Please don't feed the birds
Jacob played by jayoku
Chevy played by ladyumbra
Jacob wiped the sweat off his forehead and replaced the cap back on his head. It was too warm but at least he could wear his shorts and t-shirt uniform while at work. though the tacky colors of the zoo were enough to make him cringe but hey, it was a job; and he oved every minute of it. Currently he held in both hands the ends of a wheelbarrel as he moved it towards the ostritch pen.
It was meal time...he figured they would be cranky as usual since they hated waiting to be fed. Though..they were always hungry... He looked down at the mish mash of things wondering if this was similar to what pigs would eat...he snickered to himself. Pigs would eat anything, ostriches weren't too far behind on that.
He ...was surprised though when he came up to the pen that there were no glaring bird eyes looking his way, actually there were no birds as all at the fence. Blinking he setteled the wheelbarrow down and then approached the fence, and noticed that four ostritches were inspecting two cabbages that were a good distance in the pen. What? He ...was sure it was his turn to feed them.
Moving he reached down and grabbed his radio pressing his thumb against the button he called . "Hey did you feed these guys already?" he spoke as clearly as his british accent would let him. Then waited for the response on the other end.
Another bird handler those responsible mainly for the zoo's raptors Chevy was tuned to the same frequency as Jacob and frowned when the other's call came in. Feeding shedules were strict here and for a reason, each animal should really only be eating so much " Feed who Jacob " He asked back into the radio. It was hard to tell by noise alone exactly where the other man was, peacocks occasionally gave themselves away and a few other birds had distinctive cries but otherwise it was impossible to know just which birds were being asked about.
He raised the radio back to his mouth. "The ostritches...they have two cabbages..." He replied sounding a bit cross, he had too knew that the animals were also on strict meal schedules. He wondered idly why the birds hadn't beat each other up yet and eaten the things.
" Well it wasn't me " Chevy said annoyed as well and confused " Can't really see any of the other guys doing that either" Accidentally feeding them fully maybe but not giving them two cabbages randomly. The man ran a finger through his dirty blonde hair this was not a good thing, birds had delicate digestive tracts, and ostriches for all they were gluttons were no different " Your best bet is to assume this is something some kids did and just feed em normally hopefully a few cabbages today won't hurt" Chevy doubted Jacob would get the birds away from the plants before they ate them anyways.
Tilting his head the man watched as the birds continued to observe the cabbages and not eat them.
"I...think there must be something wrong with the cabbages....the birds are near them but not eating them.." He sounded worried as he spoke into the radio this time. What if the birds could smell something dangerous on it? What if it was laced with some sort of poison.
"You better get over here and help me." He requested for the back up as he knew he could not outmatch four giant birds.
Be right there" Chevy said before he tucked his radio into his pants and began to jog in Jacobs direction. The raptors were on a different feeding time shedule so he fortunately wouldn't have to interrupt that. He was supposed to be praparing for that afternoons falconry demonstration for a group of school students, hopefully this wouldn't take too long. Though at the moment he was a bit more concerned about what could possibly be making the Ostriches not want to eat a food they normally liked.
Jacob was frowning as he observed the ostriches, they weren't even bickering with each other...which was unusual. He looked over as he heard Chevy approach giving an idle wave and then pointing into the pen.
"see? they are just staring at it...I am worried...what if its like..a bomb or something?" he inquired the worry was evident in his voice.
Chevy's light green eyes narrowed, definetely weird " I can't see anyone bombing the ostrich pen, even crazy animal activists who hate zoos would pick a more high profile animal. See if you can't distract them with real food and I'll get the cabbages out of there so we can get a better look at them." It was really the only thing they could do .
He wasn't so sure this was a good idea...but he nodded his head slowly and then went to grab a bucket from the bin and clanged it together loudly like it was a dinner bell.
"Come on you giant turkey's! Breakfast time!" he shouted scooping up some of the contents in the bin and moving over to the tray where they ate. A few of the ostriches raised their heads to look at him and instantly dismissed the uninteresting cabbages to claim their food. Still..there was one ostritch left that was stubborn enough to stay.
Following the fence around the perimeter of the pen Chevy was glad that he wasn't going to have much of a challenge for the cabbages, although it would only take one good kid from the Ostrich remaining to put him out of commission. They might be funny looking things but they were just as dangerous as the raptors he handled on a daily basis. The man made no sudden movement but he did walk purposefully towards his goal showing none of the nervousness he felt to his lone opponent.
The ostrich eying the cabbages still looked to Chevy curiously but backed up a couple steps as he approached. t didn't look aggressive yet...
Jacob bagged the pot louder trying to distract it.
"Come on now! Its time to eat!" He shouted trying unsuccessfully to get the giant bird's attention.
Chevy kept an eye on the large bird but went over to the cabbages anyways, he quickly picked one up noting it's larger size and heavier weight than normal for such a plant. And while it still looked and sort of smelled like a cabbage it's leaves seemed thicker and less flexible. Something wasn't right here but at least the faux plants didn't appear to be dangerous.
The ostrich looked ruffled as Chevy picked up the cabbages it had been so interested in. It ruffled its feathers taking a couple of steps towards the man though not aggressive yet.
Jacob swallowed as he watched out of the corner of his eye, still keeping the other ostriches occupied so that Chevy wouldn't have more to deal with.
Grabbing both of the cabbages and holding them to his chest, Chevy turned to face the ostrich full on now. “ They're not for you and not eggs you need to protect, go eat before there's nothing left for you.” The man's voice was calm and relaxed even if he didn't feel that way inside, years of working with equally dangerous birds of prey had taught him to remain calm looking whenever possible. Though it was still Chevy's greatest desire to run the hell out of there he knew bolting would only draw the attention of all of the giant birds.
The bird cocked its head in the man's direction and moved forward half a step,then looked behind it...startled by the fact that...there wasn't much food left and then hurried in a flurry over to the trough.
Jacob sighed in relief as hunger overpowered its curiosity and threw in another bucket of food.
"Hurry before he realizes there isn't much left." He called out trying to keep his voice even as to not startle the birds.
Chevy nodded and followed the fence as he moved quickly and exited the pen, the dirty blond was sweating just a little though he had to admit this would be an interesting story to tell the rest of the keepers later .
Jacob put down the pail he was carrying and then looked to the cabbages in his hands. He frowned a bit, "Did someone hope that fake cabbages would kill the ostriches? Or be some cruel joke?" He grumbled looking annoying someone would play a prank on them like this. He moved to poke at a cabbage wondering what exactly the point was.
Chevy shrugged “ No clue really all I know is they heavy buggers.” They were weird but they didn;t seem to be your typical toy and they weren't made of plastic like a fake plant either. To be honest the man wasn't sure what they were aside from not real cabbages. “ I might as well put them in my truck for now though”
Jacob took a deep breath and held it a moment before releasing is slowly. He tapped the brim of his hat upwards so he could see better.
"Shouldn't we just throw em out? what is there is something dangerous about them?" He inquired pulling a glove off to run a thumb over a leaf.
Chevy rolled his eyes at that " You can't just thorw out potentially dangerous things and they can't hurt much in my truck " Besides the man wanted more time to examine them later
Jacob rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Fine fine...but if you discover any weird bugs or sprays on it...tell me ASAP. I need to keep an eye on the birds in case the developed something." He grumbled and then went to kiss Chevy lightly on the cheek. " See you later luv."
He smiled at that and wished his arms weren't full of cabbages so he could grab the other man for something more “ Yes, see you at lunch and i shall call you if anything happens” Not that he really honestly expected anything to happen, after all they were just cabbages weird fake ones but really there couldn't be all that much of interest to them.
