5.17.2010

so sorry edamame

I think I made the wrong decision today. I found a baby bird (we named it Edamame). A cute tiny little thing. Feathers just starting to grow on it. It did not seem it was injured in any way. I wanted to feed it and take care of it. First instinct is to pick it up and take it, I didn't want a cat to get to it. There was no other bird around. Not even a tree. I searched on ways to feed it, and to keep it warm. I decided to call A.W.A.R.E (Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort), and I actually didn't like what this man said to me. First off, I was scolded for receiving this baby bird. All I asked him was what to do with it. He says to go and put it back. If the bird was on the ground, it was probably learning to fly and it's mother is around somewhere, or it fell out of it's nest. I asked "but what about the situation where you touch a baby wildlife animal and it's mother does not want anything to do with it anymore". He says "it's a myth, it is not true". So I thought for a second........ok........now what if it's mother does not come back, then I wouldn't want a cat to get to the bird. He says "If I had to worry about saving a little bird so a cat wouldn't get to it, I'd have over a million birds right now, go and put it back now and just walk away".
W T F. What kind of rescue effort is that? I understand the whole thing of learning to fly and that would be fine if I didn't run into this little bird, but being there are over 100 cats roaming around in my neighborhood, I was stressed out. Being a huge animal lover, you don't want to hear that shit. I pondered on this. For a very long time. Every time I would pick up Edamame, she would stop chirpping and snuggle into my hand and rub her beak on me. When I would put her down, she would chirp away like crazy. I felt like it's mom. It needed protection. I kept thinking to myself to not mess with nature and put Edamame back. So I walked back down the street where it was found. I sat in front of the fence. I found a spot with a bush by a tree. I picked Edamame up out of the box and it snuggled again in my hand. I wished her well and put her back. I sat there for awhile and watched to see if there were any birds around. None. I kind of stuck her next to a fence where there were a few basset hounds, so hopefully no cats came close. Then I turned my head and walked off.

I have felt pretty guilty for about 7 hours now. I wonder if I did wrong. My feelings hurt. This MAN from AWARE really has me pissed off right now. If anything happens to Edamame, I wish for this man to feel pain.

I have Edamame's back ----------> had