“Bye Bye Birdie!”

As if finding a mouse in my car’s air filter last week wasn’t enough, this weekend we had yet another wild animal caper. And no, it didn’t involve Ann-Margret. But it did begin when our terrier Libby started sniffing at the fireplace.

I walked over, peered inside, and found a dark gray and white swift trapped behind the screen. The poor thing kept fluttering around, panicked. Libby wasn’t helping. To my horror, the Yorkie kept jumping up against the screen, threatening to topple it over. We quickly put her away.

Until we figured things out, the bird had to stay put. We have a good-size, open-area living room with a high ceiling. It would be impossible to contain this animal and guide it to an open door or window. Not only that, but it would probably fly up high, landing in some eave near the top, an excited yapping terrier running around below. We’d have to call the fire department for help.

My husband Randy wasn’t around that day, so my mom and I set out to find a solution. We googled and got several ideas. If birdie could find its way back up and out the chimney, that might be the ticket. We covered the screen with a blanket to make it dark, hoping the light from the top would lead it out.

The next morning, I crept to the fireplace, hoping to find no bird. Instead, Libby zoomed ahead of me, excited, sniffing at the blanket. I heard fluttering from behind the screen. This poor creature hadn’t escaped. Back Libby went into the bedroom, loudly protesting the whole time.

I called several local animal places, but they either weren’t open on Sunday, or just handled domestic animals. I even hit up our town Facebook group for ideas and got many good suggestions.

At one point, Mom and I tried to get the bird to fly into a cardboard box, we could then cover, but that turned out too clumsy and risky.

Finally, I had an idea.

By now, this poor animal was exhausted, which might be an advantage. I grabbed a soft hand towel and slowly opened one end of the screen. The little bird huddled on the floor of the fireplace, terrified.

I gently threw the towel on top of it and wrapped her inside. I could feel her body as I carefully lifted her from the fireplace to the open front door.

Once outside, I placed birdie on the ground, as far from the front door as possible, and slowly unwrapped the towel. She looked at me, eyes filled with fright, not knowing what to expect. “Go on,” I whispered. And then, so beautifully, she opened her wings and flew to a nearby branch. Thank God, she wasn’t injured. She had a chance for survival.

Somehow saving this little life made a difference in my day. It’s nice to see a happy ending to an almost-sad story.

I looked at the branch later, but the bird was gone. I hope she found her way home.

 

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