Galen Hekhuis wrote:

Let's get back to ponds. Aside from the cattle egrets that follow my
tractor around when I bush-hog (mow) there is one that hangs around
the pond when I "weed" with my pellet gun. It almost seems to be
attracted to the noise. It stays either well to the left or right of
my line of fire (I don't change suddenly, I work one patch of weeds
before going on to another). I haven't the foggiest why it comes,
maybe the sound of the pellets makes the grasshoppers easier to catch
or something, I really don't know, but the egret shows up so often I
have to think it isn't just a coincidence.

The sound of a pellet gun is like the sound a grasshopper makes when it
jumps, I would think.
--
derek