Her nest is built on one of the supports of a small bridge onsite- it's adjacent to a heavily-trafficked area, but there's a fence between her and the pedestrian walkway. If you didn't know she was there, you probably wouldn't notice her at all. Even more significantly, she's in an elevated spot with only one approach, safe from flood conditions and easily defended against predators:
As far as the local geese go, she's pretty sweet-natured, unlike this jerk. She's found a good spot to raise her family... she's a clever girl, which is appropriate for a maniraptoran dinosaur:
I wouldn't mess with her.
And now for your moment of firearms pedantry. The shotgun in the clip is the Franchi SPAS-12, designed and built in Italy from the ground up as a combat shotgun. Its claim to fame - other than its popularity in Hollywood due to its badass appearance - is that it can be fired semi-auto or pump action. This allowed it to function with special purpose rounds like tear gas and bean bag that wouldn't otherwise cycle the action in semi-auto mode.
ReplyDeleteI always wanted one but never had one...
Italy produces some fine shotguns- I'm more familiar with the Benelli brand, myself. Damn, it's been years since I've gone trap shooting.
ReplyDeleteWiki says Franchi is a division of Benelli, both are currently owned by Beretta Holdings.
ReplyDelete