The Slice: Wild kingdom in the backyard

Slice readers were asked to recall moments when they looked out at their bird feeders and saw something unusual.

Several readers sent photos of moose and deer availing themselves of the feeders’ offerings. Others described unexpected scenes featuring turkeys, ducks and felines.

Jerry Hargitt was looking outside when he saw a squirrel leap from a tree branch onto a pine siskin at the feeder. The rodent quickly dispatched the unfortunate bird. “I had never, before or since, heard of a squirrel doing that.”

Karen Botker shared this. “Our ‘bird feeder,’ my mom, went to fill the feeder, when she encountered a Cooper’s hawk, on the back patio, plucking one of her beloved quail. She was hysterical.”

(Karen’s mom, that is. The hawk was the picture of composure.)

Karen’s mom shouted “Stop him! Stop him!”

“I reminded her that she was still feeding the birds, only this time it was a hawk she was feeding. My comedy did not help the situation.”

On a less carnivorous note, Moscow’s Kathy Graham shared this.

“I came home from work one summer day and saw a cockatiel on our deck’s bird feeder. He was in bad shape (exhausted and hungry) so I easily picked him up and put him in a cat carrier, the only thing I could find. A friend who had birds brought a cage and some food but we didn’t think he would make it through the night.

“But that was 25 years ago and Fred is doing well. I have asked him his story many times. Did he come from a neighbor’s house or did he fly 30 miles from Lewiston? Did someone open a door or window and accidentally let him out?

“But all he has to say is he’s glad he found a home. He is showing his age and now needs to visit the WSU Vet School in Pullman for a checkup on a regular basis but they love him too.”

Long ago: What did people talk about back before the nonstop nattering of social media?

Let’s examine a “Thanksgiving Greetings” postcard mailed in Cleveland on this date in 1911. It’s from a woman named Laverne, sent to her Aunt Tillie at 329 South Cedar in Spokane.

Laverne thanked Tillie for her recent letter and complained about the weather in Ohio. She hoped her aunt and family would have a nice Thanksgiving dinner.

So, the same sort of stuff we talk about now, I guess. But with fewer exclamation points.

Today’s Slice question: Do your friends regard you as exhausting?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Ed English would name a band the Hillyardbirds.