the purefinder - archives - Mon, 2004-08-16
« the hormonal storm and its eddies and squalls | Main | I am the man »August 16, 2004
I smelled it
A couple of weeks ago I was woken by a discomfited mrs padraig who told me that there was a baby thrush behind the fridge.
It isn't really the sort of thing that you _can_ reply to, so I didn't; I waited for more information and complied with her request to get out of bed.
I learned that she had gone downstairs to make breakfast and had become aware of a birdy commotion outside the back door. Fearing that the cats were about to bring a flapping feathery casualty inside, she opened the door, ready to shoo and clap the cats away, to find a thrush family unit, with the parents noisily communicating their concern about their flightless child. The baby thrush was near the door as she opened it and just as she realised what was about to happen... it did. The thrush flapped and flurried and shat (profusely) and flew and fell its chaotic way into the house and behind the fridge.
Eventually I managed to move the fridge, with as little rocking as I could, and the trembling staring bird was revealed in the corner. I bent myself around the fridge and, keen to avoid handling the little chap, I gently pushed the bird into a bucket and carried it into the garden where it was greeted cacophonously by its parents. It ran/flew its way into some undergrowth and we left it there hoping it would recover from its shock. We kept the cats at bay with water pistols and attentive children and the thrush's parents sang noisily for a day or so to try and encourage it to join them in life.
Today, I took advantage of good weather to catch up on my gardening; as I got close to where the thrush had looked for sanctuary I smelled it.
Posted by padraig at August 16, 2004 03:07 PM