A metaphor of sorts for today’s historic events in Washington DC.
Six days ago I posted photos of the beginning of a vicious American Coot fight I’d photographed the day before. It was one of the longest fights I’d ever witnessed between birds of any species so I had to wade through a huge number of photos while choosing which ones to post.
There were three coots involved to one degree or another. Readers will recall that I named all three of them in order to make it easier for me to tell the story. I called the two primary combatants Muhammad and Joe in honor of one of the most famous boxing matches in history. The third coot was extremely reluctant to fight for most of the brouhaha so for reasons that should be obvious I wondered aloud if he used bone spurs in his feet as an excuse.
I couldn’t resist naming that third coot DJ.
The following five photos document the end of the fight. Because of cloud cover the lighting was poor but I think the photos are plenty good enough for documentary purposes.
Here Joe and Muhammad are duking it out with their feet, Muhammad is on the right and Joe is the coot in the middle. DJ on the left spent most of his time watching with great interest – at times he poked his head right between the two fighting birds as if he was egging them on.
I love this shot because it tells the story of what was happening so well. At first I thought one foot belonged to Joe and the other to Muhammad but in reality both of them are Joe’s as he’s in the process of delivering a decisive one-two punch to Muhammad’s head using both feet.
Of course DJ continues to sit on the sidelines.
DJ waited until near the end of the very long fight before circling around the two primary combatants and delivering a sneak attack sucker punch to Joe whose full attention was directed at Muhammad.
After this shot was taken the action was so fast and furious I had a difficult time distinguishing Muhammad from DJ (the two birds on the right) but Joe remained on the left.
Eventually Joe’s furiously flying feet were too much for the coot that I believe was DJ so he turned tail and ran.
But DJ didn’t go far, not far enough for Joe.
So Joe ran DJ completely out of town.
He’s probably in Florida by now.
Ron
Bravo! I was glued to the TV all day yesterday, so missed this grand finale … but I can assure you, DJ *is* in Florida, and we can all rest easier at long last!
How entertaining. Thanks for sharing this series.
I’m with Laura. I was more or less paralyzed from the 6th to the 20th, and I really needed this laugh. Thank you!
Well, he won’t be calling hime “Sleepy Joe” any time soon.
Great shots, never seen a Coot use its feet like that. This was a very entertaining post. Congratulations on your new President Joe Biden and Vice President, Kamela Harris.
Thanks on all three counts, Jane. I know many of you folks in Canada, my ‘2nd country’, feel some major relief too.
Your commentary is a perfect accompaniment to the melee.
I’m sure there are plenty of swamps in Florida for DJ to inhabit.
Thanks, Lyle.
OK, I’m late to the party, but on this day that I can FINALLY exhale and maybe begin to breathe regularly, I really NEEDED that laugh!!! On the previous series, I thought how some people just NEED to be thwapped upside the head sometimes and then others who just need to be run out of town on a rail!! 😉
And then the bald eagle is also just showing of while he skedaddles from the marauding gull!
Yup, I’m breathing easier now too, Laura.
Smiling from afar – and feeling a tad guilty because violence just doesn’t do it for me as a rule.
And how I love the symbolism you picked up.
Good. I’m sure a few of my readers won’t appreciate it much but on this occasion I couldn’t resist.
So fun to watch. Thanks for the smile!
Thanks, April.
Good for Joe! Both of them. 😉
Thanks for capturing and sharing so much detail of the fight. Whenever there’s a coot kerfuffle here, generally all I ever see is a lot of splashing.
That’s often all I see too, Marty. It helps to have stop-action photos to assist in interpreting what really happened. It’s all too fast for the human eye to decipher.
Perhaps you missed your calling? Your hilarious commentary (along with the brawling photos) was a perfect start to a new year.
Nope, my true calling was teaching which I much prefer over commentary of any kind.
Tongue out of my cheek. I’ve learned so much from your postings.
Teacher it is!
No worry, Jamila – I knew where your tongue was. 🙂
Ron– your last line in the play by play made me hoot out loud ! You
managed to get in a few “licks” yourself ! Loved it.
Couldn’t help myself, Kris…
Letting DJ know he needs to mind his own business! 😲😌😄 Wonderful series, Ron.
Thanks, Judy.
That was hilarious AND interesting to watch as you commented from the press box!
Glad you enjoyed it, Kellie.
OMG!!! Lolololo
🙂
Battle of the Coots II by Ron Dudley. Will there be a Coots III ? Great work Ron. You have to wonder, what is the root cause, food, territory, or maybe a female? Of course on the other hand they could be three females that would need renaming.
Poor expendable coots. Two days ago I saw a Harrier female take one down, and about a week before that I saw the same Harrier kill one. If eagles fishing opportunities are not going well they will settle for a coot, and if the raptors are not having success finding small mammals they will settle for a coot.
Thanks, Everett. Coots seem to be the avian equivalent of voles when it comes to raptor prey. That’s one of several reason’s I’m glad there’s so many of them around.