Gallery of the Uncommon

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE SUICIDAL BIRD

Whoever thinks scientists lead a quiet life - in their labs or offices, unaware of what goes on in the world and immune to the whims of Nature - is scientifically wrong. In fact, the poor guys are under a lot of stress, not only because of their work but also due to their surrounding environment. Their interaction with the animal kingdom is quite surprising, actually.

In past stories, we talked about a dog that ran over a car, the number of cats in the parking lot, and the seagull attacks at INESC TEC. Now a bird, and we still have to confirm this, a parrot, a pigeon or a seagull went beak first, full suicidal, on the office window of our Industry Partnership Service (SAPE).

We tried everything to revive the poor animal: we waved our arms like tree branches, we whistled in different ‘languages’ to see if the bird could understand. No success.

The result is in plain sight: a bloodbath, a victim squashed against the windowpane. The cleaning ladies suffer and struggle, they rub and scrub, but the traces of the tragedy are still there for everyone to see. Some people want to rename the service and call it SADE. We wonder why.