cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another Wonderpets Moment Yesterday I saw a fledgling sparrow hopping around in the courtyard. It hopped on top of a sort of grate over a hole in the ground. I told it to get the hell away from there but it didn't listen. The bird slipped and fell through the cracks into the hole. I looked through the grate and saw that it was a sort of square, cement lined hole that went down about 6 feet. The hole measures about 2'x2'. At the bottom are some pipes that I suppose the hole is intended to provide access to. Also of course there was the sparrow. The only thing that I could think to do for it was to lift off the grate and hope that it could manage its way up and out. The hole looked too tight to get into and still be able to reach down and get the bird. About 15 minutes ago I decided to see if it was still there or if there was anything to be done. I went out to the courtyard with my father and had a look. As soon as we walked over a couple of grown sparrows flew off. One of them, I'm pretty sure, came up out of the hole. So I knew that the fledgling was not only still down there but was probably still alive. Parents of fledgling birds will sometimes continue to feed and care for them for a few days after they leave the nest. Those must have been the parents that spooked off as we approached. Peering down the hole, we could see its little body huddled with fluffed feathers in the corner next to a black drainage pipe. Clearly there was only one option. I had to go down that fucking hole and get the bird out. First I considered going down head-first so I could be assured of getting my hand to the bird. But it was too deep for someone to hold my legs or to easily haul me out without a rope and a whole big production. Feet first it would have to be. I lowered myself down carefully. Keeping my combat boot clad feet away from the bird. Finally at the bottom, I tried to bend down to get the bird. Nope, too tight. I contorted myself into a variety of uncomfortable positions as a cloud of mosquitoes flew around my head. Finally, I was in position to get the bird. When it hopped away from me into the shadows. 6 feet underground in this coffin-like space, it was in pitch black and I could not see exactly where it was. Fortunately, I never leave the house without a small flashlight in my pocket. You'd probably be amazed at the random shit that it is my pockets at any given moment. I make Tom Sawyer look unprepared. Unfortunately, it was not particularly easy to reach something in my own right hand pocket under these circumstances. This required further contorting and the experience of horrible pain in both elbows due to the particularly bad day I am having with the tendon damage described in my last entry a few hours ago. Eventually, I retrieved the flashlight and used it to find the little sparrow. He chirped and struggled as I grabbed the ungrateful little bugger and held him with the best combination of gentleness and security that I could muster under the circumstances. Further one-handed contorting followed as I attempted to get back into a position that would allow me to reach that arm up to the surface. After a minute or so of that, I reached up just shy of the surface and handed the bird off to my father's waiting hand. We replaced the grate covering and had a look at him. He is hopping around in the courtyard again and seems more or less ok. We put out a little dish of water for him and I hope that he takes some. He won't be ready to really fly for a few more days. But if the parents keep looking after him he'll be all right. Its not as if there are any loose cats or other predators who will hurt him while his feathers grow a bit more and his wings strengthen up. Christ, but my arms hurt now. This business of climbing in and out of drain holes is not what I needed today. Cynthia said something remarkably stupid yesterday when the whole thing began. I had walked through the door into the office and announced the situation. And she said "oh boy, it's just hard to know what the right thing is to do in this kind of situation." So I said "No, it's pretty easy to know what the right thing is to do. The hard part is just doing it." Seriously, what the fuck? How was it hard to know what the right thing was to do? A fledgling bird fell down a drain. 'Gee, should we help it or leave it to die or starvation and thirst? I just don't know.' How fucking stupid do you have to be to have any doubts as to whether you should intervene? 11:27 a.m. - 2009-07-17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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