Another Tale of the Indominitable Grouse Another fascinating chapter has been written in Charlotte's and my ruffed grouse book. My personal experiences with these wild birds began while we boys were playing "Capture the Flag" at Seidel's Lake southwest of Kewaunee around 60 years ago. It was there that each of us kids, at one time or another, either was frightfully scared by a grouse literally "exploding" from underfoot, or during our stealthy game were able to approach one of the wily gamebirds to within several feet before they silently flew away. A peak performance staged by a ruffed grouse occurred in the backyard of Mrs. Al Horskey at Gill's Rock in northern Door County in October of 1977. That amazing bird had come to confide in the gentle elderly lady to the point that it frequently would sit on her lap. Much to my never-to-be-forgotten joy it also momentarily sat on my lap while Charlotte snapped a picture. Dozens of ruffed grouse episodes of rather minor proportions took place during the ensuing years until January of 1998 when we were introduced to "Reggie," the phenomenal grouse of Northport. Practically everyone who came to visit Reggie's "parents," who lived in the woods on top of the bluff overlooking the waters of Green Bay, were befriended by that inquisitive, affectionate, sociable bird. He wanted to greet and come to know everyone who came to visit or to perhaps deliver a pac kage or heating fuel. In fact on one occasion he flew inside the cab of a delivery truck, the door having been accidentally left open, and was patiently and fearlessly perched on the front seat when the driver returned to his vehicle. For the past two years a cock ruffed grouse has been coming quite regularly at dusk to our front yard to feast on the cracked corn scattered on the ground at the edge of the driveway near the bird feeders. There have been occasions when I had been working in my shop above the garage and have stepped out of the building, only to be surprised by "Ruffy" at his corn. I simply walk very slowly toward the house, talking quietly and with reassurance to the bird, and most often he appears to totally ignore me. It is then that I can approach him to around 25 feet before he slowly walks into the adjacent woods. Our most recent grouse adventure came as a result of a phone call from our friend, Joan Wilkie, telling of the aggressive bird that continuously attacked her as she walked along a trail north of Sturgeon Bay. Was the bird defending a nest of eggs, and should hikers be diverted from that commonly used path? Several other people had spread the word that they also were "attacked" by a ruffed grouse in that area, so we decided to try to find the unfriendly grouse, to see what it was up to. Within minutes after arriving at the scene we were sternly greeted by the most fearless ruffed grouse we ever could have imagined. It immediately began circling us as we hiked along the narrow path, occasionally even running between our legs. Now and then he would fly against us with considerable force while grabbing onto our trouser legs and shaking his head vigorously. Frequently the grouse would fan its tail revealing a continuous dark band near its outer border. This usually, but not always, indi cates that the bird is a male. Our best educated guess is that this dauntless, chivalrous bird is a male. Four rolls of film, shot over the period of about an hour, produced relatively few good pictures, simply because the bird was almost constantly on the move. Even though the bird, who we nicknamed "Ruffian," poured forth gentle, soft purring sounds much of the time he was with us, the tone of his voice certainly didn't match his feisty nature. His actions let us know that we were unwelcome guests to his woods. What came as a surprise, as we hiked along "his" trail, was that suddenly he stopped in his tracks and refused to follow and intimidate us any further. It was as though he had come upon an invisible wall. He had reached the outermost boundary of his home territory and had no reason to defend it any further. Charlotte and I slowly made our way down the trail, all the while looking over our shoulders to check on the whereabouts of "Ruffian." There he stood, standing guard, defying us to encroach upon his home grounds. Naturally we reversed our course and decided to put him to the test. You might imagine the reception we received. As a matter of fact we felt that he gave us an even more severe "tongue-lashing" than just minutes before. On one occasion he flew at Charlotte, upward to her waist, fluttering his wings with great vigor. Once again a ruffed grouse has left us with a world of admiration for these indomitable, incredible, entertaining wild creatures. Reggie, Ruffy and Ruffian have proved to us that they can be fearless and, above all, totally unpredictable but immensely lovable. Also see: 01/30/98: A Grouse Named Reggie 12/22/00: The Ruffed Grouse Sets a Good Example 12/29/00: Close, Enjoyable Encounters With Ruffed Grouse More information on this topic is available at: Everything about grouse from the Mining Co. This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 04/30/1999. © Copyright 1999 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.