James and I had a unique experience two weeks ago. We were outside while Will was still napping and I was swinging while he was playing in the sandbox.
Scout caught my attention as she began barking and pawing at something on the ground. My first thought was, "Oh, I really, REALLY hope it's not a snake." Bleh. I wouldn't have been able to handle it. As I got closer I realized that she was sniffing a baby bird. I quickly shooed her into the garage and came back to inspect what she'd done to it. Much to my surprise, the baby was fine. I'm not sure she'd even touched it.
It was under one of our magnolias so I started to look around for a nest and finally found one on a branch about three feet off the ground. I called Eddie to see if he thought I should try to put the bird back. {Let me pause here to say that I was totally freaked out about touching it. Birds creep me out.} I mentioned calling the vet about it and James heard me say that and asked every two seconds what the vet's number was so HE could call and ask what to do. Ha! Finally, I got a pair of gardening gloves and tried my best to gently place the baby back in with the others in the nest. I immediately realized that the trouble was that the birds were WAY too big for the teeny nest their mama had built for them. I put one back and he/she and another were both close to falling out again.
As soon as Eddie got home from work we all went back outside to inspect. Sure enough, another baby was on the ground. Eddie picked that one up and stuck it back in the nest. Later, Eddie found another in the middle of our yard (someone, *ahem*, must have picked it up and toted it around...Scout!).
Yes, this is Eddie's yard workin' attire. Back off, ladies. He's taken. ;)
Their eyes were open and they had some feathers so I think they were probably days away from learning to fly, but they still looked too small to do so. There was no hopping around on the ground after falling out (although, I guess they could have been too stunned to do much).
We did watch to see if their mama came back and she did. I saw her fly in and out.
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