Tuesday, November 15, 2011

the wild pigeons of Salisbury beach part 46




I've had "Craow Dum" since mid-August.




Despite vet visits and round the clock care I give him, I worry that Craow Dum is still "dodging the bullet" as far as survival goes.




He does eat good, his poops are perfect and he socializes with the other birds. His feathers are shiny although still a little raggy around the edges since the feather lice incident early September.




And yet, I still worry about his future.




His face is so messed up.




He does not have a white powdery cere which would indicate good health.


His cere is discolored and deformed. (The cere is the fleshy part on the beak where the nose would be) He breathes with his mouth open causing mucus to spill out of his mouth.




I run a humidifier near his "house" to keep his throat moist.




His top beak is a stub.


Sadly, I noticed more of his top beak has fractured off and is splintering.


This is disconcerting. I fear his entire top beak may eventually fall off.




He is a funny little thing though. If he can not get at his food in his cups he will jump on me as if to tell me, "Hey! The food is too shallow! You need to fill up the cup in order for me to eat! I'm hungry!"




He tries to groom himself but it is problematic.


He got a feather lodged in his mouth the other day. He was twirling around frantically to dislodge it. I grabbed him and pulled it out.




He is gaining weight and flies a little to get exercise which is a good thing. I also beleive he is indeed a "boy". As I was petting his back, he got very excited and started cooing very loudly. He then twirled around "bustin' a move" like I've seen male pigeons do when they are trying to score a female. It's funny to watch. It is one day at a time with him.




Hopefully, he will be OK.


* post-note:

I can't help but think at how more emotionally stable animals are rather than people.

Think about it for a minute.

I found this poor pigeon in a sewer.

Just think at how emotionally F*&^ed up a kid would be if he/she was chucked in a sewer left to die. Craow Dum doesn't seem to be carrying any emotional baggage as from being disgarded by his parents. He just seems to be happy to be with me.

He will purr contently after eating and just sit comfortably on the rug like this is the best thing in the world. He is happy for the simple comforts in life.

He is not obsessing about his past and wondering about the 'what ifs" and the "how comes".

He is just living in the present.

Maybe we should learn from this little pigeon.

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