I am not a fan of birds. Im not afraid of birds, but generally I find them nasty -- except for raptors like eagles and hawks and such. I once had a butt-head brother-in-law (and thats the kindest thing I can say about him) who spotted a beautiful hawk in my dads back yard and said if he could borrow the rifle hed kill it. I gave him my Death Stare ® and told him if he did Id have his butt (substitute another appropriate word) thrown in jail before his blood would clot, adding the threat of bodily injury to that of incarceration. He gave me a bug-eyed look, sat down, and shut up, so once again the Death Stare prevailed. It helps that I was deadly serious. So -- Ill go to the mat for certain birds. Hummingbirds also rank on my list of protected species. The little things continually mistake the red handle on the garage-door pull-down thingie for food, then they cant figure out how to get out of the garage. Hubby and I have spent hours trying to coax them onto the bristles of a broom so we can convey them outside, but usually theyd have to tire themselves out before that could happen. One hummingbird was so elusive, and so exhausted itself (you know they have to eat almost constantly, because their metabolism is so high) that we thought it was dead when we finally got it. It lay lifeless in hubbys hand. On the chance that it was just exhausted and weak, I went inside and mixed some sugar water, poured a drop in my palm, and hubby held the little thing with its beak in the drop of sugar water. Hummingbirds cant open their beaks; its a hollow tube, and they eat by sticking their tongues through the tube. The tongue is about the thickness of a hair. After a few seconds I actually saw a faint flicker that was its tongue, darting into the sugar water. Hubby carefully held it and I kept pouring drop after drop of sugar water into my palm, and that tiny tongue kept darting in and out. After about five minutes, the hummingbird felt recovered enough to jab at my palm with its beak, so we took it outside to see if it was strong enough to fly. Hubby opened his hand, the little bird sat there for a minute as if considering matters . . . and then we had liftoff. It flew kind of haphazardly for a moment, as if it was still weak, then it darted away. Pigeons . . . no, I wont bestir myself for a pigeon. Nasty creatures. I also despise the birds that make mud nests on my porches and bigger messes underneath. Gross. But Im putting out bird feeders and seed for the winter, on the theory that more birds means fewer mosquitos. And maybe therell be some bird houses too, so they can shelter from the cold. Dang birds. -- Linda H.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 14:56:33 +0000
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