Saturday, November 21, 2009, 04:22
Too Late
I was in my office Tuesday afternoon, working on newspaper stories, and my Shetland Sheepdog, Pixie, was outside enjoying the sunshine in the backyard.
From time to time, I heard Pixie "woof-woof" but it was a quiet bark and not too alarmed and only a couple of woofs.
Finally I went outside to investigate. To my dismay, the barn kittens, Whiskers, Jack and Long John Silver had caught a bird.
I went over to Long John Silver, who had the bird in his mouth, and grabbed the scruff of his neck. He dropped the poor little bird, a warbler of some kind. The bird was wet with cat spit, and that must have been what Pixie was barking about.
The bird, I could see, was still alive!
I picked him up and put him in the lilac bush, but he was too weak to hang on. And then Jack pounced on him.
So I grabbed Jack by the scruff of his neck until he dropped the bird.
Once again I picked the bird up, and this time I put him in a pine tree at the edge of the yard. He grabbed onto the branch with his little foot and sat there propped against the pine needles. I watched him for five or 10 minutes. He was trembling and wet. I figured maybe the sun would help dry out his feathers.
In time, he tried to fly, and when he fluttered, Jack jumped about four feet off the ground and grabbed him again.
Once again, I grabbed Jack by the scruff of the neck until he dropped the bird.
This time I put the poor little fellow up higher in the tree. I stood there, watching over him for another 10 minutes. He was trembling and panting -- and then he died.
I felt just terrible. If only I had gone out earlier to check on what Pixie was barking about, maybe he would have had more of a chance. I should have *known* Pixie was trying to tell me something. . .
For the number of outside/barn cats around here at Rural Route 2, I have to say, though, that it's a rare occurrence for the cats to actually catch a bird. I used to find feathers around the yard from time to time, usually Blue Jay feathers, oddly enough, but moving the bird feeders out into the open farther and putting them up much higher has helped tremendously.
Didn't help the little warbler, unfortunately. And I feel terrible about that. Pixie was doing her part, but I dropped the ball.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 05:13
"Rushing the Season" (podcast)
Here is my first-ever podcast on iTunes. It is the story "Rushing the Season" from my book, "Christmas in Dairyland."
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=340786639
You can also hear the recording here.
http://www.ruralroute2.com/podcasts/rushing-the-season.mp3
LeAnn R. Ralph