Happy Solstice!

Tonight, a group of friends of mine are driving a few hours to Eagle Summit to revel in the midnight sun. I am declining for a good night's rest before my oral exam tomorrow.

I have a story and need to give major thanks to the After Hours Veterinary Emergency Clinic. Yesterday, as I was pulling out of the parking lot at Freddie's, I noticed, to my horror, a fledgling robin sitting on my windscreen, perched on a wiper blade. I pulled my car over to the next safe spot and retrieved him inside. He sat on my hand, peeped, and then opened his mouth for food. Ah! Quelle horreur! I don't know how to take care of a baby bird! I looked back to where I had been parked, and didn't see his mama, whom I assumed would have been squawking around looking very angry, if she were in the vicinity and saw me with her baby. The closest location possible that could have spawned the little creature was a strip of grass in between the parking lot and Airport Way, which is a very busy street. Leaving him there would surely have been a death sentence, but what do do?

I phoned Sam's parents, who grew up in rural Montana and had fostered countless little critters. They began telling me how to care for it, and the more they described, the more I began to feel a headache come on. First of all, I'd have to buy him meal worms, and Alaska Feed was already closed, so I'd have to head all the way across town to PetCo, which is a giant chain store and might be open later. I'd also have to feed it water with a dropper. I'd have to make it a little nest in a shoebox. Already, I felt the pain of my duties as a bird mama. First of all, I'd have to find a place to house the little dude in my cabin where my dogs wouldn't eat him. I knew I'd have to take him to campus with me. I imagined him peeping me awake in the middle of the night for his worms. I imagined him peeping away in my office while I was out for my oral exam Tuesday. And then his survival odds would still be pretty low; I'm not, after all, a mama bird. Best case scenario, he'd still be a worry. When I released him as an adult, what if he lost his natural fear of dogs? Or of humans? Or what if, heaven forbid, he decided to hang around near the house, where the girls would surely eat him? It all sounded like a lot of work, which I didn't want!

At the suggestion of Sam's mom, I decided to go to Creamer's Field, to the bird observatory, and hope that a birdwatcher might happen to know how to take care of such things, and take him off my hands. But when I went there, the parking lot was empty. Dang! Finally, I realized that I was directly across the street from the emergency vet clinic! I figured they could give me a dropper and something to feed him, and if I could keep him alive overnight, I could find a more suitable place for him the next day.

The two people who greeted me smiled and cooed at him--"Let's get you some squished bugs!"--and took him off to the back. They asked me to fill out a piece of paper with my contact information and description of where I had found him. Then they said, "That's it! Thanks for bringing him to us!" I was like... You're taking him? He's off my hands? Oh my goodness, what a huge relief! So I get to sleep through the night? So I don't have to carry a baby bird around with me for two weeks? So I don't have to worry about keeping my dogs off some silly bird who hangs around my cabin for the next ten years? Wow!

I asked if I could contribute monetarily to his care, and they said that they had a running fund for such things, and I could donate to it if I wished. I left a modest amount and told them to let me know if the little dude ended up needing more than that.

Life is awesome when you get to pawn off your responsibilities onto other people! :~D