The downside to the sudden roller coaster-dip in the weather is that it's been a surprise to the local wildlife, too.
As we were leaving the building this morning on our way to work, we saw something at the end of the walk. I thought it was a kid's coat or sweater. Lopez thought it was the neighbor's stray cat, which he's been feeding for a few months. It turned out to be a hawk, compact and muscular and dead. Lying there on the concrete, it was still beautiful, as magnificent as it was sad.
Making sure there was nothing we could do for it, we left it there, figuring the people running the office would be better equipped to deal with it than we were. Then, getting into the car, Lopez noticed something.
Huddled next to the tire of the car next to us was a tiny sparrow, puffed up and motionless. I went to take a look at it, and it turned its little head toward me. It was alive.
We took a box from the trunk, and while Lopez crumpled up newspapers I picked the bird up in a piece of cloth. It fluttered its wings, but couldn't take off. We gently put the bird in the box, covering the top with a paper bag.
Driving across the street, we stopped to pick up some breakfast on the way to work, which took about 10 minutes. We got back into the car and Lopez asked, "How's the birdie doing?"
I checked and said, "Oh." The sparrow had died, wrapped in cloth and nestled in newspaper.
I told Lopez, "At least he died comfortable, and not on the street."
Lopez sighed. Then she said, "Poor babies."
4 comments:
That is a tragic tale. Poor babies indeed :-(
That is so sad. I have a little birdie, and it breaks my heart to think of her dying due to exposure...
sniff
E: It's hard to think of how many other animals probably died that night, and you start wondering what you can do to help them. The answer in this case, unfortunately, is not much. Most of the time, nature is just unforgiving. It doesn't make it any less sad, though. We're not supposed to have bird feeders or bird houses on our balconies, but I might try to sneak one out there anyway.
Fred: How is that old rascal? And don't worry - you've given that little birdie the life of a princess!
Yeah, nature is one harsh-ass mistress that's for sure, doesn't lessen the sadness when you see her at work, especially on such pretty specimens (you think of hawks as so tough too...). I don't think hawks take to houses at all, there probably wasn't anything that could be done for the poor guy. The climate change has got to be confusing as hell to the migraters. Did you hear that they've LOST an entire group of whales. Migrated along a regular pattern for years and years and then just suddenly upped and disappeared. Weird shit.
Post a Comment