Wednesday, April 30, 2008

It's A BIRD, For Chrissake.

Or maybe mice. Or a joke.

Whatever it is, it has women in - - guess where? California! upset.

LOS ANGELES, April 29 (UPI) -- Environmentalists are attempting to have a sign reading "Titmouse Park" removed from Los Angeles' Ballona Wetlands area, saying the sign insults women.

Environmentalist Roy van de Hoek said the park was not named after titmouse birds, which are not native to the area. Rather, the name was chosen as an insult to a group of women who blocked local businessmen from turning the area into a parking lot 20 years ago.

Van de Hoek said he had a conversation about 18 months ago with a businessman who claimed to have participated in the naming.

"He said the name came about because he and his buddies were playing a joke on the women," he said. "It was a reference to a woman's body part. He was chuckling and laughing."

However, retired sign painter Bud Harris said he painted the park sign, naming the area after a group of mice he encountered that he mistakenly thought were titmice.

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