Birds, and Squirrels, and Little Girls

Blue Jays, like humans, care for their young with a watchful eye. We both like to keep our babies safe, and provide comfortable homes in which they can grow up until they are ready to leave the nest. Of course as they grow we must give them more freedom, and space in which to learn. They can't be confined to the nest forever!

We are fortunate enough to have a blue jay family for neighbors. Their nest is high in a tree in the front yard. I have seen the busy parents flying about the yard. The girls and I like to watch them and all the other birds in the yard. They are all so beautiful.

A few days ago, my oldest DD came running in. I heard her tell her sister, "Don't touch it!" as she approached the door. I was already on my way to meet her and see what kind of creature they had found in our yard. I needed to make sure they were safe from this wild animal (Copper heads have been found in our yard in the past).

So I ran after her across the yard to find a small, partially feathered blue jay, covered mostly with down sitting on a thin branch of the azalea hedge that borders our yard. It looked lonesome and pitiful. My first concern were the cats that live outside and eat in our barn. They could be a threat to this baby. But some of them are wild, and I can't bring them all into the house anyway. DH is allergic. So we left the bird for a while. Later I decided we should do some research to see if we should bring this baby in and watch after it.

We learned from the internet that Blue Jays, Robins, and other bird species finish the training of their fledglings at ground level. This bird would be just fine where he was, and would be flying off very soon. We did not want to take it from the care of its parents who were still bringing it food. So we just watched it. Every time we heard a clamor from that direction, one of the girls would run out to make sure there was no cat attacking. The noise was usually the mother bird feeding the baby.

But yesterday it was one of the cats going to check out the situation. Both DDs promptly shooed the cat away to protect the bird. But then, last night there was a noise on the patio. It was the sound of an injured animal. I jumped up to check, and youngest DD was in tears at the thought that a cat had gotten to "our" baby bird. I ran out to stop the murder; but the cat, Firecracker, snatched up the critter, and shot out into the yard.

I came in and told the girls that Firecracker had the baby bird. They were devastated. I went out again to find the cat and its prey not expecting to find anything good. This time I was able to separate the cat from the injured animal. It was not a bird! It was a young mammal, maybe a squirrel. I snatched up the cat. (Fortunately, Firecracker wishes he were a house cat, so there was no trouble getting him in my arms and into the house.) The girls were overjoyed to find that the cat had not hurt the baby bird.

I went back out to check on the squirrel, but it was not to be found. Hopefully it will be able to recover. (I dreamed last night that one of the other cats was playing with a stiff squirrel in the yard. Argh!) As for Firecracker, he was confined to the safety of the laundry room. He did not hurt any other creatures last night. And of course this morning he didn't want to leave the laundry room to go back outside either. Hope that bird learns to fly soon. Our nerves can't take this!