What Happened to the Christmas Dove? A Tale of Survival and Compassion

[Borek]

If she made it up to today, she probably wasn't hurt very badly.

 

[physics girl phd]

This is so amazing. I can't believe she's adapting so well to inside life.

 

[Evo]

Perhaps OmCheeto is "the pigeon whisperer".

 

[Borek]

This is so amazing. I can't believe she's adapting so well to inside life.

That can be effect of the shock and wound. Few years ago Junior brought home young cat, that was so weak and skinny that it wasn't able to run away. So - while it was afraid of the situation - it was just closing eyes and pretending whatever happens is not really happening. Before it got stronger it also got accustomed to us.

 

[hypatia]

The bird is beautiful. I think its really happy to be there.

 

[binzing]

Looks like you've got a buddy now Om.

 

[lisab]

So what are you going to name her, Om?

 

[BobG]

She's so pretty. Can you tell if the wound is healing ok?

The wound obviously hasn't been debilitating, but I'd be worried about infection. A visit to a vet that handles birds could take care of that. They can give the bird a simple antibiotic to help it fight off any infection that sets in.

 

[Danger]

So what are you going to name her, Om?

Homer?

 

[~christina~]

Very pretty birdie. From that close up, it looks like a pigeon. (thick neck)

If your going to take care of it in the long run, I would get it a cage. I can't comment on the size it should be though, because my dad raised a few pigeons at a time and the cage was rather large, since they need some flight space. If it isn't a homer pigeon but a normal one I wouldn't trust that it wouldn't fly off and never come back. The homers that we raised were allowed to fly out and come back at night.

If I were you I'd probably wash the feathers around the wound and check the extent of the damage.

 

[binzing]

By the eye, beak, and large neck I'd go with pigeon.

 

[OmCheeto]

By the eye, beak, and large neck I'd go with pigeon.

ditto.

I'll let you know in the morning what pigeon 911 says about the situation.

They've found my little pigeon dove a home.

although...

 

[BobG]

You could name her Bianca.

 

[OmCheeto]

I'm pretty sure I can't keep her. I've already started making little birdy habitrails through my living room.

I'm going to turn into one of those crazy people with a pigeon living uncaged in their house with bird poop everywhere.

And she's flying around spontaneously now, just for the fun of it apparently.

Oh! And she must be a girl, she just remodeled the bathroom.

 

[hypatia]

Ahahahah@ habitrails. Thats so cool, you would make a great pigeon Pappa.

 

[Evo]

Aw, that so cute! How about diapers?

The blood all over her breast is a bit unnerving though.

 

[OmCheeto]

Aw, that so cute! How about diapers?

The blood all over her breast is a bit unnerving though.

I've been trying to keep the bloody pic's down to a minimum. The pictures of the blood in the snow and in the bath look like something out of a Hitchcock movie, only in color.

Today, a lady I've known for 20 years came and asked about our dead co-worker. I told her I knew nothing of the circumstances. I did though tell her about her reincarnation, and how she was sitting in my living room. I showed her the thread with all of the pretty pictures.

After she left, I noticed the Google advertisements at the top of the page. I would have fallen down laughing if we hadn't been so busy at work today.

She's not a pest..., yet.

 

[binzing]

Yeah these ads are pretty entertaining at times.

 

[OmCheeto]

Yeah these ads are pretty entertaining at times.

As a general rule, I only peruse the forum on my time, and am therefore always logged in, so I seldom get to see the ads.

Is there a thread devoted to their untimeliness?

 

[lisab]

So, Om, what's the story now with your bird buddy?

 

[hypatia]

Please yes, a update?

 

[OmCheeto]

Please yes, a update?

Are you serious? You really don't want to get me started...

Ok. Last week I decided that I had turned into my father. My sisters visited him about 6 years ago in his two bedroom shack. One room was for him, another room, with wall to wall carpeting, was for his chickens.

The other day, I noticed another coincidence between the dead lady and Birdie(I think I've named her Birdie btw), they had both recently been mugged.

Anyways, Birdies doing so well that I tried to direct her out of the house. No luck.

Here are some pictures from this weekend.

Healing Nicely:

She's gotten quite comfortable perching anywhere she wants.

On the ceiling fan:

On the dining room lamp:

On the time-out baby in plush toy heaven:

On the torchiere lamp:

(It's not on. That's the dining room lamp in the background. This lamp can toast a moth in about 3 seconds.)

So I put up little clothes pin birdie spikes to keep her out. Just in case I had a brain fart and needed more light while she was snoozing.

Clothes pins do not make effective pigeon deterrents. I had to unplug the lamp.

Today she teased me when I came in from the garden. She wasn't in any of her usual spots. I looked through the entire house. Every room!

I finally found her next to the wood stove sitting quietly, giving me a "so what's your problem" look.

I think she's going to stay at least another week.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Thanks for the update, Om. I enjoyed your pictures.

 

[Evo]

Om, she's adorable! You are so wonderful for taking care of her!

 

[OmCheeto]

Om, she's adorable! You are so wonderful for taking care of her!

She's certainly given me an appreciation for the difficulty in photographing pure white subjects. Everyone keeps telling me she's a sign. Perhaps I'm supposed to paint my living room green or something.

 

[hypatia]

Great update. She does look like she is healing perfectly.

 

[OmCheeto]

Great update. She does look like she is healing perfectly.

Yes. I think she's healed.

I properly named Birdie this morning. Her full name is Bianca Megon Birdetta Johannson. Megon is an acronym of the lady that passed away at work. I'll refer to her as Megon from now on instead of "that dead lady".
Birdetta, because there is a lady at work who's name is Berdetta and everyone calls her birdy. Johansonn, because Megon was always bragging about being Fin-Swede. Yesterday, I ran into a Fin-Swede acquaintance and told him the story about her needing a good Fin-Swede name. He said use mine. Great! Then I mentioned that I might one day have to let her go. He laughed and said the bird had found a sucker. I'd feed her and she'd sh** all over my house until she died. Hmmmph. We'll see, I said.

Anyways, this morning, Birdy was acting a bit odd. She was sitting in the front window pecking at the glass. That was new. Perhaps she was telling me it was time. The weather today was forecast to be in the mid 50's, sunny, and calm. So I opened the door. It took her only about a minute to fly out of the house. She was really polite and waited for me to go in and get my camera so I could take a couple of final pictures.

After two snaps from two different angles, she was off.

She must be a homing pigeon, as she made circles around the house that got progressively larger and progressively higher.

It took her less than a minute to totally disappear.


That was quick.

Perhaps she'll stop back some day.

I left food and water in both the front and back yards just in case she was only thinking of being away for a short trip. But I had to go to work.

Funny. One thing that Megon used to say was:

Fish got to swim. Birds got to fly.

The end​

 

[binzing]

Cool!

We rehabed a chickadee once and later that winter I remember seeing this one chickadee on a branch about 5 feet away from me and it didn't seem scared at all, I think it was the same one. I'll bet you she stops by...Or else comes back this tomorrow, lol.

 

[lisab]

Om, what a beautiful thing you did! Thank you so much for including us in this little adventure...what a terrific story.

I hope she comes back and visits you at least once.

 

[OmCheeto]

Om, what a beautiful thing you did! Thank you so much for including us in this little adventure...what a terrific story.

I hope she comes back and visits you at least once.

Maybe one of her kids will stop by some day.
Every time I see a bird now I think of her.

It was quite the adventure having her. A little song started playing in my head when I got home, and she wasn't there to greet me. All I could think about was cleaning up all the little droppings she left for me.

"Birdy, the Christmas poo, she'll poop on you and she'll poop on you. Fly away and what d'ya say...? Mmmmm. kay? Birdy, the christmas poo, she'll poop on you and she'll poop on you..."

We rehabed a chickadee once and later that winter I remember seeing this one chickadee on a branch about 5 feet away from me and it didn't seem scared at all, I think it was the same one. I'll bet you she stops by...Or else comes back this tomorrow, lol.

Speaking of rehab, Megon's son used to accuse her smoking crack back when he was about 10 years old. He's 30 something by now, with little squabs of his own.

But just to finish up the mystical side of the story. Last week a mouse showed up in my house. I haven't had a mouse in my house in about 10 years. Last Sunday, I caught the mouse eating the bird seed from Birdy's dish.

Megon used to have pet rats. Birdy had a pet mouse.

Weird.

 

[hypatia]

Lol, the words out. Three hots and a cot at Om's house!

 

[OmCheeto]

Lol, the words out. Three hots and a cot at Om's house!

It only gets worse.

Megon once gave me a pet baby rat. She loved rats, and kept them as pets.

I unfortunately had the same affinity for rats that I do of children. The rat seemed to sense it. Within two days I had a feral rat in my house. Within two months, given my proclivity for embellishment of rat story's, I was the center of attention at work. But that's an old story.

Today I found that Birdys gift of a pet mouse had turned into a whole family of pet mice. Apparently the mother mouse, which was the only mouse I was aware of, had seen me as a grouchy old diety and had tossed two of her children into the new condominium as a sacrifice. The previous(condominium) of which I had toasted in the woodstove the day after Birdy had gone home. (After shaking out the Mother mouse of course, and checking for mini-me mice's)

So now I have two mini-me mice's inside of my fishtank, sitting and greedily eating Birdy type food.

Yes Hypatia, the forest animals have found a sucker, and the house is open, with many a bed to fill.



Does anyone need/want a little mouse? or maybe two?

 

[OmCheeto]

Ahhh!

I put one of my old seashells in the tank thinking that the mice want to hide under it.
When later I went to look for them, I could see two little tails sticking out from the inside.
Of course when I turned on the light for a pic, both tails curled up and disappeared into the shell...

Anyone want some hermit-mice?

 

[binzing]

Thats awesome with the shell...

 

[tribdog]

Honestly though, how long until you stopped crying when you let the bird go? Its okay, you can tell us.