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Ruff Grouse Behavior



On May 13, my wife, my brother and I participated in the Oconee County
(SC) NAMC.  In our 20 years of birding, we have never seen anything
quite like this.  A ruff grouse was in the middle of the road (SC 107)
near Burrell's Ford.  The grouse must have had a suicidal complex.  He
refused to move from the road.  A pickup truck slowly approached him and
after deciding that them bird must be crazy straddled him.  The bird
just ducked his head as the truck passed over him.  We stopped our
vehicle and Vicki jumped out to chase the bird away.  The bird was
extremely reluctant to leave.  At one point, she believes that she could
have caught him. She was as close as 2-3 feet from him.  He finally
walked down the roadside and eventually flew up in an embankment to some
mountain laurels.  He began to eat the blossoms. He posed for me to take
some photos for at least 5 minutes. When we left, he was still in the
bushes.

Have any of you ever experienced anything like this?

Steve Cox
Fountain Inn, SC
srcox@greenville.infi.net