Mom! He's looking at me!

Rocky Gap State Park in western Maryland has an aviary of predatory birds -- survivors of car crashes and other unfortunate human intervention. Did you know when you throw your gum or apple core out the window thinking, "It will biodegrade," that it won't? Before the bacteria have a chance to do their clean-up dance, it will be eaten by wee little beasties.

Then when you think, "No big deal. It's a treat for the mice," you are wrong again. The food chain is a fascinating thing. Where the little things go, the big things follow. When mice start hanging around the highway for its plentiful pickin's, the owls and hawks follow for the same reason. Just as that sharp-eyed owl glides silently down to snatch his snack, WHAM! He gets hit by a 3-ton pick up out of nowhere.

The moral is: dispose of trash properly.