For the Birds

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When John and Donna Pflueger moved from Flagstaff, Ariz., to a remote national forest homestead outside the city last fall, their rustic life amid the ponderosa pine soon took on shades of vintage Hitchcock. "I have lived in remote areas all my life," said John. "But I've never seen anything like this before."

It all started when the Pfluegers' water supply turned an unsavory purple, and later black. John found that woodpeckers had drilled holes in the water tank's wooden top and dropped in acorn after acorn. After he drained the tank and shoveled out their stash, about 100 Ibs. of acorns, scores of angry birds began slamming against the windows. "The birds did not seem afraid of anything," said Donna. "I'd scare them away but it didn't work." Not long thereafter, a meter reader noticed that the living-room window was smashed and called the police. Guns drawn, officers entered the house with John and found not a burglar but a hawk with a 2-ft. wing span perched in the living room. John Pflueger theorized that the hawk had been going after a woodpecker snack when it hurtled through the window. Things have been more peaceful of late, but the hawk and dozens of woodpeckers can still be seen, waiting, through the snow-covered boughs. Says John: "I feel a little goosy about the whole thing."