Random Stuff

 

About a month ago Kaleb found a baby dove on our front lawn.  It was starting to get real feathers but still had some baby down and a mostly bald head.  Kaleb was hoping to save it.  I looked up in the tree to see if I could spot the nest.  Our trees are pretty tall with lots of leaves.  I couldn't see a nest but knew that some doves had taken up residence in that tree because I see them flying in and out of it.

Kaleb put the bird in a bucket and tried to feed it some worms.  I told him that, sadly, the reality of the situation was that the bird would not survive.
My brothers and I tried, on several occasions, to save baby birds with little success.  Since that had been my experience I held out little hope for this young bird. 

At one point neighborhood kids had gathered around to see the bird.  One boy told my boys that since it was going to die anyway, they should basically torture it.  He was telling them the different things he would do.  Matt came in and told me and I quickly went out, swept up the bird and said, "Just because a bird was going to die doesn't mean it should be tortured!"

I was pretty repulsed by the thing my boys told me he was saying.  Kaleb was telling the boy no, trying to protect the bird, and I was glad Matt came in to get me.  At that point the boy was trying to drop rocks on it.  Someone needs to have a talk with that kid!  I was pretty mad when I came out and I think he knew it because he high tailed it back to his house. 

I took the bird, put it in a container, and stuck it far behind a bush in our backyard.  That way I thought it could at least die in some peace and shade, without everyone trying to bother it.

So, hours passed and I checked on the bird.  It was still alive.  At that point I recalled hearing about a bird rescue type of place and looked them up online.  I called them and they said they would take the bird.  The boys and I took the bird and the lady there said it looked like it had good chance of surviving.  They'd give it whatever medicine it needed, food, shelter, etc. until it was ready to be released.  The boys were happy about that.

Later that night Tyson and I were sitting on the front porch.  It was cooling down and breezy so we decided to take advantage of that. 
As we sat there I could see one dove sitting in the tree while it's mate was on the roof calling out in that familiar dove sound.  I love the doves call. Usually when I hear that sound I think of the bird calling out to it's mate, it's a nice lovey, sweet sound.  However, I really think the dove was calling out to it's baby this time. Under the circumstances the birds call sounded so melancholy to me.  It was a little sad as it kept calling over and over again. 

I was glad that my boys learned a great lesson that day. They learned that Heavenly Father loves all his creations and expects us to be wise stewards and treat them with respect.