I was once in a hurry and picked up a loaf of bread at Costco without
checking any more than the date on it. Thankfully the checker noticed the
hole in the bag and got me another one. And now I know why!

Two of the Costco's where I shop are overrun with grackles. For those of
you who are unfamiliar with them, they are birds that are similar to crows
but smaller. They might look black but in the light, they have pretty
purple and green iridescent accents to their feathers.

Anyway... I watched as a grackle stood in the bread aisle, stopping all
traffic for a few seconds. Then it walked under the bread racks and began
pecking the bags open. Yep!

At first I felt sorry for it, thinking that it had gotten trapped in the
store and was just hungry. But maybe not. As I was leaving, I saw many of
them flying out the door.

Because of the design of most Costco's, they have big wide entrance and exit
doors that do not close unless the store is closed. So very easy for those
birds to get in and out.

When I worked at K Mart, we sometimes got birds in the store through the
receiving doors and they would often get trapped if they made their way into
the store. Usually we were able to get them back out but by then they were
often rather weak and battered from flying and flying and hitting the glass
windows.

So be cautious of bread that you buy at Costco, particularly if it is on the
bottom of the rack!