Kickass the Bird Killer

Attribution: Alan D. Wilson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper began the day grappling with the question that has plagued him for the better part of his life: As he now lives amicably and supportive of all birds, can he erase that early part of his …
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Kickass and the Birds at the Arboretum

Attribution: Dori, CC BY-SA 3.0 US, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, does not always get involved in the keeper’s scientific projects, but was unable to resist as the keeper and Phyllis had a serious look at how they might share the exciting ongoing seasonal migration with the birds. First they checked …
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Kickass and Five Reasons to Exist

Attribution: Andreas Bohnenstengel, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, warns the keeper and Phyllis that it will obviously only be a matter of time until they get notices from the Fox News rejects and Musk, who are now producing the national tragi-comedy TV show in Washington entitled “What’s …
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Kickass and Spring of 2025

Attribution: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis issuing the following executive order: All Wisconsin residents and visitors shall, within the next few days, immerse themselves in the birthing of the summer of 2025. It is a magnificent thing: trees in colorful new-leaf …
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Kickass and World Mom

Attribution: Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis and the rest of the world to pause this day to think about Mom without whom none of us would be here. Thanks for that, Mom. And we know that if you were in charge, the …
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Kickass and Hummingbirds

Attribution: Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, watched the keeper hang the hummingbird feeder off his and Phyllis’s 5th floor balcony railing and refrained from laughing at such foolish human behavior. (Dogs can laugh but they do it silently so it doesn’t embarrass their keepers who are forever doing dumb and …
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Kickass and Chicago Bobs

Attribution: Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in welcoming yet another great “Bob” with Chicago ties onto the scene, but he cautions Pope Leo that he will never have the clout in the keeper’s life that his old pal Bob Shephard had. From a snowy Korean hillside with …
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Kickass and Santa Eavesdrop

Attribution: Douglas Rahden, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper tuning in his special communication skills to eavesdrop on a conversation from the North Pole:             Santa: “Do we have any limits on the number of dolls we can deliver to one little girl?”             Elf No. 1: “No Sir. It …
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