I love animals. I’m not a hoarder but I am a feeder of birds and wild life that routinely come through my yard. OK, I also will feed if an animal if is in distress.
This summer I had the pleasure of seeing all sorts of birds including the budgie that you see in the photo. When, he stopped visiting the feeders in late August, I was sad but figured he had moved on. Imagine my surprise when I visited our local zoo a couple of weeks ago and saw that they have a budgie exhibit featuring more than one hundred budgies! One of the zoo workers was outside the exhibit and I asked if they had any strays. She said normally, no but at the end of this summer they had a budgie show up that was banded. They quaranteened it and kept it. I don’t know if my friend is in there but I feel a whole lot better about the situation.
On a sadder note, I tried to save an injured sparrow last week. He seemed to have a broken leg and was on the ground trying to fly. I put in him a cage with the grass and leaves that I found him on. At first I left him on the porch to rest but squirrels and a neighborhood cat looked a little too interested so I ended up bringing him in the house. He kept taking naps. When I gave him water and seeds he ate the seeds. I covered the cage and he settled down. An hour or two later, I let him out in a bush in my front yard.
I went into my backyard to start some chores and he was back there on the ground near a tree. That wasn’t good so I caught him again and brought him back into the house. I intended to let him out in a couple of hours but by the time I planned to let him go- all of the other birds were gone. He didn’t tweet but tried to fly a couple of times.
I decided to keep him over night and let him out when the other birds were out. My husband indulged me and luckily he checked the cage in the morning before I got to it. My sparrow didn’t make it. I don’t know what touched me so much about that little bird but I cried most of the day.
It’s ironic because I have spent most of my professional life trying to fix the problems of the world. I never believed that I would solve any social justice problem on my own but I know that any effort to do good in the world and no harm to others is worth it. In order to do that kind of work, I often turned off what I was feeling (fear, disgust,anger and the like) in order to get the work done. Even I am surprised by the level of emotion a tiny bird raised in me.
I was sorry about the loss of that little bird. What I am grateful for is the love and emotion that I still have in me. I can’t help it and I don’t want to.
Tell someone you love them…
I love your story, I always find birds in the back of the yard late spring when there fledging, and fear the jays will get them, I found a place in Redding CT. that takes them. Last year my friend found a crow, we took it in the parents were upset, so upset that at 6am they were on the phone wire at my bedroom window calling out, yes it scared mebut I took the bird to Redding, I couldnt bear to think of its demise if I put it back in the yard. I was told I did the best thing. They haressed me for abouta week lol. I cant image what the world would be like without Birds and animals and Flowers!!!
deb