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[utsi]

so priss raced in last night following a small brown blur. omigod, i thought- that's a large mouse. i was dreading the thought of dealing with a large quick rodent, when it flew into the air. a bird! the dread changed to despair. those are equally hard to catch. it could also get seriously injured inside. especially with three cats. barely

Comments

In case it happens again....

[kes_zone]

Birds have very poor eyesight in the dark. We see much better in dim light than they do. If you get them into a room that is dark enough for you to see a bit, they will be pretty much blind. You can usually walk right up to them and catch them in your hand.

I had a dog door and retrievers (poodles) for years, so birds in the house were a constant problem! I am glad you managed so well!

Re: In case it happens again....

[utsi]

this is good to know. but i don't know who was more terrified- the bird or me! i can't imagine going through this repeatedly. you are a far braver woman than i. did the dogs hurt the birds? their teeth and claws aren't intended quite the way feline ones are, but the size difference would have me worried.

i'll keep the darkness in mind for the next time trauma hits. though i hope to never have to use the info. i was really glad i didn't have to deal with an injured or dead bird though.

thanks again for the tips, and safe travels for your wandering to come.

Re: In case it happens again....

[kes_zone]

Retrievers have very gentle mouths, so they never killed a bird. There were a few that were in such a state of shock that they couldn't move, so those I kept quietly in a box until they calmed down enough to fly away.

My dogs didn't want to eat the birds. They just wanted to carry them around in their mouths. Not fun for the birds, but not fatal, thank God. I am actually pretty impressed that they could catch the birds at all. They even caught a pigeon once! In later years they were too slow and blind to catch the birds so it wasn't a problem. If the birds worry you, you might want to grab a little butterfly net from the dollar store to keep just in case. It works for trapping the little guys off the high shelves of furniture. I hope you never have to use it!

Re: In case it happens again....

[utsi]

wow. i wish cats could be that gentle. i am surpised that there aren't more stuffed toy birds for dogs out there. i guess that sort of crosses a social line though.

good point about the net. it would have helped the other night. i'd rather have it as a just in case. who knows, the next time the spare room might not be so accomodating.

[aunty_kreist]

Muahahahaha!!! Oh dear. Quite an exciting evening! I'm glad he got out OK...although I was just waiting for you to write that as you got closer you discovered it was a bat.

[utsi]

O.O gah! that would have had me running screaming like a little girl! i love watching bats from a distance, but i have no affinity with or for them. too many horror flicks as a kid maybe?

who would have thunk it? the dumb blonde was the mighty hunter. i suspect the bird was a dumber blonde and young to boot. only thing i can figure is that it was sleeping on the edge of teh balcony in amongst the plants. bet it won;t be doing that again soon.

it was good for an adrenaline surge though. i now know my heart works okay *rolls eyes* tag- your turn for excitment next ;) just not near the shower though? i don't want any broken bones to read about, okay?

[aunty_kreist]

haha! I promise not to break any bones. ;)

Hey, I guess darting birds are way better then dead rodents left as presents. ;)

[utsi]

good :)

GAH!! AUNTY! my what strange optimism you have.
*shakes head* you have a point though, i would hate to have to explain clogging the new 'low flow' toilets to the super because the rodent got stck and a visit from the plumber became necessary.

[pink_lady2]

What an exciting evening. Glad it all worked out well. Catching cats is like herding grasshoppers.

[utsi]

i'm glad too. at least a room is easier to pop them into. try getting three cats into a carrier. the secret is to stand it on end btw. the cats were easier than the bird in some respects though. at least their escape routes are predictable :)

[eithne_eoforwic]

Wow ! It sounds like a grand bit of adventure and excitement ! Many birds are
NOT very smart -- so it likely didn't understand that you were just trying to save it from the cats and wanted for it to go away.

Birds/mice/insects/etc. NEVER live very long if they get into OUR house. Even when Moggy, Beanie and Duchess are NOT hungry, they enjoy the thrill of the hunt. They're all very territorial kitties, and any intruder (as long as it's not a human) is considered to be "a new wind-up TOY".