I didn't realize this had not been published. If you check me out on Instagram, you know about bird vs. cat. This little Cardinal was so pretty. Here's how I came about finding her:
A few days ago I walked out to my trash can to throw some stuff away and I saw my neighbors cat, Hunter, hiding behind it and under the privet. I started talking to him not realizing at first that I had interrupted his game of cat and mouse...err, I should say, cat and bird.
All of a sudden I see this little Cardinal with flapping wings running toward me. I tried to catch her, and got a slight hold but she wanted nothing of it. She chomped down onto my finger, which startled me, which made me jump, which made me let go. Damn. Hunter started chasing her. So I went after her and Hunter, shooing Hunter away. Well, the little girl is scared to death and wanted nothing to do with me coming near her. She was finally cornered where my garage attaches to the house and was trying really hard to figure out an escape route. I had to get a small towel to throw over her because it was the only way to get my hands on her. When I did, she let out a nice big squawk, which I hoped was a fear sound and not a pain sound.
I brought her inside and put her on a towel, underneath the top of a bird cage that is for a someday art project, but seems to come in very handy for wayward birds.
That girl was feisty!
I put some bird seed in there with her, as well as a small dish of water. She sat in the water and after awhile she was cracking at the seeds and throwing the shells around. But, she couldn't fly so I figure the outcome was grim no matter how tenacious she was. When picking up injured birds in the past, they've always let me handle them, probably they had given up the fight because then they died after awhile. Since she was so 'vivacious' I thought there was hope.
I brought her to the bird vet the next day, protocol for the rehabilitation center I was going to bring her to. The receptionist came out and I asked if this would be the end, and she said, "well, she's pretty feisty" so you never know. I had to take a breath before asking the question because I started getting really teary and couldn't talk. I really dislike that, it's kind of embarrassing.
The back half of her wing wasn't there, and even though she did have the energy and fight to lamely fly to the cage sides and hang on...I didn't think there was hope for her to be rehabilitated and sent back out to wild. I'm assuming she was just getting a hang of the flying thing, or trying to anyway, because she still had some soft downy fluff on her back. That's probably why Hunter was able to get at her.
It turns out that the damage beneath her wing was too extensive and she had to be euthanized.
Now about that turtle...
Just a few days before, I found this beautiful Eastern Box Turtle in the road, in my lane.
I came upon it quickly, going down hill in Big Bertha, R.'s 1990 quad cab F250, with sorta bad brakes and hauling a trailer full of brush. Fortunately, I was able to straddle it and after stopping down the hill a ways I hoofed it back up as a car was coming speeding down. Who knows if they saw it or not, but they didn't hit it. So I picked it up, it was totally tucked in (the EBT has a hinged shell in the chest so that they can completely hide) and didn't even peak, much to my disappointment. As I save these creatures I talk to them and I like to see their faces. It wasn't happening. I put it back into the wooded area and hoped for the best.
'Tis the season when they head toward nesting areas and often cross the street to get there. They are a turtle that is being watched in CT due to it's mortality rate by automobiles, not reaching maturity for 10 years, not laying many eggs, and being able to hang onto the male sperm for up to 4 years before deciding whether or not to lay eggs. Did you know that 90% of the males have red eyes and the remaining 10% and the females have brown?
One thing a like about finding these awesome creatures is researching them for correct facts, therefore, being further educated about the species.
A few days ago I walked out to my trash can to throw some stuff away and I saw my neighbors cat, Hunter, hiding behind it and under the privet. I started talking to him not realizing at first that I had interrupted his game of cat and mouse...err, I should say, cat and bird.
All of a sudden I see this little Cardinal with flapping wings running toward me. I tried to catch her, and got a slight hold but she wanted nothing of it. She chomped down onto my finger, which startled me, which made me jump, which made me let go. Damn. Hunter started chasing her. So I went after her and Hunter, shooing Hunter away. Well, the little girl is scared to death and wanted nothing to do with me coming near her. She was finally cornered where my garage attaches to the house and was trying really hard to figure out an escape route. I had to get a small towel to throw over her because it was the only way to get my hands on her. When I did, she let out a nice big squawk, which I hoped was a fear sound and not a pain sound.
I brought her inside and put her on a towel, underneath the top of a bird cage that is for a someday art project, but seems to come in very handy for wayward birds.
That girl was feisty!
I put some bird seed in there with her, as well as a small dish of water. She sat in the water and after awhile she was cracking at the seeds and throwing the shells around. But, she couldn't fly so I figure the outcome was grim no matter how tenacious she was. When picking up injured birds in the past, they've always let me handle them, probably they had given up the fight because then they died after awhile. Since she was so 'vivacious' I thought there was hope.
I brought her to the bird vet the next day, protocol for the rehabilitation center I was going to bring her to. The receptionist came out and I asked if this would be the end, and she said, "well, she's pretty feisty" so you never know. I had to take a breath before asking the question because I started getting really teary and couldn't talk. I really dislike that, it's kind of embarrassing.
The back half of her wing wasn't there, and even though she did have the energy and fight to lamely fly to the cage sides and hang on...I didn't think there was hope for her to be rehabilitated and sent back out to wild. I'm assuming she was just getting a hang of the flying thing, or trying to anyway, because she still had some soft downy fluff on her back. That's probably why Hunter was able to get at her.
It turns out that the damage beneath her wing was too extensive and she had to be euthanized.
Now about that turtle...
Just a few days before, I found this beautiful Eastern Box Turtle in the road, in my lane.
I came upon it quickly, going down hill in Big Bertha, R.'s 1990 quad cab F250, with sorta bad brakes and hauling a trailer full of brush. Fortunately, I was able to straddle it and after stopping down the hill a ways I hoofed it back up as a car was coming speeding down. Who knows if they saw it or not, but they didn't hit it. So I picked it up, it was totally tucked in (the EBT has a hinged shell in the chest so that they can completely hide) and didn't even peak, much to my disappointment. As I save these creatures I talk to them and I like to see their faces. It wasn't happening. I put it back into the wooded area and hoped for the best.
'Tis the season when they head toward nesting areas and often cross the street to get there. They are a turtle that is being watched in CT due to it's mortality rate by automobiles, not reaching maturity for 10 years, not laying many eggs, and being able to hang onto the male sperm for up to 4 years before deciding whether or not to lay eggs. Did you know that 90% of the males have red eyes and the remaining 10% and the females have brown?
One thing a like about finding these awesome creatures is researching them for correct facts, therefore, being further educated about the species.
I did see it on Instagram.
ReplyDeleteI was sad.
Couldn't think of an appropriate comment
just :(