Save the Birds!

The other day I was outside raking leaves, mowing up stragglers, cutting firewood, just enjoying outdoor work on a beautiful autumn day. I have a row of birdhouses that live up on the front of my shop that produce numerous batches of babies in the spring and are inhabited during the cold days of winter. I noticed a bird that seemed to be having a problem in the entrance to one of them, it looked like its foot may have been stuck in a crack in the wood. I just kept working and figured it would work its way out. A couple hours later my attention was drawn back up to the fluttering bird. Still stuck.

Since my jobs outside were nearly complete I decided it was time to address the poor stuck bird. I got my tall folding ladder and leaned it on the building, to make it as tall and close as possible.  I climbed the ladder. I had to go one step higher than comfortable and just remove the entire birdhouse - it wasn't its foot that was stuck.

Those silly birds use anything they can find for their nests and one used a long piece of white nylon that resembled dental floss. It was wrapped around the birdy's neck. As he fluttered when I was close he would get exhausted and just hang by the string around his neck. Talk about a sad sight!

So I pulled the whole thing down and went inside to get a pair of scissors, with the birdhouse under my arm and the bird in my hand. I went back outside and swapped everything around, the scissor was in the wrong hand. I didn't try to slip the scissor under the string, it was pretty tightly wound. I simply snipped it and the birdy flew off with the twisted string still around his neck. Hopefully it'll just slowly unwind and fall off.

This is at least the third bird I've rescued. I have a soft spot for all living creatures but birds can't bite, so I opt to help when I can.

The first time I recall doing anything was when I saw a water fowl, duck or goose, in the road being blown underneath vehicles and not being able to get it's bearing long enough to get on it's feet. So I stopped my car on the side of the busy road and removed it and set it in the grass on the side of the lake.  I believe traffic waited for me, it was probably 20 years ago, I'm not sure.

More recently, maybe 10 years ago, I took my 2 youngest sons out in our paddle boat on Lake Holm. When I neared the far end of the lake a woman came to the shore and started to call to me. She told me there was a baby goose trapped among the boards in a rotten dock that was no longer attached to the land and not easily accessible. Never mind the 2 parent geese that were keeping vigil over their trapped baby! Talk about scary! Ever had a goose come after you?

So we paddled over to it and determined we needed tools. At that point I was walking on the dock. It wasn't as bad as it was made out. I walked toward the woman on the shore and asked her to bring me some tools. She brought out a hammer and crowbar or the like and I delicately pried up the board. The poor thing was between the dock boards and the ballast below. He could get his head out but his body was trapped. I got the little thing out and mom and dad goose were right close but not threatening. I let him go in the water and the happy family swam away together.

The best feeling is the release, letting the bird back into it's comfort. I wish I could help more animals.,,,