To Save a Mockingbird....

I saw in my backyard the other day a bird hopping as fast as it could away from our dog Daisy. I ran out and put Daisy in the house and went over to see a little bird that I thought was hurt and could not fly. The sweet little faces of a 7, 5, and 2yr old peered into the bush the scared bird was hiding itself in with wonder. My initial instinct was to leave it to the fate of nature and then almost just as quickly I knew that I should probably save this bird .... I asked the kids what we should do and the decision was unanimous. I was wrong in thinking I could easily find a rescue shelter to take the bird to, but after about an hour of searching I found a phone number for small bird rescue.

An older woman answered and said that she takes the birds as a volunteer. So, out we all headed to the yard with gloves and a little cardboard box. We captured the bird and drove her to her rescuer. When this sweet little old lady answered the door, we opened the box and she said that the bird was a Mockingbird and a baby at that. Sometimes the mothers will push them out of the nest too soon and they will be eaten by cats or dogs. To her this bird was just the most precious thing and she was ecstatic that I had rescued this bird. All the kids were happy and that was the end of it. On the way home I was thinking about what a softy I had become..

I learned what the woman had said was true the next day when the kids ran in with a dead baby bird... I guess this mom was sick of feeding all those babies...

Brooke: "Mom, why is this mother doing this to her own babies?"

I said, "Well, it could be that the mother just cannot feed all the babies anymore and so she can only keep some of them."

Makenzie: "Thats a mean momma mom!"

Brooke: "Mom, I'm not hungry anymore... I'll wait until dinner time."

I'm still laughing about this one. Just something Brooke would say.....