For the birds

This post is not for the weak of stomach.

A problem I've noticed at my apartment complex is certain species of birds nesting and ultimately dying in our carports. Shortly after I moved here, I was like, "What's with the dead birds dangling from the carports?" Recently, this first spring that I've used a carport, I've witnessed these morbid scenes firsthand. In the roof/ceiling, there are drains with tiny slits where birds build nests and lay their eggs. The eggs hatch, but the hatchlings are trapped in there, because when they get big enough to learn how to fly, their heads are too big to fit through the slits. Eventually, the birds die, I guess from breaking their necks or exhaustion, and their little carcasses are dangling in the breeze.

This spring, I believe 3 eggs hatched in the drain that's closest to my carport slot. First egg: One morning, a couple of the maintenance men were prying back the drain to free a bird that was still alive. Cheerfully, I got in my car and drove to work, happy that a bird was spared. Second egg: Another morning a couple of weeks later, I noticed a bird was squawking and struggling in the same drain. I hurried to the apartment office to tell them about it. The girl who worked there looked kind of annoyed. I drove to work thinking the problem had been taken care of. But when I came home, the bird was still there. But it was dead. I went back to the office and told the afternoon girl, who expressed concern but said there wasn't anything they could do about it, but that she'd inform the maintenance men. The bird's carcass hung there for ONE WEEK. One stinkin' week of people driving or walking by and not doing anything about it. It was dangling at least 6 feet off the ground -- it couldn't even enter the food chain as a meal for stray cats. After being weighed down for so long, the bird's neck almost ripped off its head before the lazy or clueless maintenance staff FINALLY removed it. Third egg: Just this morning, another bird was struggling to get free. "OK, I'm not gonna let this happen again," I uttered as I walked back up to my apartment to get my stepstool. I climbed up there and tried to free it myself, but I was unsuccessful. (The poor thing squawked and pooped on me.) I angrily drove to work, calmed down, cleaned the poop off my shirt, and called the apartment office.

Then... this evening when I got home, I saw the little bird alive on the lawn right in front of my carport. Yay, non-lazy, non-clueless maintenance staff! The poor bird probably doesn't even know how to fly yet, and he's got some of his feathers missing on his neck, but at least he's known life outside the drain as he waddles around on the grass. (I left bits of bread there on the ground for him. He squawked at me, but hopefully he'll get the idea and chow down.) He's probably vulnerable to predators because he might not know how to fly away, but at least he's got a chance! Waddle away, little bird!!

No, it wasn't smart of those birds to lay their eggs in a death trap, but I think my apartment complex should respect their wildlife a little more.

If anyone in my path is in desperate need, I sure hope I don't treat them like they annoy me and then blow them off. I want to know what to do and then do it without being asked, or at least try to help and then let someone more knowledgeable pick up where I left off. I want to be someone who helps others have another chance at life. (Whether they metaphorically poop on me or not.)