Boo Boo Animal Planet Doctor

If you ask Sophia what she wants to be when she grows up, she will tell you she wants to be a “Boo Boo Animal Planet Doctor,” which means veterinarian. She loves to watch Animal Planet, especially the programs where they rescue animals who are injured or mistreated.

This afternoon, we walked over to our neighbor’s house for a visit and were about halfway to their door when we saw a baby robin on the ground, jumping around but unable to fly.

A glance up at the nearest tree made it clear what had happened — there was a nest waaaayyy up there… about 2 stories up! Nearby, another baby robin lay floundering on its side. That one was either younger or weaker, but whatever the case, it was obvious it was going to die.

We watched the bird who was moving around for a while and when I saw a mama robin hovering nearby, Sophia and I scooted back to the edge of the property to watch. I didn’t know what to do for that baby bird, but I felt like I had to do something. After watching mama bird trying to get baby to fly back up to the nest, I called my mom, who has a soft spot for animals and I am sure has tried to rescue a baby bird at least once in her life. She looked up the info for me and said that one possible course of action was to take a small plastic container, poke holes in it for drainage, and fill it with nest-type stuff.

Sophia and I decided to do just that. We gathered up the supplies and followed the directions. She was so excited to be on an Animal Rescue mission!

I was just about to nail the new “nest” to the tree, when our neighbor came home. I explained what was going on and she was delighted that Sophia was getting to have this educational experience. (I love our neighbors!) So, she kept Sophia happy while I finished securing the bird’s new home and took RatCat away from the property (twice). When the nest was in place, I went to scoop up baby bird, didn’t get a firm enough grip, freaked out when he started squirming in my hands, and dropped him with an embarrassingly girly squeal. Poor little guy… but at least he didn’t have as far to fall this time!

I decided to try again with a firmer grasp on him, and got him up to the nest safely:

I got off the chair I had been standing on, started talking to the neighbor, and looked back to see how he was adapting to his new nest… only to see that he was gone! That little bugger had jumped out of the nest again! He’s either cocky or stupid. Maybe both. But I did all I could do… the rest is up to him and mama bird.

Animal rescue… just another service I offer.