A few little miracles
April 27th 2007 03:32
Here Im going to recount some little miracles that you just wont believe! There are aspects to these stories that Im sure you're going to think I made up - But no, Its all true, every word, these are just a couple of things that are the everyday norm for me, that Im sure are quite otherworldly to you!
The above pic is of AngelStar. Im going to tell you all about her in a minute, but first I want to tell the miraculous story of JaysmineDove. Jaysmin was the same species as AngelStar, so they looked almost identical. Notice in the above pic her face, the eyes particularly.
It was a cold afternoon when we noticed her. Mum had a thing for feeding the birds in the backyard - we lived in suburbia then - and the yard was always covered in Cockies, Galahs, Magpies and more, with lots of sparrows and Laceneck Doves(above pic) mixed in. We noticed the little dove in some distress and went about catching her. Its amazing how when a wild animal allows itself to be caught its so quiet - not afraid, knowing by your body language and some mystical communion that you dont want to hurt it. This is something Ive come to take for granted, yet it is miraculous in itself.
Jaysmin had(so we believed) no right eye. The whole right side of her face was a gory mess, and we believed she had lost the eye in some kind of accident. We took her to the vet to find out if it was brain damage, as small animals such as birds can easily have serious head trauma from even small wounds.
It was on the way there, examining her closely, that I found her eye. It was not in the socket - it was about 2 inches down from the socket - under the skin! EW! I was quite fascinated, wondering how it got there.
The vet believed as we had that the eye was gone. I showed her the eye under the skin, easily perhaps 2 inches from the socket(refer to the pic please to imagine just how amazing this was) and she was as fascinated as we were! The vet and I both agreed that from that distance surely the optic nerve was severed, she would be blind on that side forever. Since we intended to keep her as a pet the vet suggested 'cosmetic surgery' to put the eye back and reframe the scars around her face(which were quite awful) even though she would still be blind. I was only worried about the eye rotting and causing infection - the vet said no, that wouldnt happen, she seemed otherwise healthy, with no brain trauma, so we took our ugly dove home and made a home for her.
She seemed quite happy. We gave her a big cage and sat it outside so she could talk to her wild kin, and she never once got cage mad or tried to escape. One day I noticed her scars weeping and decided to bathe it - obviously it was causing her some distress. I began bathing it in a weak saline solution every afternoon, crooning away to her while she sat trustingly in my arms.
The scars began to shrink. The area over the eyelid(or where it would have been) began to weep and I stepped up the bathing to twice a day.
Then I noticed something amazing that to this day I cannot explain and still dont quite believe...
The eyeball began to move. It began to creep up her neck until it disappeared under the scar tissue. The entire process took about 2 weeks - I remember the day that the scar tissue was almost completely gone - just a bit of crusty skin around the eye area - WITH THE EYE LOOKING OUT FROM THE SOCKET!!
We kept her a further 2 weeks as the scar tissue disappeared completely, her eyelid reformed and her beautiful eye opened. I tested her pupil activity and sight from both sides and the reactions were identical - SHE COULD SEE!
Now she started to look restless. One day when the yard was full of birds we let her go again, and her thanks was evident as she rejoined her kin.
Since Im talking doves I'll tell you AngelStar's little story.....
Before we moved here I lived in a beautiful modern house and worked 12 hours a day plus about 4 to 6 hours at the stud with the horses. One day as mum drove me home in the pouring rain to change out of work clothes into horse work clothes she sckreeched to a halt in the turning lane. " Theres a bird! A bird on the road!" "What bird?" I said, getting out, getting soaked, thinking of all the work I still had to do.
There she was. Wet. Freezing. Alone. A feathered and bloody smear on the road beside her told part of the story - I closed my hands around her and recieved the rest -
Hes GONE! Hes gone, so fast, and hes gone....I'll just die in the rain too...Oh, hes gone...
Her grief was so all consuming. She was desolate. I cuddled her close to my heart. We took her home, dried her off, gave her food and a warm box. It was all I could do, I had to go to the horses.
Hours later, horses done and believing all to be well, I checked on her. She was not in her box, she hadnt touched the food. I was concerned, because she was too old to be handfed. Sometimes its a relief to get babies - they open their mouths for food automatically. Older, traumatized animals are harder. She was all the way across the other side of the room - Crying again. She had been a pair - now she was alone. She couldnt take the grief.
I took her into my hands. I settled myself down and pressed her against my heartbeat. "Not alone," I whispered..."Not alone now...." I dont know how long I sat there, over an hour, easily, she was a tough case...Just didnt want to give in to love and life...But then, I felt it. Suddenly she got warm in my hands, my heat transferred to her, her heart began to pump with real life again. Spirit link established, I went to bed. I did not keep her long. Oh, I wanted to! I would walk out onto the back deck with her, and when she stayed with me I was so HAPPY, thinking, "yes, this is right, shes staying with me".
Then, one day, two males came and did a mating dance for her. I had to give her the choice, I took her out and let her choose between them - At first she chose neither, looking up into the sky with complete ecstasy and FLYING - away. Oh, I cried. I cried like someone had died. But she was back - with the biggest strongest plumpest male Id ever seen! I fed them all until they sold that house - I miss it still, and hope my little flock survived without me. Be well in the wild world my sweet AngelStar.....
We were returning from the horses one sunny afternoon when mum swerved and pulled over. We were only about 5 houses away from home, on our street, when mum said "oo, look at the mummy duck with the ducklings!" and pulled over for a closer look. While mum ooed and aahed, I frowned. Something was very wrong here.
The mother duck looked frantic and stressed - checking the sky, and her three babies were huddled under her as if the sky was indeed falling. Its not unusual for ducks to come into the street, but it IS very unusual for them to be on peoples driveways in the middle of the day, theyre so shy! This momma duck seemed to have no fear of humans whatsoever, which puzzled me. Then I saw something I still dont believe - she ran and DOVE for the nearest front door, babies screaming after her - and proceeded to bolt up to someones screen door and began frantically knocking on it with her beak!
Now, understand, this is a wild animal. Even if people were feeding her around the area, coming SO close to the houses would still have been against her instincts. To knock on the front door the way she did was just bizarre. Ive heard of animals asking for help but this was just amazing!
(Personally, I think she was looking for our house. She was almost there - like I said, we were only a few doors from home. I know the words gotten around about us - the amount of animals that 'find us')
While I was still sitting with my mouth hanging open in wonderment, she went to the NEXT house and started banging on THEIR door! How does a wild animal know about doors and people? Then I saw the drama - death in the sky, as she ran and the babies struggled to keep up a magpie swooped from above, going for the babies. They cried in panic, mumma duck stressed to the max, almost standing on them, trying everything to keep them safe, and only managing to freak out!
(if she had stood still and kept the babies under her she would have been fine. We believe she lost her mate somehow and had already lost a few babies - causing stress levels to rise to a point where she couldnt remember what to do)
"She needs help!" I yelled, and threw myself from the car. The magpies watched me warily, but didnt dare swoop. I herded her and babies carefully into an alcove, and remembering everything Id been taught about handling birds, quickly reached over and grabbed momma by the wings. Thus held, she relaxed instantly, and looked up at me. "Wack?" she quaked exhaustedly. "Hi," I answered with sympathy. "You poor momma, lets get you home, now I'll just catch your babies...."
They were gone! Just like that! Bloody wild instincts - when momma disappears, run and hide! I ran out, still holding momma duck "help me! Help me catch them!" mum was yelling "what have you DONE?" (well, what was I supposed to do?) and it was about 3 hours later before we actually got all three of them. Two of the babies were crushed by the momma duck - I still blame myself for that because I should have seen it coming. Taliesan thrived however, and decided to be female even though I had given her a male name, and we named the mother Gwynyfar, cos shes a bit silly! As you can see from the above pic Talli and Gwen are doing great and thriving, now all black ducks we see are called....Tallis! Soon they'll meet Wistiful Wyrm, and Posh, the wood duck male, will be going in with them too...We tried to put him in on easter weekend but Talli the amazon duck scared the crap outta him...."Me want snoo snoo! NOW!!" Well, shes a virgin, how is she suppised to know he goes on top, not her?
We believe Gwen was the victim of a car accident - maybe what happened to her mate? On the right hand side her beak doesnt match up, like shes had a blow to the head. She was very thin when we picked her up, and she cant hunt bugs like Talli can - she can't grip them to smack them into edible pieces. She has to scoop up seed like her beaks a shovel, but shes quite fat now....And get this....
Gwen cant swim. Shes the only duck Ive ever seen that cant swim. We think it has to do with her oil glands being defective, but shes always been scared of water. A DUCK THATS SCARED OF WATER?!! After years of careful coaching(and no doubt borrowed oil exchanged in mutual grooming) from Talli, Gwen will now go in for a brief paddle. Shes not into the water ballet like Talli(who floats around on her back or side like her bodies a floating pool lounge) but she will have short swims.
Gwens not as good a teacher as Talli - Talli still cant fly, and Gwens training methods involve flying to the top of the avery and calling down - "Well, come on. Get up here" We reakon if one can swim and the other can fly, together they make at least one duck.
Whats Wistiful going to do to this dynamic? How will they handle Posh - a drake but of a different species?(will they - can they - breed?)
Theres just some little miracles for you, that to me are day to day....And, to finish...
Isnt that just the cutest Wistiful Wyrm youve ever seen?
BTW, what do we think of my animal names? I truly believe they choose their own names, (I would never have called a drake 'Posh'!) and my mates all think Im SO weird....
Enjoy....
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Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
I'm particularly interested in the eye, it's amazing what the body can do to repair and restore itself but sometimes this is just not possible.
We've a lot to learn. I love the names, amazing stuff, Kleo, keep on.
katyzzz
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
the eye was just amazing...Some of the things we've seen are just considered impossible
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
A great few miraculous stories you have here. Seems the animals know where to come when it their time of need hey. Keep up the good work.
I love the animal names... all legendary... Wist is looking good and healthy.
ash
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis