I should have known from the first line of Jamie Broder’s essay that his story was going to end badly. Instead, I enjoyed the first few paragraphs, only to be surprised and sickened by the essay’s end. It’s nice that Mr. Broder enjoys feeding the birds, and it’s nice that he gives the wild turkeys a pass even though he considers them to be ugly. What isn’t so nice is his shocking cruelty to squirrels who, like birds, spend all their waking hours trying to feed themselves so that they can survive the winter.

Instead of admiring their ingenuity and resourcefulness, Mr. Broder chooses to shoot them with ever more powerful weapons, and he seems to think he has helped the crows by killing seven or eight squirrels – for no reason at all. I am dismayed that The Forecaster chose to publish such a callous celebration of selfishness, arrogance and cruelty.

Janet Rathbun
Portland