"Bubba"

( This may not be "Bubba" but it looks an awful lot like him)

It was a beautiful Sunday morning and I was in my garden, pulling weeds. For those of you who know me, I think we can all agree that, me ‘pulling weeds’ is a rarity. A brown bird was sitting on my lawn, so I acknowledged it by saying “hello” and continued on with my work.

About ten minutes later, the bird had not moved, so I walked towards it, thinking it would surely fly away…but it just sat there. “Birdie, are you OK?” I asked. Upon closer examination, I couldn’t help but notice it’s beak was broken. The nurse in me immediately went back inside the house where I found a syringe and extension tubing (a small length of tubing that can fit on the end of a syringe) and filled it with water. When I returned outside, the bird remained frozen in the same spot on the lawn. I christened him “Bubba”. He would not (or could not) drink.

Remembering that there was a terrific Emergency Animal Clinic not far away, I called them and was told that “yes” they would treat wild animals and that there would be no charge (woo-hoo!). Finding a shoe box, I padded it with towels then placed Bubba in it for transportation to the clinic.

The trip to the Emergency Animal Clinic was uneventful except “Bubba” was not looking so good. He had been standing up in the box initially, but was now lying on his side. Hmmm. Bad sign. Anyway, when we arrived at the clinic, he was still breathing and in the typical fashion of the Emergency Animal Clinic, there were no questions asked, Bubba was immediately taken back to see the Vet.

Now, what do I do? Do I wait for the prognosis? I don’t really know Bubba. How can I just walk out of the clinic? It wouldn’t feel right. I took a seat in the lobby with all the other pet owners. Why? I’m not so sure.

A few minutes later, the Veterinarian and his assistant approached me with very somber looks on their faces…sitting on each side of me, and in a very therapeutic manner said, “We are so sorry but he didn’t make it.” What do you say to that when they looked so sad? “It’s OK, I didn’t really know him anyway?” That would have broken their hearts. So I looked sad right back at them and simply said “Thank you for all of your help” and walked out of the clinic empty handed.