Monthly Archives: June 2010

Would you do it?

I took the kids for a swim again this morning. Yesterday’s experience tells me that they enjoy hanging around underneath the simple man-made waterfall at the other end of the pool, where there are two major streams and some trickles like heavy rain falling onto the pool from about 4 feet above water. WIth Caitlin’s cossie that houses the 2 front and back floats on, I could focus most of my attention on Caleb who doesn’t have any floats yet; at the deeper end of the pool of 4.5 feet (?), at the grounds of our condo.

This morning, while enjoying the sensation of water gush-falling onto our heads, I looked around and saw that, in between the plastic grating of the pool’s perimeter drain, were a pair of bird wings sticking out. A pigeon-sized bird too.

Yuck, a dead bird. I thought. Better get out of here soon, alert someone to rid of it before it gets septic and get into the general pool water.

I pointed it to Caitlin, justified that we can’t / shouldn’t stay much longer ‘cos of germs from a dead animal. I also didn’t want to just leave it there. So I thought to leave these 2 kids as brief as I could in the 1.5 feet baby pool, which is actually just next to the waterfall, and try to rid of the carcass myself without leaving them alone too long.

After shifting them there, I soon found a stick at the nearby BBQ pit, and went back to try and fish the carcass out.

As I shifted the gratings to widen the gap for easy access, the bird moved / jerked.

I tried and positioned the stick under its feet, hoping that it would at least make it easy for both of us to lift it out of the water. But that first movement was the only movement I saw. Clearly it was already nearing death.

I can only imagine that it fell into that bit of gap with its wings up and above its body, unable to get up and out. With most of its body submerged in water in all that time; possibly also its head, it is clearly already dying from exhaustion and being in water for so long, for a bird.

It tried to open its eyes but obviously too exhausted; mustering maybe an inhale every second- I don’t think birds breathe that slowly in general.

Pinching one of its wings and supporting the rest of its body on the stick, I fished-lifted it out, and placed it in the shade under some nearby bushes. I thought of putting it under the sun for quick drying, but that may actually make things worse.

At least it wasn’t a decomposing bit of animal polluting the water, I thought, and the kids are kinda safe in the water.

But what about the poor animal?

I personally didn’t and don’t have the heart to put it out of its misery, much less infront of or for the kids’ knowledge. But the poor animal clearly will not make it, and is suffering.

I pointed Caitlin to where the bird lay (under the bushes near the baby pool where they were), and said that it will likely die soon, and pouted my lips at her. She was sad too, but not too much, and remarked that it’s okay, the mummy bird can make more baby birds.

Not much of an animal lover, I see.

But back to the bird- what would you have done about it?