While I was taking a shower this morning my neighbor from across the street came running over and started chatting with me through the bathroom window (something that I will never be able to come back from) and said that a chick had dropped out of its nest in front of her house and she didn’t know what to do with it. Since I regularly animal-sit for her cats and dogs and because I often go to the Zoo I was obviously an expert on wildlife.
I’d seen and heard the chick chirping loudly while recently house-sitting and knew it was already fairly mature.
She said her gardeners almost stepped on it while working and they placed it into a large, clear plastic storage container. They added some bird seed in case it needed to eat.
Once I finished my shower (and put some clothes on) I went across the street. My neighbor was out running an errand so I talked to the gardeners. I checked on the chick and found it trying to fly out of the container. I knew it needed to be set free so I let it climb onto my hand and I raised it just high enough so that it could fly out. It almost landed on a half-wall a few feet away but ended up just staying on the ground in the corner, safe, comfortable and free to pursue a life of religious fulfillment.
I knew the chick would be ok since it looked perfectly healthy and very close to being able to fly like a regular bird, so I left it there and came back home to get some stuff done and to prepare myself for…wait for it…house-sitting for the same neighbor again starting tonight.
