Bird Brains

Yesterday after a long day of forcing my husband to do errands with me we came across a pigeon flapping haphazardly in the middle of a road. Jeff, immediately pulled over giving no thought other than protecting the bird from further injury from passing vehicles. Do I have a compassionate husband or what?

We brought the bird home and inspected it's injuries. Broken shoulder and lots of blood. It didn't look good. We couldn't set it and of course it wouldn't stop bleeding. What to do, what to do? Of course all the vets were closed, being Sunday and all. So I hopped on the internet. Guess what I found. "DON"T PICK UP INJURED BIRDS. THEY ARE DEATHLY AFRAID OF HUMANS AND WILL GO INTO SHOCK AND DIE." and "Taking wildlife into your home is against the law." Very helpful, no?

Luckily an online friend found the number for a Wildlife Hotline centre in Toronto and they got back to me the next day and put me in touch with some preserves in my area where I could take the bird. Thank goodness. They were very helpful and invited me to drop the bird off.

So I spent the morning driving 45 minutes to find the place to hopefully save this bird's life. I was greeted by five war torn dogs, two cats and a couple geese and two young women who help care for the animals. Talk about a welcoming committee! They were very appreciative that we took the time to rescue the bird and drop it off.

For Jeff and I it's just the right thing to do. Cars are not a normal part of nature. It's sad that many do not think like we do. Even sadder is the people who don't keep an eye out for animals on the roads and highways, we are after all taking over their environment.

The preserve called us tonight to let us know the injuries were too great to repair so they put the bird down. We feel better at least knowing it didn't have to take days to die at the side of the road or worse.

We really questioned what we were doing but received a great email from another rescuer, "It is definitely frustrating to be in the situation of finding a creature that needs help, stepping in to help it, and then not being able to find another someone who can give it more help. But don’t let it prevent you from doing the right thing the next time or the next time after that. You did the right thing".

At least the next time we'll know who to turn to.