Let me tell you what I did

I finally got around to trimming the palm trees last week.  It had been two years since I’d cut off the dead fronds, and they were both ugly and a fire hazard.  In the process of cutting off dead pieces, I cut off a small “ledge” of dead fronds that mourning doves had built a nest on, and the nest had two eggs.  I tried to place the nest on the ground, beneath the tree, but by the time darkness fell the parents hadn’t returned.  To make matters more complicated, it was cold here… all day it had been about 58 degrees, and the temps at night were lower.  Given that I feed stray cats in the backyard, and the cats like to lounge right under those palm trees, I figured those two little eggs were doomed.  I brought them inside, stuck them in a cardboard box with a shallow dish of water and a hot light bulb (from a crappy, dangerous desk lamp), and I set out to wait two weeks to ensure the eggs were “dead”.  I could tell they were fertile at one point, but I assumed that being out in the cold for so long, they would have frozen.  Or maybe, I would have baked them over the few days it took me to adjust the lamp properly.  Whatever, I was positive nothing would hatch from these eggs, but I turned them dutifully, multiple times a day, so they would develop properly.  Today, something is hatching from one egg.  There’s a small pip mark, and if I hold the egg to my ear, I hear small “chipping” sounds.  The other egg is making some tiny noises too, although it should be about 12-36 hours behind the first egg.  Regardless, I’m about to have two live mourning dove chicks, I think, and they need to be fed “crop milk”.  Ack!  I’m off to hunt down some mourning dove feces for my crop milk formula… (really)...  Leave it to me to find the only wild birds which are apparently as hardy as hell, but which need to be fed something other than baby parrot formula from Petco.

Things like this are among the reasons I’m not more depressed than I already am.  Little scenarios like these give me bursts of life and energy, and without them (and the pets), I’d just be an inconsolable fetal ball, waiting for the repo man to put me out in the streets.  At least among the animals, I still feel joy on a daily basis, and it’s kept me from going off the deepest end.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/01 at 05:22 AM

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

  1. Wow!

    I did a robin egg once- but I cooked it on the heating pad instead of hatching it. I would like Pics!

    Posted by georg  on  06/02  at  08:57 PM

  2. How can you tell mourning dove poop from another bird’s poop?

    Posted by Nancy  on  06/03  at  10:33 PM

  3. That is so neat!  Sometimes I think some kind of forces or whatever you want to call it have a way to lead someone like you and me to find animals that need help. 

    I have had so many animals find their way to me that I knew no one else would even give them a second look, and I help them.

    I am glad those doves are in good hands.  Keep us posted on their progress.

    Posted by Chrissy  on  06/04  at  10:53 AM

  4. For the past week I’ve been unable to log in to my own blog.  It’s been lovely.  It’s not a password/username issue… the server just “hangs” and eventually times out.  Seeing as I haven’t figured out how to fix it, I thought I’d just leave a comment.

    Unfortunately, both baby doves did hatch, but both died fairly quickly.  The one that hatched at our house died during the first feeding, probably from aspirating, even though I’d tried to be so careful to avoid that.  I then turned the second egg over to a pigeon breeder in town who had offered to help, and he placed the unhatched (at that time) egg in a nest with some pigeon eggs.  The dove egg hatched, and the pigeons fed the baby, and things were going great until the adult pigeons accidentally crushed the baby when it was a few days old.  The dove was apparently about an eighth of the size of the baby pigeons, so I guess the parents just didn’t notice it at some point and accidentally sat on it.  It’s a sad story all around—we spent about $90 on supplies to try to save the little guys, so we pulled out all the stops (and credit cards!), but it just wasn’t meant to be.  The dove chicks were so darned tiny.

    Now that I know that doves like to nest on flat platforms, I’ll try to give them one in the backyard, up in a tree, away from where I feed cats.  Maybe I can help the doves raise a successful second clutch seeing as I murdered their first one :P

    Sorry for such a sad ending to the tale… I wish I’d had better news for you.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  06/08  at  07:18 AM

  5. That is sad, but at least you tried.  That is the most important part.  You cared enough to try.  You should be very proud of yourself.

    Posted by Chrissy  on  06/08  at  04:44 PM

  6. Aw sad ending to the tale.  Hope all is going well and getting better for you both.  Looking forward to more kitty stories soon!

    Posted by ryssee  on  06/19  at  08:07 PM

  7. Hey lady! Please report if you are still managing to breathe! I am worried about you!

    Posted by georg  on  07/16  at  10:05 AM

  8. Hey blog pound!  Hope everything is ok!

    Posted by ryssee  on  07/17  at  07:40 PM

  9. Mrrroooow??? Leigh-Ann, are you ok? Too bad bout the birdies - you tried harder than most folks would. Nod if you can hear us!

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat  on  07/29  at  09:14 PM

  10. Hey, are you okay? Missing you and worried…

    Posted by Wildrun  on  08/04  at  09:09 PM

  11. Still holding out hope that you will get back. We miss you and your stories ... even the ones with sad endings.

    Posted by Roxie, Sammy & Andy  on  08/24  at  12:05 PM
    12. Page 1 of 1 pages

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Next entry: I love you

Previous entry: Angel investor needed!

<< Back to main