Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The Baby Bird

    For some odd reason, yesterday, my wife took my daughter back to school to get a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest.  Ashli, along with every other kid, had noticed the bird hopping around while they were at recess.  No other parent, if even asked, gave in and went back to the school to look for the bird.  I said to my wife, "Don't, it will only die."  My protest via phone were either ignored or already too late as there was a bird in a box in my living room when I got home from work. 

     A quick internet search revealed that I was in fact right and that their was about a zero chance of survival with us nursing this bird.  The site I referenced also mentioned that in the State of Tennessee it is illegal to take a wild bird out of the wild.  I doubt wildlife management was running a sting, but it was another reason to be rid of the thing.  More research revealed that the mother would continue feeding the bird even after we had touched it.  It said we should try and put it back into its nest, make a nest to put in a tree for it, or, at the very least, put the baby in a tree or bush off the ground. 

     Of course it was up to me, the heartless dad, to take her back to the school with the bird and let the bird go.  Tears flowed for hours as my daughter explained that she could have kept it alive and that it would have been a great pet.  We put the bird on a thick branch in a tree, the nest was not evident.  Hopefully its mom and/or dad will find it there and continue feeding it. 

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6 comments:

Steve Betz said...

Oh man -- that's a no-win situation if ever there was one. I had a similar experience with a girl -- except she was ~30. My explanation of why keeping the bird wouldn't help it had no effect. But she was sort of hot, so I gave in and helped her. The bird died in the box.

gamany said...

guess you blew your chances for a cool father's day gift, huh. just kidding. ;)

grrrace said...

oh no... sucks to be the mean, heartless dad, huh?and i just KNOW that it's going to be MY job to be the mean one when mia gets older. *sigh*

Budd said...

It is funny what one will do for a hot chick.

Budd said...

Yeah, bird soup for fathers day.

Budd said...

I sometimes wonder if these situations aren't set up. It is hard being the voice of reason in an insane world.