Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

The snipe is a long-billed member of the sandpiper family. At home on almost every continent, snipe favor swamp and marshland habitats. They are most active in early morning or evening as they probe the shallows for insects with their flexible bills. Nervous and shy, these birds prefer the security of brushy cover.

The snipe has long been a favorite gamebird both here and abroad. It's difficult quarry because of its erratic, zigzag startle flight.

In earlier centuries, snipe were captured with nets because of the near impossibility of a bow and arrow kill. Even armed with accurate shotguns, modern bird hunters find snipe challenging targets.

Hunters often concealed themselves in the underbrush to avoid startling the bird. A hunter who was both stealthy and precise gained the distinction of sniper, a moniker that has come down through the decades to denominate any marksman shooting from a concealed space.

Likewise, someone who utters malicious, underhanded remarks at another is also a sniper, making indirect verbal snipes as if concealed by metaphorical underbrush.

Radio Script > Snipe