Final answer:
Liability for negligence in the scenario involving a wild bird scratching a customer at a nursery largely depends on the duty of care owed by the business owner, foreseeability of the incident, and any measures taken to prevent such harm. Proving negligence in this case may be challenging, as wild animals are typically considered beyond the control of the business owner.
Step-by-step explanation:
As the owner of a nursery, whether you can be held liable for negligence due to a customer being scratched by a wild bird depends on several factors. First, one must consider whether the nursery owner owed a duty of care to the customer. In general, business owners owe a duty to ensure their premises are reasonably safe for customers. However, the presence of wild animals, like birds, is typically considered beyond the control of the business owner, and there might not be a reasonable way to prevent such incidents. The key question would be whether the nursery owner could have reasonably anticipated the bird's aggression and if any steps could have been taken to prevent the harm.
To demonstrate negligence, it must be shown that the nursery owner breached a duty of care to the customer, directly causing the injury. Most likely, the scratch from a wild bird is an unforeseeable event, and as such, proving negligence may be difficult. Lastly, comparative negligence needs to be assessed, as the customer might also share some responsibility for the injury if they ignored any potential warning signs or entered an area they were not supposed to.