Ralphetta Part III

Well, as it turns out releasing a bird back into the wild, even after only a day of captivity is not as easy as it sounds. I'm not sure what exactly Ralphetta's problem is, but he/she/it will not fly. Also, since it is now partially blind, the bird runs into things and wanders out into the road when cars are coming. Oh what will we do with you little birdie? The kids and I decided it was not safe for him outside, so we found a bigger box to put him in. He's pretty irritated at us keeping him captive, he's hopping around a lot and not at all pleased with his new home but that is all I could think of to do at this point.

I did get an email back from the Audobon Society saying that they would take him in if his release doesn't go well, so that may be what we need to do. Oh, and she told me that he is most likely a Golden Crowned Sparrow. He's actually a nice little bird. I'm not sure if it's blindness that is making him so friendly, but he walks all over the kids feet and will come in our direction when we whistle at him.

Dave says "you're something else". I guess that pretty much sums it up...

On another note, I started thinking of the quote I discussed earlier "be the change you wish to see in the world". I suppose that this little act of kindness is one that I'd like to see other people duplicate, especially towards animals and yes, even birds. So, here I am, starting at home with saving the world, one Golden Crowned Sparrow at a time. Really though, for those of you that know us, we started with saving animals long ago and have saved our fair share (over 50 German Shepherds so far with a few cats and mice in between). This is however, our first bird.

Here are some pictures of our feeble attempt at Ralphetta's release.