Historic house turns into scene out of Alfred Hitchcock's film 'The Birds'

Dive-bombing birds frighten Sample-McDougald House guests

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – The Sample-McDougald House was built in 1916 and is on the historical registry. The property used to be quite serene until it became a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock's film "The Birds."

"Well the Mockingbirds are nesting and they have got young in the nest. Naturally the parents are very protective," Museum Manager Lee Waldo said. "They have been dive bombing our staff and our guests for the last week or so."

The feathered Kamikaze crazed birds don’t discriminate. In fact, reporters are apparently an easy target. They are such a nuisance the museum had to put up signs warning guests.

"We have had guests that felt trapped in the bathrooms afraid to come out," Waldo said. "We have had other guests that have been chased completely off the property." 

 

 

They can't do much because the Mockingbird is Florida’s state bird and it is protected. 

"Whenever I am out in the garden collecting vegetables they like to come visit upon my head," Waldo said. "You will notice I have my hair pulled back in a ponytail. That is a concession to the birds. So that we don't get tangled up together."

Pompano Beach Public Works Director Rob McCaughan was determined to find a solution. 

"We were going to mount the webcam above the nest and then people could look at it from a distance," McCaughan said. 

The birds mocked him. McCaugh found the nest empty.