Suzanne: Bird Hero

I saved a life this morning. Just another day in the life of Suzanne: Bird Hero. No, seriously - I did save a bird this morning.

I was getting ready to walk out the door for work, and I saw that my cat was looking out the window into the backyard and making her "ack-ack" bird sound. As I always do when she makes the "ack-ack" bird sound, I went over to see what bird she had spotted and to chat with her about it. The "ack-ack" sound cracks me up, and we bond during these conversations. Cats and people like it when you're interested in their world. But I digress.

I peered out into the backyard and couldn't see the bird she had spotted. Then all of a sudden I saw it - a flapping behind my potting bench, but up near the top of the bench. There's no step or outcropping of any kind, and the flapping wasn't constant, so I wondered how the bird was maintaining that position - not flying up or down, just hanging in one spot and flapping occasionally. I even wondered if it might be two birds fighting. Whatever it was, it needed investigation.

So, I accepted the fact that I was probably making myself late for work and headed out to investigate. Thank God I did. It was a solitary bird trapped in my fence. His little foot had become wedged in between two of the fence slats, and he couldn't get free. Well, this would not stand. There was no way I was heading to work with that little boo-boo trapped and struggling.

I went and put on some gloves (partially to protect myself because he might peck at me and partially because handling a bird can send the bird into shock, so I wanted to minimize my scent). I realized that the best angle to help was from above, so I climbed on top of the potting bench, and started my rescue. I tried at first to lift the bird's leg from the gap where it was wedged - I thought maybe he was struggling in the wrong direction and he just needed someone to pull it up and out, rather than just out. I put my finger underneath the trapped leg, and the bird got very still. I pulled, but there was no movement. I could see that his little toes were trapped behind the cross-bar that ran behind the fence. Bugger.

I tried a time or two more, and each time, he'd get very still when I touched him. I was afraid the third time, though, that I might break his leg or something if I pushed too hard, so I stopped and began to try and pull the slats apart to create some space so he could pull free on his own. We both struggled for several minutes to no avail, and that's when I saw that his "knee" - the joint above the point where his leg was trapped - had been rubbed raw. You could see the bone/cartilage and it was starting to bleed. "Oh no! Baby, stop!" I pleaded as he kept flapping and struggling, and (I was sure) making it worse.

I began to think. "Okay, I'm not going to be able to accomplish anything trying to pull these slats apart with just my own strength." And I was NOT going to leave him there to injure himself further and surely die. I needed to somehow create more space - cutting the fence slat or pulling it free from the cross-bar or *something.* "What tools do I have that could do something?" So, I ran in the house and scanned the stash of garden tools that I keep by the back door.

I spotted a digger tool. That might work. It might be too thick, but I could TRY it - I could try to stick it between the two slats and wedge them apart. If that didn't work, I'd go back and look again for something else to try. I ran back to the potting bench. The poor bird was panting - exhausted, scared and hurt. His foot had slipped down a little bit - still caught but not trapped against the cross-bar anymore. This was good.

I stuck the digger in between the slats and pushed. The gap expanded, the bird flapped, then he flapped again and...FREEDOM! His leg came free and he flew up and then away into the trees on the ranch behind my house. I watched him as far as I could see him, thinking..."Wait! I need to put some Neosporin on your wound and bandage it!"

Hopefully, he won't get an infection and his leg will heal and all will be well. He was beautiful. Black with red and yellow markings under his wings. I will watch for him as the summer goes by. I was late for work, of course, but it was well worth it. Saving a creature in need trumps 30 minutes of email any day of the week.