Friday, July 11, 2008

More Flying Lessons!

Thats it!!! I quit my post as the unofficial caretaker/sucker of wildlife!! LOL Last night we had a horrible storm. Really high winds/hail & heavy rain. When I got up early this morning, it was storming again and when I looked out the window in the backyard, I saw a big nest on the ground. I thought it must've been the old nest, from previous robins, that had gotten blown away in the wind. Wrong. I went back to bed & got up a couple of hours later & let the dogs out. We are babysitting Bootsie, our neighbors black lab, for 2 weeks. So all 3 dogs go out & go immediately to the nest. Bootsie was really interested, so I went out & sure enough, it was a new nest that I hadn't seen & there was a baby robin trapped under the nest. Poor little guy! Soooo, I was trying to turn the nest over carefully and check the baby out (there was one more baby that was in the yard already), but Bootsie was bound and determined she was gonna get that bird and the parents (and their cheerleading section) were dive-bombing me and Bootsie. Then Bootsie really pissed them off by jumping in the air & trying to catch them! grrrr. I just couldn't get a handle on Bootsie & she was fighting me so badly that she slipped out of her collar. Finally, Samantha heard the commotion & came out & managed to get Bootsie in the house (my 2 dogs, surprizingly, didn't want anything to do with this mess). So I picked up the baby to see if he had any injuries (much to the dismay of the parents). It could walk and move its wings, but part of his wing looked funny, kind of like raw. So I put it back in the yard to see what he would do. Came out several times during the day & he had moved, but every time I got close, the parents dove at me, like a quarter inch from my head this time! And forget getting a picture. Geezz, I'm just trying to help their kid! LOL After watching baby today & keeping the dogs away, it finally made it to the neighbors yard. So its on the move, I just don't know if he flew or walked. If I see it tomorrow and I can get close enough to see if it's really hurt, I might try & take him to Fellow Mortals in Lake Geneva (about a 45 min drive) where they re-hab animals. We have never had this much bird/nest activity in one summer! I love the little ones, but between the dogs & the parents, I'm all wore out for the season. Until the next one. :)