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- 10/21/09
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Every morning I go out and fill the bird baths with fresh water and if there are any nests in the trees I check around them to make sure all is fine. It's late in the season but a pair of robins hatched two babies last week. Today I was outside washing my shed getting ready to paint it and the tree with the nest in it is about 40 feet from my shed. The two parents started screaming and one barely missed me with it's wings. They kept going back to the tree and then flying while screaming. I saw the baby on the ground. It had fallen from the nest and I guess they were asking for help. I picked it up, looked it over, and the only thing I noticed was it couldn't keep it's eyes open. As I was trying to figure out whether it was fine enough to be put back in it's nest, it passed in my hands. I felt so bad not being able to help it. I set it back on the grass for the parents to see that it was gone and went back to the shed to give them some peace before burying it. The dad sat in the tree above it and made some sad clickish sounds while the mom came and sat on a branch near me and made the saddest chirps. They did this for about an hour before going back to care for the other chick. I've found a lot of dead baby birds in the yard but usually way after the fact but this was the first one that I got to mourn with the parents.
The more I really pay attention the more I realize humans don't give animals/birds enough credit for all the emotions and intelligence they really have. We're told not to anthropomorphize them but why should we think their grief, happiness, or other emotions are so different than our own? Food for thought anyway.
The more I really pay attention the more I realize humans don't give animals/birds enough credit for all the emotions and intelligence they really have. We're told not to anthropomorphize them but why should we think their grief, happiness, or other emotions are so different than our own? Food for thought anyway.