There are a lot of things I learned while living out in the country for almost 7 years. Among the things I learned - the best way to catch a chicken is by first grabbing its tail feathers, don't stand directly behind a horse while braiding its tail, turkey hunting does not take skill ( I chased them while shooting, and missing, for over 20 minutes. They just ran ahead of me the whole time), when feeding a baby calf from a bottle, don't hold the bottom of the bottle against your stomach, and when frog hunting (gigging) don't step on the basket of frogs you have already caught...it will cause much undo stress and fear. These are just SOME of the things I learned.
One other thing I learned, is when you are picking up any item that has been sitting outside for some time you always pick it up toward you. Why? Well, if there happens to be a sneaky little snake under that item and you pick up the item toward you then that snake will go away from you. What I mean by toward you is...the item is literally being pulled to you...the opening is away from you (on the opposite side)
So, as I was outside setting up my sprinklers today and checking on my practically dead garden I heard this cute little chirp. I kept walking thinking Oh, there must be a cute baby bird in a nest somewhere around here. Then it slowly dawned on me, there is no place around here that a bird would want to have a nest. We have no trees. My next natural thought...There is a baby bird that had been trying to fly and is in now in trouble.
I had it all figured out in my head. A baby bird learning to fly must have had some problems and fell into my garden and is now hurt. I was ready to step into action. I thought of my great grandmother, Mama Linda. She was always rescuing a hurt bird. Her house was full of bird cages. Some with birds she paid for, some with wild birds she was nursing to health. As a little girl I remember helping her "nurse" some of these birds back to health. So, with my background in helping little birds, I went searching for this bird in need of my help.
I stopped and listened for the helpless little chirp until I could pinpoint where the sound was coming from. I finally saw a little mouth and when I did see it, I heard the cry for help. It was stuck under one half of our rain barrel. I quickly picked up the rain barrel (pulling it toward me). When I did the "bird" quickly hopped away. It was a little toad. A teeny tiny toad. Why was it "crying"??? Oh, a snake was planning on eating it. Yes, there was also a snake under that barrel. Thank goodness for learning a long time ago how to pick something up. That snake quickly slithered off away from me. So, while yes, I am a bit embarrassed that I thought a little toad was a baby bird, I am glad I did not have a hungry snake slither my way.
I have to admit I was kind of looking forward to taking care of that little bird. I was all ready to soak some bread in some milk and feed it to the poor hungry bird. I had already figured out where I could make a warm safe spot for it to snuggle into. I guess it was not my day to be a hero. Well...I guess I did save a little toad from being a snake's dinner.
Instead, of saving this little guy:
I saved this little guy:
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