I am always fascinated with the way cultures and ideas clash and I think one great example is the Korean magpie. If you have lived any time in Korea you are aware of the Korean magpie - that big brassy bird wearing the suit that is said to be a bearer of good tidings or the announcer of a welcome guest. However, many Westerners did not see this bird in quite the favorable light that their Korean hosts did.
Here is how Horace Allen, the American representative to Korea, treated them - he shot them.
“Shooting them, however, only provided a temporary relief for the arrogant birds returned shortly after Allen went back inside. In desperation he ordered that several of the birds be ‘planted in the tulip beds with the bills and wing tips protruding from the ground.’ The result was a great deal of chattering and preening of necks by the surviving birds who then deserted the legation’s yard and garden leaving the tulips in peace for sometime.”
Of course, in every good story there must be a come-uppance - guess you will have to read the rest of the article to see if this one has one.
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I had to do something like Allen did one time. A jay bird kept scaring away other birds from our feeder so I dispatched him with one shot and left him lying there in plain sight. All the little birds came back to the feeder but the other jays stayed away. The birds seemed to understand.
The magpie belongs to the same group as the crow and raven, which have the largest brain cavity for any flighted bird, thus they are the most intelligent of their kind.
The Magpie are a rather ferocious bird. On par with with the red wing blackbird. I’ve been attacked by both as I walked into their territory. I’ve seen a magpie relentlessly take on a mid-sized hunting dog to protect its young.
Five thousand years of co-existing with the people really messed up the magpies and mosquitoes and the jindo dogs.
The Europeans revile the bird.
The Magpie is a rather ferocious bird. On par with the red wing blackbird. I’ve been attacked by both as I walked into their territory. I’ve seen a magpie relentlessly take on a mid-sized hunting dog to protect its young.
Five thousand years of co-existing with the people really messed up the magpies and mosquitoes and the jindo dogs.
The Europeans revile the bird.
I miss blue jays and even crows, but the magpie is a pretty good substitute. I like that seeing one at dawn is a sign of a good day here, because it’s pretty easy to spot one at dawn if you feel you are in for a bad day.