Critters and Humans

Birds and animals interact with humans when there is something they need. I’ve got stories on this blog about some of these critters and will refer to them in this piece.

My grandpa had a quarter section of land in the desert just west of San Simon, Arizona. There was a tiny house, just a couple of rooms there, and he would sometimes spend the night.  Grandpa saw a roadrunner near the house a few times, so he would throw table scraps into the yard for the bird. As he spent more time at the house, he saw more of the roadrunner, so he bought a sack of bird feed and began putting some out every morning just after dawn. The roadrunner began to expect the feed at the same time every day. If Grandpa was late getting up, the roadrunner would hop up onto the window ledge to wake him. Smart bird!

We have seen the crows do things to get our attention, too. Once, Lame Foot pecked on the screen door to let us know it was chow time. The crows sometimes do a  fly-by. They fly below the height of the windows so they can look in and see us, and we can see them as well.  Most of the time, they just walk around on the driveway and squawk.

Our cat, Isabella, used a non-verbal way of letting me know it was bedtime. About 8:30 PM, she would go to the place where the hall entered the living room. She would sit back on her haunches and stare at me until I acknowledged her. Then, she would head down the hall to our home office which was her bedroom and lay down. I followed her in, scratched her forehead and ears and rubbed the bridge of her nose and then I told her goodnight.

My cousin, Vivian, had a box tortoise that showed up every morning and parked itself in the same spot by her door. She saw it eating out of a cat food can she had put out, so she bought some small cans of food for it. The tortoise was large enough to reach over the side of the can and take a bite, so it worked out fine.

Pat and I were babysitting a parrot named “Highpockets” for some friends who were on a vacation. Some parrots have a lot to say, and Highpockets was one of them. One evening, we were eating some grapes, and Pat said, “I wonder if Highpockets wants a grape?” I said, “I don’t know if parrots eat grapes.” Highpockets said, “I like grapes!” Another time, I got up at about 5:30 AM and went downstairs. Highpockets’ cage was covered, and I tried to slip past without waking him. I just wanted a cup of coffee with no hassle. As I tiptoed past, a voice from the cage asked, “Is anybody there???”

It’s time for fun!!

Let’s have a good time! Turn to your Amazon Dot device and say, “Alexa, play Boot Scootin Boogie by Brooks and Dunn!”

Dave Thomas

11/29/2025