R.I.P. Grousy

This is one of the last pictures taken of Rocky's pet grouse, named variously Bird, Grousy, Gomer, and Lover Boy. I may have written about him before. To summarize, in March 2008, this grouse, untrue to its nature, showed no fear of Rocky's truck, then generalized it to other trucks. Rocky started feeding him right away and for almost 2 years now has taken millet, one of the bird's preferences to scatter under a tree near the creek. Another of our friends, Jay, has been feeding him corn. Rocky was able to cluck for him and he would come out of the woods. He would make little clucking sounds when he ate and Rocky felt like they were having a conversation, in grouse language since Rocky couldn't understand it. Rocky could even take a twig and scratch Grousy's chest with it, but the grouse wouldn't tolerate anyone touching him with their hands. He didn't tolerate the chipmunks who came to eat the bird seed either, and would take aim and peck them on their heads.

Unfortunately, this past Monday Rocky was driving down our lane to feed Grousy and saw him running down an embankment and before Rocky could stop the truck, the grouse had run right under its wheels. I wondered why Rocky took so long to come back home. He was grieving, I am sure, because the grief continues. Needless to say, he is devastated and "can't get over it." He salvaged 11 gorgeous tail feathers before he buried him and gave them to me for my feather bouquet--I was always asking him to get a feather for me, but I really didn't want to get one this way.  

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

The Tame Wild Grouse

 

Meet Gomer! This is Rocky's pet grouse. Normally a skittish wild bird of the forest, for over a year Rocky has been feeding Gomer bird seed. In fact, Gomer has so many fans that when the Rock has been in the hospital, he has been fed by Rocky's men friends. I've even thrown out a handful of seed now and then. It all started in March 2008 when one day Gomer wouldn't get out of the way and blocked the path of Rocky's truck. Rock finally got around the bird, came home and took back bird seed and has been handfeeding Gomer ever since. He evidently has imprinted on trucks, and sometimes cars, and actually will chase us down the road if he's hungry and we don't stop. He has ambushed at least two of us, me in my car and our friend, Jack, in his truck, by flying down at us from the trees. He flew across my windshield, barely missing it, and actually landed in the bed of Jack's truck. This is the time of year for Gomer to mate; that's why his feathers are puffed out around his neck (giving him his name of Ruffed Grouse) and his tail is nicely spread . He is ideally camouflauged as you can see from the above photo as he blends in with the leaf litter which mulches the forest floor. We haven't seen a female grouse around, so I hope he gets lucky soon. We haven't heard him drumming, either, which is what grouse do to attract a female by jumping up on a hollow log and flapping their wings so that the log vibrates and makes a drumming sound. Maybe Gomer needs to do a little more drumming.