Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 20:38:57 -0400 Reply-To: jncmessina@worldnet.att.net Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: John Messina Subject: Disturbing Incident Comments: To: Va Bird List MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Today I went birding along the trail by Holmes Run Creek in West Alexandria, VA, which is accessible from the nature center connected to William Ramsay School on Sanger Ave. in Alexandria, Va. While on the trail, I witnessed a disturbing incident. As I looked down from the trail toward the creek, I glimpsed through a break in the dense shrubbery and saw middle-aged Hispanic woman hold a white dove by its legs so that its wings flapped against the back of a younger Hispanic man. The woman raised and lowered the dove several times, then broke the dove's neck, whacked it against the man's back several times, and shoved the dead bird under the back of the man's shirt. After this, she picked up a gallon container and poured some liquid (resembling diluted milk) over the man's head. At this point the woman noticed I had been able to see what had happened, so the two persons moved out of sight. I saw the couple again a few minutes later as the woman washed her hands in the creek; by that time the man had changed clothing. I spoke to the naturalist at the nature center, who told me, "Last week we found a dead white dove along the creek. It was mangled, and we thought a hawk had gotten it. We've also had kids come in here with white feathers they found in the woods." So we deduced that this activity has been occurring there for some time. The police have been notified. Later today, an animal control officer called while I was out and told my husband that ritualistic behavior involving doves and sometimes chickens has been reported in this area. I therefore wanted to post this message right away so that other birders can be aware of what has been going on in the woods and be alerted to report any evidence they find indicating that birds or animals are being harmed. Cathy Messina ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================