This morning as I was returning from putting laundry out to dry, there was a noise from the compost area, a fenced former dog run that also houses a nifty double rain-barrel setup crafted by my crafty spouse. It was the kind of noise that makes any bird-lover (or adult bird) take notice: the distress call of a (probably young) songbird. Investigating, I found a young robin (possibly the same adventurous juvenile stranded in the rhododendron a couple of days ago?) caught in some leftover bird netting that hadn't been put away after its last stint protecting some plant or other but tossed under the rain barrel frame. (Yes, I need to be more systematic about such things.)
This young turdus migratorius had managed to get a foot caught in the net and, in its struggles, create a huge knot of plastic netting that tied its toes together and caught the leg at the knee. (Do birds have knees? What do we call the joint that bends in the middle of a bird leg?) Attempting to tease the knots out quickly convinced me that this wasn't a good plan as I was all-too-able to imagine a broken leg or worse. Then: technology to the rescue!
A pair of scissors quickly cut enough plastic threads to free the bird's foot and leg, enabling it to scramble away as it still didn't seem to have the flying thing quite mastered. A quick look later in the day found no bird inside the fence, so this young robin seems to have survived another of the hazards of life in suburbia.
About Me
- Rebecca
- I'm a woman entering "the third chapter" and fascinated by the journey.
2 comments:
It's an interesting article. Most of the people love gardening and when they grew something with great care and if all of a sudden someone harm it, It really makes them angry. Its a better idea to have a light weight net to prevent from birds and other animals. But the net should be put in a way that it won't harm the birds.
Thanks for the comment, plasticnetting. I'm embarrassed to confess that this netting was wadded up under the rain barrel frame, where it had been forgotten after being used to protect some young shrubs from deer. It is now safely put away in the shed where it belongs. This particular young robin had evidently been hopping around in the same area.
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