Sometimes good deeds have unintended consequences. Years ago, at our Manos Meadows home in Oklahoma, I found that out the hard way. It was spring and I was wandering around in the yard, enjoying the sound of birds singing and the feel of warm sunshine when I found a hapless little creature who had fallen out of his nest. It was a baby blue jay. He was feathered, but not enough to fly; just enough to give him a false confidence.
Our cat D. C. also lived at Manos Meadows and imagined herself to be a mighty hunter. I shuddered to think of this baby jay’s fate if D. C. found him. So, I carefully scooped him up, and looked around for a safe place. I couldn’t see his nest and wasn’t up to climbing a tree to find it, so I did the next best thing. I spread apart the limbs of a small cedar and tucked him in.
Suddenly, something hit my head–something sharp and hard. It hurt. Then, an angry screeching let me know the baby’s mother had been watching and I’d better leave her child alone.
“Ok, lady, you are on your own,” I flung over my shoulder as I beat a hasty retreat to the safety of my house.
Of course, the protective bird didn’t understand that I was trying to help and the communication gap between a bluejay and a human is pretty wide. I had the satisfaction, though, of knowing I may have saved the jay’s life and I had the headache to prove it.
Well, at least you did your best. Then it was up to the mother to do the rest!
That’s true. Maybe she needed to build a fence around her nest.