RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPiTER

Killer in Rittenhouse

It was a beautiful 70 degree February day, but Rittenhouse Square was deserted. Why? A cold blooded heartless killer has been stalking the park for months. Next time you’re there, take note of the eerie absence of so many familiar faces.

They have good reason to be on edge. Since the autumn, many park regulars have been attacked in broad daylight, pinned to the ground with bone crushing force and brutally disemboweled. The twisted killer then finishes his brutal ritual by eating the warm, raw flesh of his victim.

Why has this gone unreported? Put simply, no one is talking and no one cares. The victims don’t live in any of the swank apartments around the park. They feed on the scraps of others and go largely unnoticed by all but a few eccentrics. When approached for comment they simply scuttle away.

It also doesn’t help that they’re pigeons and squirrels. But seriously… since the autumn I’ve spotted a hawk in the trees of Rittenhouse, or soaring around on the currents above the park nearly every time I’ve passed through it. As a result the pigeon population has been displaced. The Rittenhouse pigeon Diaspora generally congregates on the roof ledge of the Barnes and Noble building across the street until the raptor threat abates. Unfortunately for them, the threat is nearly constant.

I believe the killer to be a Cooper’s Hawk, quite possibly the same Cooper’s Hawk I witnessed eating a squirrel in my back yard. A Red Tailed Hawk has also been spotted, (and best of all heard) but much less frequently. While it’s nice to see wildlife reassert itself on the urban landscape, it’s a shame to watch as the predatory gentrifiers force out old, established residents.

That’s all for now.