patent Office to use the Name 'Hobby' for his game was turned down.

Wildman of Borneo said...

The lighter plumage denotes a juvenile, perhaps the same one you filmed previously. It's clearly learned fast to be wary of free gifts.
More excellent work that deserves a wider forum.

The Eagle Has Landed said...

Not so long ago, Nick Griffin warned bnp members not to have anything to do with the edl.
Now he's trying to jump on the coat tails of the edl in Hyde.
This man lives in a merky world of corruption and deceit.
I've never seen anything like this man in all my life.
Roy West.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting about Subbuteo Mr McDonald but never mention the word 'Adolph' on this site...DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND UBER ALLES, UBER ALLES IN DER WELT! AAAAAAAARGGHHH I CAN'T STOP.

See what I mean.

Never seen anything like this said...

You must be a very poor judge of character

Anonymous said...

20/02/2012 18:35

Old news, nothing else to use?