LINCOLN SQUARE— Sweater weather, beautiful trees, pumpkin spice everything—it’s absolutely autumn in Chicago. Thanks to a stunning image from one of our readers, The Chicago Genius Herald can confirm that another yearly augur of the season has begun: our local Bird™ scooter population has started its annual migration south to warmer climes.
Captured here by Lincoln Square Genius Herald reader Bonnie V., 64, who sent in the image, Chicago’s absurdly expensive excuses for shared personal transit have started to gather in flocks and make their way south down our main thoroughfares, in this case Western Ave.
Advertisement:
The Bird™s, festooned in beautiful white-and-black seasonal plumage, will likely roost in their winter home in Dallas, or another city with a perfectly decent public transit system. As we do every year, we’ll certainly miss their opaque pricing structure and dangerous interaction with bike lanes, but this natural phenomenon is absolutely majestic to watch.
Of course, Bird™ scooters on the wing means that soon our other migratory e-scooter species will also soon be leaving town for the winter; Juan Fortes, 30, a spokesperson for the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, confirmed our readers’ own nature reports. “Although our resources are a little limited right now, we’ve been tracking them as sort of a hobby. We’ve definitely seen the Lime™ and Spin™ scooters gathering for their long journeys too, and storing batteries around town for when they return.” Fortes recommends a standard pair of binoculars and a healthy distance for budding scooter scientists, as the devices themselves can be skittish or even territorial—especially in recently gentrified neighborhoods. “Under no circumstances attempt to ride one,” warns Fortes. “You run the risk of injury, and at the very least you’ll look really stupid.”
Thanks again to Bonnie V. for sharing this amazing photo, and have fun Bird™watching, Chicago!
