help! aaaeeeiiiii!!

[RainDog]

my calico just brought a bird into the house. I could tell by her meow that she'd gotten take out from the Olive Garden. so I climbed up on the back of the couch and saw that she put the bird down and went over to sit near it... that's her way of saying luv ya!, right? anyway, so the bird is between me and the cat and I wonder what I should do because the bird looks like it might have a wounded wing.

but

before I could get that thought working it's way through my brain, the bird started to fly -- directly toward me! -- and then over my head. in less than a second, my calico jumped over my laptop and over my head to go after the bird. my cat was flying, I swear.

anyway.... I opened the door so that the bird could fly outside and put the cat in a room. then the tabby came in to catch the action so I put him in another room... after the bird flew over my head again and landed on one of the many boxes of books that I am still working on. so when I came back from putting the tabby away, the bird was just right there and I was going to try to find something to get the bird outside but then it flew off again... this time to the top of my opened from door. BUT the bird didn't go out the door!!!

so now it's in my christmas ficus tree. anyone know a bird wrangler?

[XemaSab]

1. Give the bird one obvious way out

Meaning shut the curtains, turn off the lights, and open the door.

Or leave the door closed and open a window.

Leave the room.

If the bird isn't gone in an hour, try chasing it out.

[RainDog]

2. it's sitting in the ficus

on a limb. blinds are down. only the front door is open, but I can't close off access to some other places - no doors.

I think it's a chickadee, except it's black and gray and white. no yellow. is that still a chickadee?

[XemaSab]

3. Can you move the ficus?

Yeah, that sounds like a chickadee...

[RainDog]

4. it's on a rolling plant thing

but it's up to the ceiling and it's in my dining room behind the table, blah, blah. here's my "christmas tree" pic-



maybe this is the ghost of christmas one week ago... partridge/chickadee in a pear/ficus tree. My kids just went over to their dad's. this is what I get for no christmas decorations this year.

Oh, and I just heard a freaking raccoon that keeps coming back to my place and prying open the attic vents. welcome back. x(it sounds like it weighs 40lbs. I've trapped it and released it waaaay far away. More than once. don't know if this is one of the other raccoon's babies or what. this is what sucks about being divorced. I have to arrange to get the raccoon and call someone to install new vents with wire behind them or else the thing comes back. when you're calling on someone you don't even know, that can be a problem. excuse me, raccoon, could we schedule a catch time so that I can arrange for someone to come over here?

My next-door-neighbor helps me out a lot. in fact, he's the only male who has ever bothered to offer to help me out... which I found sort of ironic since I had xtreme catholic fundie-types living across the street for years. anyway, my neighbor won't take any $$ for this, so I tried to pay him for his help with tickets to Dylan/Costello but he couldn't go and his wife was out of town...

sorry if that sounds sooo sexist, but I don't know ANY female who climbs up extension letters. I mean, I do, to clean out my gutters, but all I'm doing is running a hose.

can you tell I'm procrastinating so that I don't have to face my bird issue? the guy I was seeing but not never bothered to help me do anything. one reason he's not my b.f. because, whatthefuck, my oldest son has aspergers and can't climb on a ladder safely and now my younger son is old enough, but he's never done stuff like that and I certainly wouldn't have him repairing a vent that's two stories high.

oh, and just to really vent, I just got another phone call from this person I met through work. she has called me at least 40 times over the holiday. I simply don't pick up the phone, but if you had called someone 40 times and emailed once for this person to tell you they'd turned off their phone... would you still call? I tend to attract strays, obviously. both my cats were from the pound.

;(

[XemaSab]

5. So did the bird leave?

:shrug:

[RainDog]

6. Seems like it

sorry, I thought you'd forgotten about this thread - I wasn't around for a while and missed this. I opened the window by the ficus and it didn't fly away while I was going this so then I left the room and I don't see it anywhere so I hope it's gone.

thanks so much for letting me scream here. I have a ton of chickadees who live in the burning bush next to my window. I hope the cat doesn't start this on a regular basis. She's brought in chipmunks and mice, etc. Sometimes I shut the cat door but the old tabby male just head-butted it open.

anyway... you're very nice. :pals:

[XemaSab]

7. Thank you

I didn't forget about the thread; I just took the dogs to the dog park. :)