The founding myth of the civilization teeming beneath my bird feeder says a mature Cardinal fancied an underage squirrel. From their unnatural union sprang a creature with squirrel body and bird head; or bird body and squirrel head. Birds endow it with a feathered tail and say it created them in its image. Squirrels give it a furry tail and say it created them in its image. The insects are agnostic.

Dogmas clash. Sectarian and ethnic conflict is perennial: Dove on Sparrow, Finch on Shrike, Mockingbird on Wren, resident Squirrel on interloper from across the street. Open carry is universal. In turf spats and seed-rage flareups, shootouts erupt from micro long guns. Belligerents pull tiny Glocks and empty magazines into each other. Minuscule ambulances cart away the fallen. Beetle details mop up the gore.

Robins perched in the pomegranate chirp thoughts and prayers. A congress of Grackels cackles from the anaqua tree. Owls tut tut. Buzzards bunch and hunker.

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