The NEIGHBORHOOD Mascot Is Dead...Apparently

Today has been a day! My dog is sick again. And I won't dwell on the specifics of that, but I did take him to the vet today, and they ran a few tests and now need to run a few more because one of the tests came back with abnormalities. After cleaning up evidence of his sickness, I had to get ready to take him to the vet. I was in my car backing out of my driveway, and my neighbor begins to wave me down. I stop, put down my window, and said a tentative "hello". He walked up and said "your kids left a string in my yard the other day". He pauses, and I wait, because what exactly am I SUPPOSED to say to that. Clearly he deemed this a criminal offense, but really the big deal was lost on me at this point. He continues to say "A bird got caught in it, and then my dog attacked the bird and killed it. My wife called me at work hysterical and screaming. At first I thought it was probably just a robin, but it turns out it was a woodpecker." Not sure what he wanted from me, I looked down at his dog, now next to my car, and say, "Shame on you for attacking poor defenseless little birds." My neighbor proceeds again, "As I said, it wasn't a robin, but it was one of our "NEIGHBORHOOD" woodpeckers." Strong emphasis on the word neighborhood. He paused again, and looked at me expectantly. Apparently, it would have been all right for a robin to die but not a woodpecker. At this point, I was getting annoyed. I wanted to say, "Are you serious? You are stopping me for this? A dead bird?" Sure my kids probably shouldn't have left a string in his yard, which I had no part of because my husband took them over there the other day without me, but if he wanted me to burst into tears over our "neighborhood" woodpecker's demise he was going to be waiting for a cold day in *@!* . I said, "Well, I guess that is one less bird to make noise around here." Then smiled as sweetly as I could, which probably wasn't very sweet at all. Did he want me to apologize? For the string? For him having to deal with a hysterical wife? For one less woodpecker in the world? Instead I said, "Well I have to be going, my dog is sick, and he has an appointment at the vet." Today I just wasn't in the mood to feel sorry over a bird, I was too busy feeling sorry for myself.