Izzy didn’t make it. I’m sure it had a lot to do with the 3 separate 16 ft. falls that he suffered after being put back in the nest by a well-meaning idiot. Despite all of the hype on the web about pigeons being hardy, and following instructions to the best of our ability, he never perked up, couldn’t eat or drink on his own, and finally succumbed to his injuries.
However, we took in his nest mate on day two and dubbed him Wuzzy. Wuzzy had more feathers and was friskier. He also had a HUGE gaping head wound. The experts call this “nest abuse.” We actually saw his pigeon parents pecking him while he cowered, cried, and attempted to stay in the nest. Once they succeeded at getting Wuzzy to leave the nest, we scooped him up to protect him from the cats. In two short weeks, he has begun flying the garage for short periods. His head is completely scabbed over and he eats lot of seed, drinks, and bathes.
The Yuba County pigeon parents immediately began to remodel the nest and it looks like they (in typical Yuba County impoverished, welfare mentality, goofed up fashion) have laid another egg or two. They are the worst pigeon parents ever. I’m betting they’re meth or crack pigeons and, if you sat them down and discussed the situation, they would swear they were the greatest parents ever. They’ve made a huge mess of our porch and we aren’t enjoying the up-close look at nature any longer. I was considering leaving a ladder out against the post so that the cats can do my dirty work.
Then, I read further into the pigeon care websites and found that their behavior is normal. If the parents don’t have room for a second nest, they evict the first pair of chicks at about 24 days post-hatch to make room for another set of eggs. It looks like two sets of chicks a year which means we’ll be evicting the entire family in about 2 months.
Paul thinks we should set Wuzzy free today. I’m not sure he’s ready, but I have an idea for an outside dwelling on the side of Sugar’s kennel. I’m going to try that today. It’s too bad the batting cage has some holes in the net. That would be a huge aviary.
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2 comments:
When you finally succeed in this mission of yours I'd like to receive a message via pigeon. That's one of those things on my "things to do before you die" list.
Let me know via smoke signals when wuzzy is healthy.
Daniel,
My newest harebrained scheme is to start a Dove release business. I would do weddings and funerals. The white doves come back home. I'm seriously considering this and I'd say the odds are greater than 75% that it will become a reality.
You're already married, so you can't use my services for a wedding, but I'll also do funerals.
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