Subject: [Tweeters] re: resisting the urge to meddle
Date: Jun 22 10:10:56 2005
From: Dianna Moore - dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com


Reading Rob Sandelin's post about the young bird on the ground...I meddled
due to neighborhood cats when a young Scrub Jay fell out of the nest in my
back yard in Burbank, Ca. I placed the bird in a small animal cage with
dried grasses in one corner, a perch stick, and one of those bird cage water
cups full of water, then hung it under the tree where I assumed the nest to
be.

For the next three days I watched the parents continue to feed the young jay
and watched too as it exercised its wings. On the fourth day I set it free
on top of the cage and held my breath as it flew/hopped in short trips into
the upper branches of the tree, while the parents screamed obscenities at
me.

I got to watch it over the next few days as it grew stronger and more
confident in its flying abilities, and I was glad I was able to save it from
the neighborhood cats, but I also know it's best to let nature take its
course.

Dianna Moore
Ocean Shores, Wa.
dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com