Evening star., 1949-02-03
This and That
BIZ Charles E. Trace1Uell
sDrr,yTrcrA

oE1nEoDA, MO.
Dear Sir:
What can do to keep the jays away? I
do not dislike them but it seems to me they
carry off too many seeds and even whole
peanuts. This cuts down on the supply for
the small birds, and I cannot afford to buy
them more
It put out enough food for twice as many
birds as I feed, but these pesky jays come
around every day and scream and carry on
so, they drive away my small birds, and then
they set in and carry off the seeds and peanuts.
Il watched them, and you know what they
do? They take the food and bury it! After
my paying for it.! I do not lay out good money
in these days when foods of all kinds, even
bird food, costs so much, just to have some big
bird come along and carry 1t off.
If they ate It, wouldn't mind so much
but they do not eat very much, but seem to
get great deal of amusement or something
out Of carrying it off and burying it. have
watched them many times and some of the
food they put beneath leaves, and some of 1t
they cram down into the bark of trees.
Can you tell me what they are up to, and
how to stop them?
yours truly. NJ de L. Meg"
There is nothing one can do to keep jays
away.
There is no need to keep them away.
Let them carry off the food.
they take it.
You may not be able to see the little ones
eat, but rest assured that they will get it. Just
the same.
You see the blue jays are helpful when they
do this.
In nature, many creatures are helpful, but
it is hard for a watcher TO realize this at the
time
You see, the jays fly away with whole pea
nuts and you think the food is lost but
actually the jay is putting it where birds that
do not come to feeding stations much will
find it.
The food is put beneath leaves. But nature
has given all birds sense of where food is
to be found. No pile of leaves is so thick that
a bird cannot find the food buried there.
The food is put in the crevices of bark Of
trees.
That is natures way of helping her own. It
is true that no blue jay says to itself Now,
am going to take this fat sunflower seed, and
wedge it into this crevice so that some poor
little hungry nuthatch will find it..
No, there are no sentimentalists among the
birds They know nothing at all about some
little chickadee or some little nuthatch, or
some poor little starving titmouse.
No, sir, the birds just do what they do be-
cause nature has put it into their minds and
muscles to do what they do.
All their actions have been worked out over
habits, just as eating and drinking are habits.
The birds have no books on diet. They know
nothing about dietary science. Vitamins and
minerals and proteins are unknown to them,
but they know all about the rich foods which
contain these elements and get them all, in
the course of time, else they would have no
fine feathers, and would be unable to hatch out
babies or breast the cold winds and the ices
and SHOWS of the wintertime.
All tne birds do is done because those before
them did It, Finding food is one of these
things. Because some bird, or a squirrel, carries
away food and buries It, and the person who
put 1t out does not see some creature eat it,
does not mean that 1t is wasted. Far from it,
this food supplies many of the smaller birds,
such as those named, which do so much service
to mankind by cleaning up insects and their
forms found in crevices Of bark.
Our correspondent is advised to stop worrying
about such matters. The world is filled with
so many matters to worry about that no one,
no matter how hard pressed, ought to find it
necessary TO call in the beautiful blue Jay as
scapegoat. The jay is actually a wonderful
creature, filled with life and bounce. He will
carry off more than he eats, but he is simply
putting 1t where some other creature is sure
to find 1t.
Watching him do this Is source Of enter
tainment and instruction, and we feel sure
that our Gaelic correspondent with his sure
sense of humor, has already found this out.