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In reply to the discussion: What is/are your favorite kind of bird or birds? Mine is the hummingbird. [View all]Chainfire
(17,687 posts)I am not revolted by buzzards way of making a living and enjoy watching the masters of the soar in flight. Hawks are amazing hunters and I hear and see them almost daily in my little patch of woods. They are the terror of my huge squirrel population. Crows are smart as whips and I like the way they work in groups each seeming to have his or her identifying call.
I had a close encounter with a buzzard; I had noticed one on the ground behind my work shop, but didn't think anything about it until I saw it there the next day. It had a damaged wing and could not take off, it was bound to be the meal for a coyote. I carefully caught it and put it in a large cage until I could get the rescue folks to respond. (a couple of days) The poor thing was hungry as the dickens and I fed it canned dog food which it seemed to enjoy. I was happy that it did not panic in the cage I liked to think that it knew I was trying to help.
When the rescue people got back with me they asked me to bring the injured bird to them. I put the cage in my van and headed out. I had only gone a couple of miles when the bird farted the dog food. It was an incredible study in just how foul a smell can be. (and I am a plumber and have a learned immunity to foul smells). The only description that comes close is Don Pearce's description of the smell that Cool Hand Luke produced after eating 50 boiled eggs. As I remember the qoute, it was something like, "It was like a green fog, floating across the room, taking the paint off the walls and making grown men cry." (it may be a bit off, but that is the way I remember it) I do not know what happened to the bird, I am afraid that it was destroyed. If it had healed properly they should have released it where I found it. I never asked because I didn't want to know. I am bit of a softie...