It's when you spot a sandhill crane standing somewhere it absolutely shouldn’t be. Not in a marsh. Not near a lake. Right in the middle of your driveway like it owns the deed.
In Florida, this isn’t a bird. This is a dinosaur with legal protection.
You slow down, hoping it’ll move. It doesn’t. You tap your horn gently. It stares.
You inch the car forward. It takes one slow step toward you like, “Go ahead. Try me.”
You consider calling in late to work. Suddenly your schedule feels flexible. The crane just watches. Silent. Still. Calculating. Like it knows you pay property taxes and it does not — yet somehow you’re the guest.
And then it happens — the warning signs. The wings spread wide. The neck stretches out. The prehistoric scream echoes across the subdivision. That’s when you understand: you’re not backing out anymore. You’re in a standoff. A sandhill crane has decided this is nesting territory, and you are a minor inconvenience.
Tourists think Florida wildlife means alligators. Floridians know better. Alligators float quietly. Sharks stay offshore. But a sandhill crane will chase you across your own lawn like you borrowed money and never paid it back. They don’t run at you like an animal. They stride. Confident. Unbothered. Protected by state law and pure audacity.
So you do what every Floridian does in this situation: You put the car in park. You wait it out. You accept that you are not the apex species in this HOA. Because the truth is simple: In Florida, the crane doesn’t move for you.
You move for the crane. That's Life in Florida...
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Rib eye of the sky GOOD EATS
ReplyDeleteIt would be a dead and buried crane by dawn.
ReplyDeleteThey probably taste like goose. Go buy an air rifle.
ReplyDeleteIt would fit on the smoker.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the Garibaldi in CA. The forbidden fish taco.
ReplyDeleteHere in SC it's the Canada Geese that will block a highway as a flock of 50 of more waddle across the pavement. I swear they even post Road Guards!
ReplyDeleteHow long do they act like that?
ReplyDelete