the reputation I have

[felisdomesticus]

Something happened yesterday that left me speechless for several hours. A student at school came up to my class during the middle of the day. I have no idea who this kid was. She said "are you Ms. Felisdomesticus?" I said "yes." She then proceeded to hand me a plastic 7-11 bag that contained a teeny, tiny baby bird. I thought the bird was bleeding but she told me that it was cherry slurpee that was in the bag.

Apparently the bird had been on her lawn for several days and she had heard that I "rescue animals". So I get this bird.

One of its feet looked deformed to me so I figured that the mother bird kicked it out of the nest. It was VERY small and still had some of the keratin shafts at the edges of its feathers--but was feathered. Everyone said to "just let nature take its course" but I, of course, couldn't do that. They also informed me it was a chickadee. I had no idea what it was.

It pooped several times during the school day so I knew it must have been eating something or was being fed by its mother before the student took it. I called all over the place trying to find a wildlife rehab person but no joy. I figured I would try to feed it *something* and do the best I could although I had resigned myself to the fact that it would probably die.

I went to PetSmart to see if they had anything and wound up talking to the bird person. She was handfeeding a couple of other teeny tiny birds with no feathers and said she'd take this one too. She also said its foot looked broken rather than deformed. I was so relieved to have her take it because I had no idea what to do, even after reading a bunch of stuff online. I am hoping for the best but am realistic about the situation.

But that is the reputation I have somehow gotten at school. I am the teacher who brings in the parrot and who rescues animals. So they think I can take care of anything.

[homebird]

Nice that the kids are also doing some rescuing. You have had a very positive affect on them - Congrats.

Of course you now have the responsibilities usually given to Rock Stars [undesirably] so now you're stuck being a great role model.

Go for it - I think this is great!
How's the baby bird? Are you going to let the kids know with an update notice? At my son's old grade-school they have adopted at least 2 animals from the Toronto Zoo - for animal awareness.

[felisdomesticus]

I try to be a role model when they talk about wanting pets. I try to teach them to "live and let live" when they see ants, spiders, etc.

They don't take in much they do remember that I am the crazy animal person. =)

[Tiki]

That's a very good reputation to have!

[homebird]

I used to do my Nature thing in the playground, when my son was in Grade-school. I pointed out to the kids that the worms, spiders, ants, & pigeons were pretty small & this was their home. How would they feel if they were bullied by enormous creatures? I ended up with at least 10 kids saving worms after the rains. I tried to set up a bird feeding station, in the winter, but some kids kept breaking it - I tried for 2 years but there are over 600 kids at that school & it only takes 1. But I think I made a few think about compassion & that was the point.