A Tale of Two Plagues

Earlier this year, when we were both still in Asheville, we had a plague of Cicadas. These things were everywhere, and noisy. Their discarded exoskeletons covered two outer walls of our house. The droning noise of their mating calls filled the air and crept into your psyche. You couldn't walk outside without crushing them underfoot. It was kind of amazing, these little insects that came out enmasse every seven years to eat, mate and die.

And now, in Austin, we are experiencing a plague of Grackles. The common Grackle is a smallish black bird with reddish accents. They look somewhat similar to crows or ravens, but smaller than either. It seems that they winter here every year, flying in from all over the country. They are quite unintimidated by humans. One was standing on my car this morning, and didn't fly away until i was backing out of the parking space. They roost together at night in a stand of trees that Amity passes on her way to work in the morning, and then disperse in the morning to do whatever it is they do through the day, like stand on people's cars. Amity is often driving past while they are in the act of waking and dispersing. She got me up at six am to go see these birds. To those of you who know me well, it should be a testament of my love for her that i got up at six am to do anything.

There are thousands of these birds roosting in these trees. They are squawking at each other as the hop from tree to power line. Then they fly off in groups of hundreds, circling the trees and flying off in different directions, in search of worms to eat and cars to stand on. The number of these birds throughout the city is positively Hitchcockian. If i had children, i would fear for them to be eaten.