Gailhudson.net - Gail's Gazebo

Waddles

August 23, 2001, today started out well. I had made a list of things I wanted to get done and removed most of the items in short order. Al and I were headed to the post office just before 5 p.m. to mail some bills. As we were walking this older man stopped us and said he found a baby bird on the sidewalk. The small bird had mananged to waddle toward a rather large plant and was hiding under one of its enormous leaves. The man didn't live in the area but didn't want to just leave the bird all alone. We surveyed the trees, hoping to spy the nest the bird fell out of but didn't see anything.

What is it about stray animals that brings out the parenting instinct in people?

My most recent hobby has been bird watching and I had lots of birdseed at home. Sure, we can care for the bird, how difficult could it be? The man was very relieved and said that he would look for a box to transport our new friend home while we continue to the post office. On the way to the post office we found a box and grabbed it. Good thing too because the man was not able to find a box himself. Carefully gathering the little bird the man put him into our box and after exchanging farewells we headed home.

I have a cat so bringing this bird into the house was out of the question. We set him up in the backyard with some water and birdseed. The poor little thing just sat in the corner of his box and hyperventilated. We went into the house and consulted the great internet. Al found many web sites dealing with the care of stray baby birds with lots of advise. We were soon feeling overwhelmed by all the information and afraid we weren't going to make it work. Al found a site that recommended feeding the bird chicken (go figure) and some grains. We quickly prepared some chicken and soggy Cheerios mush. We attempted to feed the little bird some chicken but with little success.

I hopped online and found the phone number for a Wildlife Rescue group in the next town over. I emailed and left a rather garbled message on the answering machine of the volunteer listed on the web site. She was nice enough to call back within a few minutes and one of the first things she told me was stop trying to feed the bird chicken! Chicken and beef don't have the calcium a growing bird needs so don't feed that do them. She did suggest some dry high quality cat food soaked in water (good thing was have a cat around). We were to take the bird to Wildlife Rescue in Palo Alto the next day. She cautioned that the bird was probably dehydrated and suggested getting some Pedialyte and dipping a Q-Tip into it then gently rubbing the edge of the bird's beak. If a large enough drop was on the Q-Tip the bird might open it's beak and swallow the liquid. Al and I took turns trying to get our little friend to drink. Al actually got the bird to open its beak several times. Around 9 p.m. we stopped feeding Waddles and made sure he was settled comfortably on the front porch. At 12:30 a.m. we went out to make sure he was still alive and we placed a little roof over the box we kept him in.

In a few hours we will drive Waddles to Palo Alto who and place him in the care of people who will be able to take proper care of him and eventually release him back to the wild. I know this is the right thing to do but a part of me wishes we could be his new family.