1. Bunny - we babysat bunny for a friend who went home for Christmas. Bunny's life was lived in a small cage - 12" x 18". He could take maybe 2 small hops to one end of the cage. "His" (you don't even want to know how we found out Bunny was not a he!) next move was to turn around and take another hop or two back to where he started. Very soon I determined to block all possible escape routes in the back yard and just let bunny have free reign. The bunny now had room to move, run, and really hop, and in my opinion had a much more fulfilling life. The kicker is that the owner decided to move home and sold Bunny to a friend for $25. I was incensed! There was no way I would let him take Bunny away to live back in the cage! So we paid the guy $35 and told him we were keeping Bunny who lived happily in our back yard for several more years.
2. Baby Kittens - On our way to church one hot summer day I noticed a moving mass of fur up against our neighbor's fence. Upon closer inspection we found 5 baby kittens maybe just old enough to leave mommy. Someone had stuffed them into a pop-up hamper and thrown them onto the side of the road. The kitties were hunkered down in a tiny sliver of shade next to the fence. We picked them all up and took them into the house to cool them off. We found a box and put them in it trying to make them as comfortable as possible. After church we tried to give them some milk by dripping it into their mouths with our fingers and a small dropper. All during this time Dad got busy finding a no-kill shelter that would take them THAT DAY! He was worried that we would fall in love with them and never get rid of all of them. He was right - we did fall in love with them. But he was successful in finding a shelter that would take them in - for a small donation! Ha!
And for the lastest event - Foster Birdies
I have been busy packing boxes. In the second bedroom I kept hearing some loud and rather obnoxious bird talking. Peeps, squaks, more peeps, etc. I went out to investigate. I found a little poof of a bird in the grass in want of a comfy nest. The parent birds were distressed and worried. I tried to find the nest but to no avail. The birdie eventually hopped under the bushes near the house. My heart was hopeful when the parent birds kept returning to feed the baby tasty bugs. But the baby was too small and would surely die. This morning after hiking I again heard some loud bird conversations. More distressed parent noises and some peeps. Had our fallen birdie managed to survive the night? Once again I went out to investigate. I followed the peeping to the north side of our house and found 2 little bird poofs. Yes two - by the fence and huddled in some long grass. Well, I could see that the birdies would soon be in the direct sun for the entire afternoon and so I sprang into action. I got some dead branches and trimmed some brances with leaves off our tree. I took them over and constructed a shade structure for the small birds. I left the side opened and hoped the parents would accept the new structure in place of their usual nest. After doing this I went to the front bushes to inspect closely for yesterday's bird. And sure enough it was there - barely alive but alive. I couldn't stand to leave it there so I grabbed it with a cloth and took it over into the shelter I just made. Now there were 3 poof birdies. I don't think that the third one will make it but at least it won't die all alone and scared. Anyway, I raised the shade in the third bedroom and can see the shelter perfectly from there. I spent a good amount of time peering out to see if the parent birds would even go near it. It took them quite a while to do it but they did. They went in and fed the peeping poofs a good variety of bugs and stuff. So I have done all I can to help my Foster Birdies survive. I'll keep you posted.
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