Cats,  Mondays With Merlin

A Little Bird Told Me…

If you love cats, sharing makes us purrrr :-)

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Good day cat lovers and what a good day it is. It’s Mondays with Merlin and we an had an unexpected visitor on our porch. We always have several nests and it’s fledgling season. I was sitting in my favorite chair while my mom, Layla swept the floor when out of the blue, a nestling no more than a few days old fell at her feet. Undaunted, she placed it back into the nest. Five minutes later another nestling fell at another location no where near a nest. She figured it was a sign. Every year there are casualties. It’s survival of the fittest. Some are pushed out of nests, some lose a parent, some flop on the ground and meet their fate. Some get lucky and are placed back into a nest or are assisted in their first flight without the gaping jaws of cats. I admit to catching a bird or two in my life but they aren’t my prey of choice. This tiny creature got lucky. Layla placed a basket up near another inaccessible nest where chirping could be heard.

 

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The next morning, Odin made a beeline to the basket, annoyed he couldn’t reach it. Layla lifted the basket down to check on the bird. It looked dead. No surprise. The survival rate for nestlings is low. Layla carried the basket and a shovel to the edge of the garden and dug a hole. The tiny featherless thing looked shrunken but in her hand it pulsed and wriggled. In that moment, the day changed for both of them. It’s hard to change the world but we can change one life at a time. Eye droppers appeared, a softer nesting material, warm hands cupping the weightless bird in Reiki healing energy. Its mouth opened and gobbled a bit of watermelon but nothing else.

Gris Gris came over, curious but one stern look from Layla and he backed off. She looked worried. There were a million things to do as always and she was sitting on the porch holding a bird nobody wanted. Time or no time, something had to be done. They’d brought a fledgling robin last year to a wildlife rehabber and Layla called her, praying she was home. She’s one of these angels who quietly saves animals in Yonkers. Thankfully my cat daddy dropped everything to drive Layla while she continued giving Reiki in the car. Funny how all schedules cease to be important when it’s a life or death situation.

The wildlife expert gently handled the bird while Layla filled her in on what happened. The bird-like middle-aged woman said, “There’s a reason birds are pushed out of the nest. There’s sometimes something wrong with them. It needs some heat and then we’ll see.” A minute and a donation later the bird shifted from Layla’s responsibility to the best possible hands. The odds are against survival but there is always hope. I mean, look at me, I’m still kicking. A little bird told me life is precious and there’s nothing stronger than the will to live.

May your life always be open to little birds.

 

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