Wednesday, May 31, 2006

I Saw Him Take His Last Breath

It was a baby mocking bird. Just the tips of feathers protruding from the tubes on his wings, maybe about 2 inches tall. I knew he wasn't well during the first feeding. It's always a bad sign when they don't move when you open their bin. His eyes were only half-open. I asked a staff member to do the feeding because I worry about stressing them out even more when they look that bad off. She recommended I keep him with me on the feeding table so I could monitor him. Following the feeding, he opened his eyes so I had some hope. Eventhough his breathing was labored. I would periodically watch him while I continued my feeding rounds. Then once I looked at him and saw a large inhale, then a large exhale. And I knew it. I just saw him take his last breath. I watched and watched hoping I was wrong, but that was it. Nothing is so sad as to witness a passing.

It's impossible to know for sure why some don't make it. Sometimes it's the stress. Sometimes it's an injury which brought them to the Wildlife Center. Sometimes they're just called OFARs - orphaned for a reason. Meaning that the momma bird knew something wasn't right.

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