Brandon
|
Brandon - Day One
|
Brandon's story is remarkable
in a few different aspects. The first is in how he came to be rescued by a
wonderful dog and a compassionate lady named Jennifer...but I'll let
her tell that part in an excerpt from an e-mail she sent to me :
"I have a Weimaraner, which if you aren't
familiar is a hunting dog. He usually loves to hunt the many
many birds in the neighborhood. He will hunt to kill if he is
allowed, so we have been trying to work with him about the benefits to
making friends, not lunch.
Today, my dog brought me a baby bird. He did not massacre it; he did
not hurt it; he gently brought it to me. In fact, the first few
hours that the baby was in my care, he would not leave my side,
protectively looking in on the bird. " |
Merlin, the "bird
(rescue) dog".
The second half of this unusual
story is that, in searching for
information on crow care, she came across my website, wrote
to me, and we began communicating. It only took a few e-mails
for us to realize that we lived within about 2 miles of each other!
Brandon Day Two
I've discovered through e-mails
that Jennifer is an amazing person
with the most delightful sense of humor who has managed to involve,
not only her dog, her husband and her four children in this rescue
attempt - she's also captured the interest of the neighborhood children
as well. Here are a few excerpts from e-mails chronicling
Brandon's
progress and the family's involvement:
May 22nd - "...I
moved the bird into a larger square storage box. It seems a bit happier,
and wants to hop around today, but its legs aren't strong enough yet. I
have a feeling this is a very young bird. Man, can it eat though. My husband
has already named it. Funny he is more excited than I thought he would
ever be....I was waiting for a lecture last night about taking in animals and
blah blah....but instead he was delighted. The bird's name is Brandon....
....He has already changed a bunch.
There are no pink parts left and a lot of the "down" feathers are in.
His outer feathers are growing very fast. He is able to hop around a bit
now, but falls on his chin a lot.
Even though my husband likes to call
him Brandon, I still seem to call him "the bird". I think I am
afraid that I am not taking good enough care of him! :) Funny, my
husband usually lets me sleep in on Saturdays, but with the bird eating so often
I was going to get up. He got up earlier than I did, and he had almost
finished the second feeding by the time I got out there! My husband had
even made the puppy mush perfectly.
Funny tidbit, Merlin has started hanging out in the kitchen when we are
feeding the bird. He was so excited during the bird's feeding time that I
started to lecture him again about friends and food, but it turns out that he
loves the bird's mush as much as the bird. He waits for the bird to shake
food that doesn't swallow out of his mouth, and then eats the little spots of it
that land on the floor. Too funny. Poor thing though....there have
been no shakings today, since the bird is learning much better how to eat.
Merlin will have to settle for a milk bone.
He still looks like mutant pigmy turkey.......but a little fuzzier.....
...This morning the bird yelled at me
because I was taking too long to get his food into his throat. It seems he
is ALWAYS ravenous.....I guess that is good, but is it possible to overfeed them
and hurt them? Since he eats so often and so much at a time, I get this
mental visual of his little tummy exploding in a poof of feathers like in Shrek.
My 3 year old is totally attached to it. He says it is his bird. He
tells the bird that "it's okay", and "good birdie" when he
eats. My almost 2 year old hugs the bird (well, more my hand than the
bird) and says "birdie". This is so great for them...But he is spoiled
rotten. My husband says that is good, he will hang around forever.
ugh. :)...
...The bird is now Brandon to me as
well. The darn thing keeps growing on me. It likes to snuggle, and refuses
to eat unless I hold him with my hand and cradle him. He will be begging
and begging, but will not let me put food in until I am holding him just so.
Weird bird. Either that or very smart bird that is lonely. I hope that
doesn't tame him too much though...."
May 30th - He
is getting so pretty every day....the fuzziness is going away and he is really
losing the yellow gapes on the sides of his beak. He is starting to look
so grown up.....
(Note:
About this time, Jennifer discovered that Brandon was a Starling and NOT a
crow as the vet she called had suggested) |
 |
June 1 - I
made a cage for Brandon.. It took me until midnight last night but it is
finally done. He seems to like it, but he is still not eating on his own.
I have to hand feed him still, but he is flying in 12 foot jumps.
According to the information online and the book I bought, he should have
started to eat on his own before trying to fly. Maybe he is as backwards
as all of us are! He was meant to be a part of our family. Fun and
loving but a little backwards. :)
I made that LARD feeder. I bought 2 very small tupperware
containers, and drilled 1/4" holes all over the bowl part of one of them.
I affixed the lid to the side of the cage with twist-ties. Then I took the
non-drilled container and I filled it with the mixture of lard and veggies and
dog food and froze it. This morning I took the frozen lard *BIG
SHUDDER* and put it in the tupperware with the holes, sticking it back to it's
lid on the side of the cage. That way he can eat it through the holes.
Macha and Stickers
(my 2003 Crow Rescues)
Back to "Tips on
Crow Care"
Back to the
Garden
Home