Sunday, May 31, 2015
The birdshit wind scale
There must have been a pretty decent wind a couple days ago. It didn't wake me up, but it did deposit quite a few needles and foot-long branches on the street. It also deposited this mystery.
Birdshit on the screen door, circled. (My terrible photo skills made it look like a frog again, or maybe a flying Anomalocaris.)
The shit is about 14" below the eaves, and the protruding porch-like substance is about 18" out. This means the shit must have been traveling at least 60 degrees away from vertical.
First possibility: A bird perched on the gutter, tail facing out, then sort of leaned back and pooped downward and inward. Seems like a difficult and unbirdlike action, but physically possible. Second possibility: A bird was flying a few inches beyond the eave-line and happened to poop just as it passed the door. Wind carried the shit almost horizontally toward the door. Third possibility: A bird was flying parallel to the house, and the wind knocked it sideways so it bumped into the door and pooped in panic.
None of those seem highly plausible.
There must have been a pretty decent wind a couple days ago. It didn't wake me up, but it did deposit quite a few needles and foot-long branches on the street. It also deposited this mystery.
Birdshit on the screen door, circled. (My terrible photo skills made it look like a frog again, or maybe a flying Anomalocaris.)
The shit is about 14" below the eaves, and the protruding porch-like substance is about 18" out. This means the shit must have been traveling at least 60 degrees away from vertical.
First possibility: A bird perched on the gutter, tail facing out, then sort of leaned back and pooped downward and inward. Seems like a difficult and unbirdlike action, but physically possible. Second possibility: A bird was flying a few inches beyond the eave-line and happened to poop just as it passed the door. Wind carried the shit almost horizontally toward the door. Third possibility: A bird was flying parallel to the house, and the wind knocked it sideways so it bumped into the door and pooped in panic.
None of those seem highly plausible.
Labels: TMI
¶ 9:48 AM
