All Creatures Great And Small

Injured Bird
Originally uploaded by candy.

Why oh why do helpless animals always seem to find me and need my help? First, there was the gopher huddled inside a lady's car under her hood, the turtle stuck in the dryer vent hose, the baby duck that fell down the sewer drain, the fish that jumped out of the tank at the Bass Pro Outlet store.... and now, a little bird who is obviously injured, perhaps by my lanscapers or someone's cat or dog.

Well, unfortunately, there is not much I can do right now for this little guy. I believe he's a fledgling mourning dove and I'm guessing a male because he has more coloring that other doves. He decided to huddle at my doorstep on this cold, rainy morning. I have now left messages with five bird rehabilitators and so far no response. The poor thing has no use of his legs, his tail feathers are missing and one eye appears to be swollen shut. I feel so bad for the poor thing. If I don't keep him wrapped, he ends up on his back as his wings seem to work just fine. I sense that this story will not have a happy ending. Poor little guy. I will post an update later.


Update: The bird passed away sometime in the 20 minutes I went to pick up Ethan from school. Well, I did everything I could. Still, it's very sad. I told Ethan about the bird on the way home and he was looking forward to seeing it, and then I had to break the news. Of course, we'll have to have a funeral.