A stork has been causing thousands of euros of damage in a north German village by attacking parked cars and pecking at windows. It is said to be confused and thinks every reflection of itself is a rival bird.
Stork expert for the Mecklenburg Western-Pomeranian Bergholz area Jens Krüger believes that the bird is having an identity crisis. It has been, he said, catching a glimpse of itself in car windows and thinking it is a rival stork.
So out of anger, or possibly confusion, the stork has been viciously pecking at the reflection and in some cases has caused serious dents in cars. “At least four vehicles in the areas have been attacked,” mayor Ulrich Kersten confirmed on Friday. The damage to more expensive cars has been estimated at €1,000 a time.
The bird has also been pecking at windows and glass doors, leaving some residents scared to leave their homes.
“How do we protect ourselves?” local woman Johanna Preuß asked the Nord Kurier newspaper. She was woken up at 5am on Friday by the large white bird, beak pressed against her terrace door.
“We saw the bird hacking away at our family car,” Bergholz resident Kerstin Werth told the newspaper. “After we scared it away there it was, going at our neighbour's car,” she said,
In some houses, Bergholzers have been hanging up blankets across doors and windows to avoid late-night feathery disturbances.
The bird is thought to have a nest with three young babies which are not yet of flying age. The entire village is, Nord Kurier said, waiting patiently until migration season rolls around and the troublesome family head south.
The Local/DPA/jcw