Monday, Apr. 28, 2003 - 8:46 am
The cute pigie pic goes to a random website i found by a girl who loves pigeons. i love them too- humble creature of the streets blessed with the ability to fly- i think they are so pretty and sweet and kind (yeah i do) and thats why when i can, i help them. so now we have a pigeon staying with us.
once a while ago rick and i drove to a gothic convention in atlanta from NYC. and in our rented car in the back seat we had, a pigeon in a case, a cat and two dogs. if we had had our scrap o' life mouse virgil with us then we would have had a complete "food chain" of sorts :) yeah we didn't so much trash the hotel room as "fur" it up. we lay sheets all over the place and only stay in places that allow creatures.. but wow that was a menagerie... so back to now..
we have had many birds come through here for healing. the pigeons are the ones who always seem to know what it is i am trying to do for them. they are very stoic and watchful and let me do what i have to with little fuss and we always name them and miss them when we let them go back into the park.. or if we have to bury them because they didn't make it.
i do not go out looking for them but sometimes i'll just be walking along like last night, and i'll see one who needs help. i cannot look and see they are injured and then just walk away- believe me this is not my favorite feeling because i have a place full of cats. but it was easier this time because the shelf.. (nice way high up location away from curious paws.. better than in the past when the case was on the BED with us and cats would try to drape themselves all over it...)the shelf that our mouse was on has been vacated because she had gotten sick and i moved her to the top of the dresser drawers- yeah disco colored plastic mouse mansion right there at face level- so i can apply her All Heal Salve btw truly amazing miracle working stuff ... to her hurt micro-tummy. she has no tail.. i think there was something "wrong" with her from the start.. you could read here about this mouse savin' gross adventure.. we call her the lil' walnut a lot because she does look like a brown nut skipping around in there..
anyway, the pigeon had been standing there on the street, and at this point even rick can tell when there is something "wrong". she could still fly but would fall from her perches she tried to get to, like the bus stop roof, or a low awning- so i followed along below and at some point cornered her in a restaurant vestibule and carried her home. people always watch this process with interest. most i think, understand.. others i wonder about. do they think we're some kinda gothy hillbillies bringing home dinner? its weird how some people watch and look and lick their lips.. yuck. she got set up in a cat carrier (nicely spaced slats, roomy for a bird, no outside kitty access..) and food and water, and since i know whats wrong with her this time from watching i didn't have to "feel her up" to see if there were broken bones. usually i see a bunch of birdies temporarily affected by rat poison, or pulled muscles. pulled muscles seem innocent in general but being a street creature you never have time to rest up until its healed- these are the easiest cases to treat and release later (about a week usually does it). others need more work, but i have great luck where birds are concerned. plants are another issue, don't ask me how THAT happened- ol' caretakin of the hurt babies me and i kill plants- could also be the fact that any plant i ever had became some kind of cat playland..
this pigeon does not have a name yet.. she is so sweet looking. i really love the opalescent pigeon feather colors- all of the babies we[ve had have looked different. even the all grey looking ones have rainbow tints to them. this birdy will be fine with time off to heal. i am always happy when its an easy one of course because that means the happy/sad day when they fly out into the park will go well- sometimes they hop out of the case and just start eating with the others or like one that rick released because i was away and she was ready to go- he said she shot out of there and took off into the leaves in this big long arc of flight. its sounded wonderful.
the cats are leaving her alone although they look up at the shelf and then look at me with faces like "you aren't fooling me, i KNOW there is someone up there that i might want to have a taste of but its too high up to bother but i want you to know that i KNOW!"
the mouse girl virgil is at easy access level in fact she and my kitty cleo share the space, (clee is the peace cat who would never hurt anyone) but others jump up and tap at the mouse mansion and watch virgil skip around and they get bored now. eh.. yeah whatever.. plastic mouse ka-bob.
last i checked the pigeon was still asleep.. that happens too, they sleep a LOT here which is a huge help. out there in the world they probably keep a pretty strict daylight nightime schedule always watchful of rats and things in the night. here they seem to know they can just zonk out and not worry much. one pigeonwas "hosting" a spider. i looked it up and it was just one of those that spiders that did that kind of ride along thing- i shoo'ed him off to find another bird but it was funny to see him peek out of the pigeons feathers.
this one just seems to have a wing pull. she looks like the pige pic above somewhat.
oh i never made breakfast yesterday like i said i would- i DID fall asleep in the middle of the day though.. but we ended up going to this nice great cafe/ inexpensive place for "brunch" (such a goofy word...). i'll attemp the cooking thing again this morning when rick is up. i can cook actually but our "kitchen" is so small here.. its a drag.. but sometimes i get it together enough to orchestrate the whole thing and it comes out fine.
for some reason i had a bad dream i don't remember that prompted me to wake up suddenly and shoo all cats off the bed. they were mad and confused- and then so was i- i mean what the? but i fell back asleep and when i woke up they were all back there sleeping and gave me a look like- can we stay? and then i petted them and there was loud purring all around. must have been some kind of pigeon dream.
well today has just begun and i am sure it will be as confusing and weird and "so what else is new" as yesterday.
(y'kno just a quick thing on all-heal salve- i am not a worker there and do not make money from talking about it *weep* but its really amazing stuff. when clee was sick all her fur on her head fell off and her poor little skin would dry, crack and bleed.. all-heal was the only thing that would not dry out or sting- and i rubbed it on her every day and her skin healed so nice and lovely, all the fur came back. our mouse's tummy looked like she had some hideous tumour, now its almost gone.. plus.. i have NO "wrinkles" :) yeah the stuff makes you pretty too ( put some on at night sometimes.. not day because it has olive oil, unless you like that shine-on-you-crazy-diamond look... ) so yeah wish i could make money off it... one of the few things on the planet that actually "works"..)
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